CHINA'S WOLF WARRIOR DIPLOMACY AND THE RELATIONS WITH REPUBLIC OF KOREA: POST SOUTH KOREA’S THAAD DECISION (2015 - 2020)

Abstract

In recent days, the nature of the People’s Republic of China’s diplomacy has changed and it is gaining complicated responses from other countries. That famous diplomacy is called “Wolf Warrior Diplomacy”, diplomacy that is seen as ‘assertive’ and ‘threatening’ other countries when defending the country’s national interest. “Wolf Warrior Diplomacy” is a new term under the administration of President Xi Jinping however the root of it has been there since back then. This paper would discuss how this diplomacy affects the relations between China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) after ROK decides to cooperate with the United States and deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), which China believes threatened China’s national interest. The method that is used for this research is the qualitative method, by collecting data and information needed from the studies that have been made before. Based on the research that has been done, the ‘assertive’ diplomacy done by China affects how ROK faces the country and the relations between them, remembering that ROK is a country between two great power countries, China and the US. In addition, ROK has been in efforts to balance between two countries. ROK also in its ways to expand and improve its relations in other regions.