Choi Seong Hyeon

Choi Seong Hyeon

Research Intern, Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies

Choi Seong Hyeon is a freelance journalist and research intern with the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC. He holds a Master of International and Public Affairs from the University of Hong Kong and his research interests focus on the Korean peninsula and US-China relations. 

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un meets troops who have taken part in the military parade to mark the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Revolutionary Army, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), 29 April 2022. (KCNA via Reuters)

Can South Korea’s Yoon and China’s Xi denuclearise North Korea?

North Korea conducted an unprecedented seven missile tests in January and continues to test boundaries as it isolates itself from the world amid the Ukraine war. Yoon Suk-yeol, who becomes South Korea’s president on 10 May, has every reason to work with Chinese President Xi Jinping on denuclearising North Korea. But will joint efforts be a casualty of tectonic shifts in the global landscape?
Supporters of Yoon Seok-youl, presidential candidate from the main opposition People Power Party, attend a campaign rally in Seoul, South Korea, on 15 February 2022. (SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg)

How will anti-China sentiment impact South Korea’s presidential election?

South Korean angst directed towards China during the Winter Olympics suggests that anti-China sentiment in South Korea has not completely subsided from the time of China's reprisals against South Korea for the THAAD missile system deployment some years ago. In such a climate, bilateral relations could get rockier if Yoon Seok-youl of the conservative People Power Party makes it to the finish line in South Korea's March presidential election.