The Sino-US Power Transition And South Korea’s Security Strategy

Korea’s problem of security has been very severe since it was established, Irreconcilable ideology and contradiction of national interests speeded up The Korea War. The war ended up with The Korean War Armistice Agreement that the parties of the war signed. After the war, South Korea and North Korea kept confronting with each other along the Military Boundary during a long time, up till now these two countries are just in a temporary truce situation. Facing the tense security situation of The Korean peninsula for a long time, not only did South Korea strengthen his own capability of independent national forces, but also it became the most important thing for South Korea to establish and sustain military alliance with The United States. Meanwhile, The United States was willing to protect South Korea in the domain of the military security to insure its military power existed in East Asia continent. The fragile peace between the south and the north has been maintained basically by the U.S.-ROK alliance since The Cold War, but from the Post-Cold war era, especially from the beginning of this century,the whole security surroundings of theNortheastern Asia is being changed by the Sino-US Power Transition, moreover, some new security problems are emerging. So this circumstance brought a profound impact for South Korea’s security strategies.The power transition is a process of change which includes the fall of the original leading power and the rise of the emerging power. Moreover, the emerging power will obtain the dominant position instead of the original leading power at last. With the improvement of China’s comprehensive power, the comprehensive power of the U.S. and its affection of international politics in the Northeast Asia has to show a relative declining tendency, the Sino-US Power Transition has been formed gradually. This paper puts the choice of South Korea’s security strategy on the background of the Sino-US Power Transition is due to such following thoughts.Firstly, the Sino-US Power Transition has become the basic background of international political activities of Northeast Asia. During the Post-Cold war era, through a period of time when The United States was the most powerful country all over the world, but the Sino-US Power Transition recovered the traditional security structure of East Asia where the sea power and the continental power confront with each other, but the more important point is that Sino-US Power Transition now is profoundly eroding the traditional security structure of East Asia. Due to a large number of overseas interests and assets owned by China, so China can not just exist as a continental power like the Soviet Union did. China is now positively pursuing for the Sea power in Northeast Asia and this is an important factor of The Sino-US Power Transition. Of course, it is possible for the US would restrain the transition of sea power in this region, but the tendency can not be changed, and this will be the basic background for South Korea to choose its security strategy. Secondly, the Sino-US Power Transition has made many issues of South Korea’s security strategy change, and made some new security problems emerge. These new changes and problems will force South Korea to give a response for this. So South Korea must adjust its national security strategies, South Korea will consolidate military alliance with the US or make the U.S.-ROK alliance drift. Finally, the Sino-US Power Transition make different political groups of South Korean’s government and the common citizens emerge their new acknowledges that The United States and China will bring different affection for South Korea’s security problem, in addition, this acknowledge will be able to gradually affect and decide the tendency of South Korea’s security strategy at last.