Xi Jinping. AP=Yonhap News. 

Guest Editorial Writer, Korea Military Academy Class of '84To South Korea, China is not simply a competitor or an oppressor. It is a 'virtual enemy' that threatens national survival due to accumulated 'strategic contradictions.' This is the conclusion drawn from the outcomes of the South Korea-China summit and China's past behavior towards us. While South Korea has opened the door to dialogue through the summit with China after 11 years, the China we perceive is a monstrous nation that, despite its size, bribes even neighboring country leaders with money for its "Chinese Dream," a formidable adversary that offers no benefit to humanity, and a 'virtual enemy' that is too distant to approach.

'Virtual enemy' refers to an opponent that seeks to gain strategic advantage by posing a tangible threat through management and control, rather than through all-out confrontation. China employs a strategy of 'evading key security issues' and 'hostile interdependence' against South Korea. Amidst deepening ties between North Korea, China, and Russia, South Korea requires at least minimal 'stabilization of South Korea-China relations' for the management of Korean Peninsula security based on the ROK-US alliance. However, China should not become a key partner.

The Chinese Communist Party has engaged in economic aggression disguised as 'free trade.' It has destroyed industrial ecosystems with massive subsidies, stolen technology and data through espionage, and exhibited predatory behavior by binding weaker nations with debt through the Belt and Road Initiative. When cultural infiltration fails, it is strongly suspected of infringing upon the sovereignty of neighboring countries by supporting fraudulent elections. It is intensifying human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong, and military threats towards Taiwan. Internal collusion and manipulation through pro-China forces within South Korea pose a serious threat to the liberal democratic system. We will examine the reasons why China cannot be a partner in both security and economic aspects, and explore alternatives.

1. Why China is a 'Virtual Enemy' - Irresponsible Evasion of Key Security Issues

   China intentionally evades discussions on key security issues, continuously pressuring and threatening South Korea's security. During the South Korea-China summit, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi used vague language such as "conditions have changed, and various approaches are needed" regarding the denuclearization of North Korea. This suggests a strategic shift, abandoning even passive roles like the 'dual suspension' (suspension of US-ROK military exercises and North Korea's nuclear program) previously proposed as a solution to the North Korean nuclear issue, and hinting at closer ties with North Korea. China's 'structural essence' of prioritizing North Korea over South Korea remains unchanged.

At this summit, China only reached a general agreement to "resolve through working-level consultations" regarding direct security threats such as the installation of structures in the West Sea, without any concrete progress. China continues to play the role of an 'irresponsible bystander' or an 'ambiguous coercer' regarding South Korea's security issues, such as the North Korean nuclear program and incursions into the West Sea. Yet, the current government is self-congratulatory and has not abandoned its pro-China stance. Those who try to straddle two worlds are abandoned by both.

2. Why China is a 'Virtual Enemy' - Duplicitous Economic Retaliation 

  To prevent South Korea from becoming irrevocably aligned with the United States, China simultaneously uses economic carrots such as suggesting joint responses to fraud, extending currency swaps, and lifting the THAAD ban, while also wielding the stick of sanctions against Hanwha Ocean to deter its close ties with the US. On October 14th, China implemented an economic ban similar to the "Korean Wave ban" (限韓令), completely prohibiting all transactions, cooperation, and exchanges between five US-based subsidiaries of Hanwha Ocean, a symbol of strengthened ROK-US alliance, and Chinese organizations and individuals.

This is a concrete economic demand and retaliation aimed at pressuring South Korea in the context of the US-China shipbuilding conflict. It is a political declaration that South Korea will not be allowed to be incorporated into the US-led strategic supply chain (MASGA). It is a duplicitous tactic of outwardly easing minor issues while inwardly increasing pressure. This clearly demonstrates the duplicitous structure of a 'virtual enemy' seeking to gain profit by controlling South Korea's strategic choices, embodying 'hostile interdependence.'

To exercise the 'strong national drive' necessary to reduce dependence on China and diversify supply chains, dialogue for mutual economic benefit is necessary. However, the immediate priority is to build an economic structure where China's 'pressure cards' are ineffective.

3. South Korea's Path to Survival: Ending the Pro-China Regime and Political Change 

   China is evolving from a virtual enemy into a real enemy. They aim for us to collapse on our own by simultaneously offering dialogue and security pressure, economic temptations and sanctions. The only solution is to use the dilemma presented by China as 'strategic material' for maximizing South Korea's national interests.

However, if China exploits the fatal weaknesses of pro-China forces and hinders South Korea's normal growth, it is time to end the source of the contradiction. The way to block China's overt pressure is to end the pro-China government that follows China's preferences and directives. The 'two-legged strategy' and 'two-handed strategy' of pro-China forces, who have been compromised by China, will no longer work. Being ignored by the United States means being disregarded and isolated by all countries.

Perhaps what we need is not a 'nuclear-powered submarine' but the promotion of national normalization. Nepal and Cambodia have clearly shown that a normalized state cannot be achieved with a political leadership that is beholden to China. Without removing the pro-China forces and the regime that have lost their direction, national interest, legitimacy, and morality, we cannot prevent the current contradictions, chaos, and national destruction.

The only way for South Korea, which has been occupied by pro-North Korean and pro-China forces, to survive is through political change. Without a change in the political landscape, any prescription will be powerless and invalid. To overcome China's manipulation and control and regain South Korea's national interest and security autonomy, we must first drive out the pro-North Korean and pro-China forces through a citizen revolution.

To avoid having our sovereignty and territory encroached upon by a 'virtual enemy,' and to exert the national drive to reduce dependence on China and diversify supply chains, the enemy we must first fight is not the distant China, but the internal enemies and traitors who are selling out the country for their personal political gain. It has become the mission of all of us to remove the pro-China forces who, for their self-interest, bow their heads not to 'South Korea-China' but to 'China-South Korea,' and destroy the nation.

Park Pil-gyu, Guest Editorial Writer