A recent survey in South Korea showed that when it comes to trustworthiness, people put the United States at the top of the list and China at the bottom, indicating that most South Koreans want the county’s foreign policy to be centered around the United States instead of China. This year marks the 30th year since South Korea and China formally established diplomatic relations. Since then, China has become South Korea’s largest trading partner in both imports and exports. South Korea relies on China for over 25 percent of overall trade. However, despite the heavy reliance on Chinese trade, South Koreans’ negative perception of China has grown stronger in recent years, according to polls. In December 2021, the Seoul National University Asia Center (SNUAC) conducted a survey of 1,031 individuals in South Korea about their preferences towards 20 countries including the United States, China, Japan, Australia, France, and Germany. The results …