How the Rivalry Between China and South Korea May Help America
Employees on the assembly line of a Hyundai Motor-Beijing Automotive factory in 2010
Photographer: Nelson Ching
The modern-day economic relationship between China and South Korea began in 1992, months after aging Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping’s now-famous “southern tour” aimed at reenergizing his transformative program of reform.
Diplomatic relations between the two nations—which had been on opposite sides of the Cold War—were established in August that year, and Korean conglomerates lost no time in rushing to tap their neighbor’s potential. Within months, deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars were signed for cement, cold-rolled steel and tin-plate plants.