Dislike or fear is an understatement.
South Koreans absolutely loathe China. Courtesy of the pro-US mainstream media.
Partly it has to do with lingering stereotypes and resentment from the Korean War, but largely to do with the South Korean mainstream media.
Tune into one of their news channels and you will see what I mean. Pretty much 99% of their report on China is overwhelmingly negative. It’s basically a carbon copy of CNN, Fox talking points.
How can they cope with so much hate and fear I wonder?
Zero integrity in their reportage. I was curious how they were covering Ukraine. I was utterly shocked. It was as if they copied the script straight from CNN! Maybe they’re linked. Who knows.
So, on one side you have the biased media that never misses the opportunity to bash China in some way, and then on the other side, you have the people themselves.
If you know anything about Koreans, they are quite an emotional bunch. It’s why they make fantastic music and drama. But emotions can be counterintuitive in terms of politics, international diplomacy.
Koreans are sensitive to geopolitical events: anything to do with China, Japan, or North Korea.
It is easy to influence people when they are in an impassioned state. It is also a dangerous path as it may as well result in your downfall. People with cooler heads have always prevailed. Unfortunately, Koreans aren’t one of them.
But, it’s interesting. China is Korea’s largest export partner. If China suddenly decided to cut off trade, the Korean economy would tank overnight. Usually, you tend to form favorable opinions of your largest trade partners. But weirdly, it is not the case with South Korea (and Japan).
Just goes to show how powerful the media is at brainwashing people these days.