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China-South Korea relations during 1953-1988: A study of benefits and limits of informal relations

Posted on:1991-10-04Degree:Ph.DType:Dissertation
University:New York UniversityCandidate:Cha, Bong OhFull Text:PDF
GTID:1476390017451183Subject:Education
Abstract/Summary:
This study is on informal relations that China and South Korea have developed during the period from 1953 to 1988. Following President Nixon's 1972 visit to China, the South Korean Government dramatically modified their rigid anti-Communist policy and began to seek improvement of relations with the socialist bloc nations.;But favorable response from the socialist world to South Korea's new policy was slow in coming and insignificant in substance until China decided to launch the Four Modernizations Program in 1978. In order to achieve the goals of its new program, China had to open its door, at least in the field of trade relations, to the rest of the world including South Korea.;As a newly industrializing nation, South Korea was in a favorable position to supply numerous products to meet China's need. South Korea was also in need of importing China's coal, crude oil and other raw materials for its industry. The relation between the two nations was symbiotic. They were in complementary position to meet each other's different need.;Since 1978, the two nations quietly have developed and expanded their informal relations. Through this study, it was found that the tools they used in developing and expanding informal relations were: trade, sports exchanges, humanitarian cooperation, academic and cultural exchanges, and tourism. In addition, totally unforeseen incidents as the Chinese airliner hijacking incident of 1983 were efficiently used as the "tools" for establishing direct government to government relations. Among the different tools, trade, sports diplomacy, and joint management of unforeseen incidents have played major roles in improving the two nations' relations.;Through informal relations, the two nations, that were enemies-at-war during the Korean War, have been able to eliminate mutual hostility and develop friendly, cooperative and peaceful relations even in the absence of formal diplomatic ties. This study has demonstrated that informal relations, when skillfully developed, can significantly contribute to the improvement of relations between two nations.
Keywords/Search Tags:Relations, South korea, China, Two nations, Developed
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