With the deployment of THAAD, any chance of a South Korean realignment to China in the near future was dashed. With the increased visits and stronger relationship between their countries, Chinese expectations were that South Korea may eventually pull away from its military alliance with the United States. This expectation was shattered, however, when THAAD was deployed, leaving many Chinese people with a sense of betrayal. These trips were emotional displays and created the expectation that South Korea and China would develop a strong and growing bond. Returning the gesture in 2014, President Xi Jinping visited Korea and characterized the trip as “seeking relatives”. Former President Park Geun-hye’s visit to China in 2013 was described by the administration as one to “build trust from the bottom of the heart”. While city government exchanges were steadily advancing so were interactions at the highest level of power. Daegu city officials travelled to Shandong province for the Qingdao Beer Festival and Qingdao city officials made visits to the Daegu Chimaek Festival. Not only did Chinese tourists travel to Korea in droves to attend chimaek festivals but Chinese and Korean municipal government officials made annual visits to each other’s chicken and beer festivals as well. In addition, China-ROK relations deepened through the people-to-people aspect of chimaek diplomacy. To ensure strong Chinese participation, Sokcho city officials planned a huge outdoor chimaek party, treating around 1,300 Chinese buyers and tourists to free chicken and beer. For example, in October, the city of Sokcho hosted the Greater Tumen Initiative Trade and Investment Fair, a fair primarily aimed at boosting development in areas near the Tumen River between China and North Korea. While fried chicken and beer has become something of a Korean cultural export over the last decade, few expected it to be a diplomatic fulcrum point for the growing security crisis on the peninsula.Įxtending well beyond its culinary bounds, chimaek, a combination of the Korean words for chicken and beer, has become a symbol for the fluctuating health of Sino-Korean relations and, with the highly controversial deployment of the THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) missile system, an unlikely touchstone of diplomatic sensitivity.īefore the controversy over THAAD, Korean initiatives to boost tourism and trade with China often relied heavily on the allure of chimaek.
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