The national image plays an important role in international relations based on international politics, diplomacy, and economy. Many countries are trying to achieve political and economic effects along with their diplomatic status by improving their na...
The national image plays an important role in international relations based on international politics, diplomacy, and economy. Many countries are trying to achieve political and economic effects along with their diplomatic status by improving their national image. Korea and China are countries that have developed together from the beginning of history. The two countries have a history of developing together through conflict and cooperation at each major historical juncture. Buddhism, Confucian culture, Chinese characters, and various political and economic systems have been engaged in Korean culture through exchanges with China. Therefore, the national image of China from Korea has undergone historical changes and has changed in the relationship between the two countries. The paper aims to explore policy alternatives to improve diplomatic relations between Korea and China through the process of changing China's national image from Korea. Therefore, this paper first attempts to analyze China's national image based on existing research on national image as a theoretical discussion. It also divided China's diplomatic strategy into hard power and soft power, and attempted to analyze what diplomatic strategy China is currently using in terms of soft power to improve its national image. Based on theoretical discussions on diplomatic strategies and national image relations, China's diplomatic strategies were discussed together at various levels. Subsequently, how Korea's national image of China was formed in the historical process was reviewed using major historical data and statistical data. In this process, it was found that Korea's national image was disconnected from the past in the process of modernizing it away from China's influence after the Sino-Japanese War, and recognized it as a hostile relationship with China through the Korean War. It then analyzes the relationship between major foreign policies in the Xi Jinping era and the national image of China that Koreans have. An analysis of China's national image based on these historical data and objective data confirmed that the recent deterioration of China's national image on the THAAD crisis combined with the Chinese government's major foreign policy with South Korea's stance. As an alternative to this, a strategy to recognize the differences between the two countries based on the "human destiny community," one of China's diplomatic discourse, and to resolve the differences in the two countries' perception of history, a joint committee and a younger generation exchange were proposed. This paper is valuable in that it analyzes Koreans' national image of China, which has continued from historical relations between Korea and China, and suggests policy alternatives for the development of future bilateral relations through discussions on the deteriorated national image of China based on China's foreign policy.