[Editorial] Shadow of China

The picture which was spread throughout main newspapers yesterday made us upset. It was a photo that showed China delivering the flame of the Sixth Winter Asian Games at Mt. Baekdu, which is considered a sacred mountain of the Korean people. China will hold the Winter Asian Games in Changchun next year.

China has worked hard on the Northeast Asia Project for last two years in order to make Mt. Baekdu Chinese territory, and to include the history of Balhae in its own history. However, the Roh Moo-hyun administration, which claims to stand for an “autonomous government” says that they were completely unaware of it. President Roh only cited, “Our diplomacy has achieved its goal and even more.”

North Korea, the Juche regime, made a concession to the Chinese demand for the half of the lake at the top of Mt. Baekdu according to the secretive border treaty of China and North Korea signed in 1962. And they only keep silent.

The diplomatic disgrace started under the Kim Dae-jung administration. They instigated an illusion promoting that “China is the future of Korean economy” without fully understanding China, who has prepared to hold sway around the world from early days. Furthermore, President Roh claimed it out loud to become close to China and estrange from U.S. President Roh chose China as “the country with which we should try hard to make a friendly relationship” over the U.S when he visited Japan in June 2003. A pro-Roh figure asserted, “We will become close to China if Japan becomes close to U.S,” at the Korea-Japan Forum two years ago. 63 % of members of the Uri Party said with one voice right after a general election in 2004, “China is more important than the U.S in diplomacy.”

The Japanese academic world has warned of Korea’s “one-sided love” for China, saying, “China is the only country to be able to use military force if there is a government against their wishes on the Korean peninsula.” Two years ago, the Chinese Embassy in Korea warned Korean congressmen who were going to attend to an inaugural ceremony of the President of Taiwan, saying, “You should think about later on when you come to China.”

Moreover, China is no longer only an “opportunity” for us. The Chinese economy could be the greatest variable for our economy, or they could even subordinate our economy to theirs.

We should reconsider our diplomatic paths which lean northward though belatedly. We must do it in order to properly answer our descendants’ question, “What did you do to keep our independence and autonomy?”