[Annotated] China's bullying is backfiring in South Korea's presidential race

Their hostility^[각주:1] is making the front-runner more hawkish^[각주:2] 

Any excuse for a party. On April 25th North Korea celebrated the 85th anniversary of the founding of its glorious army. Ten days before its young despot^[각주:3], Kim Jong Un, had marked the 105th birthday of his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, the country's founder, with a vast military parade^[각주:4]. Mr Kim loves fireworks, too. He set off a ballistic missile^[각주:5] in honor of^[각주:6] his grandpa, though it fizzled^[각주:7] on launch. Rumors of a nuclear test still hang in the air^[각주:8]. Of North Korea's five underground blasts to date^[각주:9], the young Mr Kim, in power since 2011, is responsible for three.

Mr Kim's growing nuclear ambitions have agitated^[각주:10] Donald Trump. This week America's president called both his Chinese counterpart^[각주:11], Xi Jinping, and Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, to discuss them. He also summoned^[각주:12] the entire Senate to the White House for a briefing on the subject. And an American aircraft-carrier^[각주:13], the USS Carl Vinson, has finally shown up for reassuring^[각주:14] annual drills^[각주:15] with South Korea, after an embarrassing incident in which American officials claimed it was on its way to the Korean peninsula when in fact it was going in the other direction.

Heaven knows South Korea needs the reassurance^[각주:16]. For all the mutual^[각주:17] intimidation^[각주:18] between North Korea and America, the North is probably still a couple of years away from being able to attack the American mainland^[각주:19]; the North's promise to make a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike^[각주:20]" against the Carl Vinson is bluster^[각주:21]. South Korea, in contrast, has long faced an existential threat^[각주:22] from North Korea's 20,000 artillery pieces^[각주:23] and 1m-compounds^[각주:24] the danger. Just because Seoul in spring, with its bustling^[각주:25] craft markets and festive^[각주:26] air, is a cheerful^[각주:27] place does not mean the threat is imaginary^[각주:28]. Seoulites^[각주:29] have simply learned to live under^[각주:30] it.

Among South Korean policymakers^[각주:31], the unease^[각주:32] is palpable^[각주:33]. It hardly helps that the country is in limbo^[각주:34] after the impeachment in March of the president, Park Geun-hye. A presidential election will take place on May 9th. Meanwhile, only part of the unease is generated by the North. Mixed signals from America have unsettled^[각주:35] as much as they have reassured. 

Yes, the vice-president, Mike Pence, recently glared across^[각주:36] the demilitarized zone^[각주:37] in solidarity with^[각주:38] South Koreans. He also declared that "all options were on the table^[각주:39]" in dealing with the North. Yet, in a later interview with the Washington Post, he rejected the idea of direct negotiations^[각주:40] of the sort that have brought North Korea to the table in the past^[각주:41]. Such negotiations were in keeping with^[각주:42] South Korea's long attempt at engagement with the North, which for the decade after 1998 was known as the "sunshine policy".

Mr Pence acknowledged that if^[각주:43] America will not talk to North Korea, and if the North will not give up its nukes, then American military action in the form of^[각주:44] a pre-emptive strike becomes more likely. For South Korea, that carries horrendous^[각주:45] implications of a retaliatory attack^[각주:46]. It was no comfort when Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the more thoughtful voices in Washington, said would at least be "over there" rather than "here". Strategists in Seoul talk of "uncertainty^[각주:47] to the East" - meaning America.

They also refer to^[각주:48] "uncertainty to the West", meaning China. As they see it, America has not helped there either. Mr Pence describes the Trump approach as "not engagement with North Korea, but renewed^[각주:49] and more vigorous^[각주:50] engagement with North Korea's principal^[각주:51] economic partner" - ie, China. Mr Trump wants Mr Xi to deliver a breakthrough ^[각주:52] with the North, by applying ever more pressure^[각주:53]until it abandons its nukes.

Yet^[각주:54] South Koreans point out two problems. First, the American approach misconstrues China's aim, which is not to bring Mr Kim's regime to its knees but just to get America and the North to talk to each other. Second, it fails to acknowledge China's ugly bullying of South Korea in the wake of^[각주:55] the country's decision last year to approve an American missile-defence system known as THAAD, which is designed to shoot down^[각주:56] incoming North Korean missiles. China claims the system threatens its own security - the radar might see into^[각주:57] Chinese territory. To South Koreans, this proves how China elevates^[각주:58] its solipsistic^[각주:59] and woolly^[각주:60] concerns over a threat to the South's very existence. 

Suddenly, it's become a security election

In protest at THAAD, the Chinese authorities have also encouraged a boycott of South Korean consumer goods and discouraged Chinese tour groups from visiting the South. Chinese hackers have been assaulting^[각주:61] South Korean government websites.

Such bullying has gone down badly^[각주:62]. South Koreans used to admire China. But now, for the first time, opinion polls^[각주:63] suggest they hold it in lower esteem than^[각주:64] Japan, which colonized Korea and with which Seoul still bickers^[각주:65] endlessly about the extent of colonial abuses.

Meanwhile, North Korean and Chinese bullying are helping shape^[각주:66] the presidential race. The longtime front-runner, Moon Jae-in, a dovish^[각주:67] progressive, promoted the sunshine policy in a former administration. he used to say he was willing to visit Pyongyang before Washington if elected president. Such talk is heard no more. Mr Moon still favors engagement^[각주:68], including reopening^[각주:69] the Kaesong industrial zone^[각주:70], which brings together^[각주:71] South Korean capital and North Korean workers. But he has come around to^[각주:72] THAAD, to which he sounded hostile at first, and about which many South Koreans still have their doubts.

Indeed, the whole race is becoming more hawkish^[각주:73]. Mr Moon remains the front-runner, but Ahn Cheol-soo, a doctor and former software entrepreneur, has gained rapidly in the polls. He has attacked Mr Moon for being soft on^[각주:74] the North, including over Kaesong. Whoever wins, it looks as if Mr Xi's and Mr Kim's hostility will earn them the government they deserve in South Korea: one less inclined to^[각주:75] humor^[각주:76] them.

1. hostility ; 2. [U] ~ (to/towards sth) (생각・계획 등에 대한) 강한 반대[반감] [본문으로]
2. hawkish ; [형용사] 매파[강경파]의 [본문으로]
3. despot ; [명사] 폭군 ;; US [|despɑ:t] UK [|despɒt] [본문으로]
4. military parade ; 군대 열병식 [본문으로]
5. set off ; (폭탄 등을) 터뜨리다 [본문으로]
6. in honor of ; …에게 경의를 표하여; …을 기념하여; …을 축하하여 [본문으로]
7. fizzle ; [동사] (특히 불에 타고 있는 것이) 쉬익쉬익 하는 소리를 내다 [본문으로]
8. hang in the air ; (문제 따위가) 미해결 상태에 있다, (생사·승패 따위가) 어떻게 될지 모르다 [본문으로]
9. to date ; 지금까지 [본문으로]
10. agitate ; 2. [타동사][VN] (마음을) 뒤흔들다[불안하게 만들다] [본문으로]
11. counterpart ; [명사] (다른 장소나 상황에서 어떤 사람・사물과 동일한 지위나 기능을 갖는) 상대, 대응 관계에 있는 사람[것] [본문으로]
12. summon ; 2. ~ sb (to sth) (격식) 호출하다, (오라고) 부르다 [본문으로]
13. aircraft carrier ; [명사] 항공모함 [본문으로]
14. reassure ; [동사] ~ sb (about sth) 안심시키다 [본문으로]
15. drill ; 4. [U] (군사) 훈련 [본문으로]
16. reassurance ; 1. [U] 안심시키기 [본문으로]
17. mutual ; 1. 상호간의, 서로의 [본문으로]
18. intimidation ; [명사] 협박, 위협 [본문으로]
19. mainland ; [sing.] (한 나라의 영토 중 딸린 섬 등을 제외한) 본토 [본문으로]
20. preemptive strike ; 선제 공격 [본문으로]
21. bluster ; [명사] an empty boast, bluff, boaster, bravado [본문으로]
22. existential threat ; 실제적, 실존적인 위협 [본문으로]
23. artillery ; 1. [U] 대포 [본문으로]
24. compounds ; [명사] (물리학) 화합물 [본문으로]
25. bustling ; [형용사] ~ (with sth) 부산한, 북적거리는 [본문으로]
26. festive ; [형용사] 축제의, 기념일의, 축하하는 [본문으로]
27. cheerful ; 1. 발랄한, 쾌활한 [본문으로]
28. imaginary ; [형용사] 상상에만 존재하는, 가상적인 [본문으로]
29. Seoulite ; [명사] 서울 사람[시민] [본문으로]
30. live under ; …의 점원[소작인]이다; …의 지배를 받다 [본문으로]
31. policymaker ; [명사] 정책 입안자[담당자] [본문으로]
32. unease ; [U , sing.] (또한 un・easi・ness / ʌn|iːzinəs /) 불안(감), 우려 [본문으로]
33. palpable ; [형용사] 감지할 수 있는, 뚜렷한, 손에 만져질 듯한 [본문으로]
34. in limbo ; 잊혀져, 무시되어; 불확실한 상태로 [본문으로]
35. unsettle ; [동사] (사람을) 불안하게 하다[동요시키다] [본문으로]
36. glare across[at, into, around] ; 1. ~ (at sb/sth) 노려[쏘아]보다 [본문으로]
37. demilitarized zone ; 비무장 지대 ((略 DMZ)) [본문으로]
38. in solidarity with ; ~와 연대하여 [본문으로]
39. be on the table ; 검토 중이다; 널리 알려져 있다 [본문으로]
40. direct negotiations ; 단도 직입적인 협상 [본문으로]
41. in the past ; (《과거형과 함께》) 옛날, 이전에, 과거에; 《완료형과 함께》 종래, 지금까지 [본문으로]
42. in keeping with ; …와 일치[조화]하여, 어울려 [본문으로]
43. acknowledge ; 1. ADMIT | (사실로) 인정하다 [본문으로]
44. in the form of ; …의 모양으로, 모양을 따서 [본문으로]
45. horrendous ; [형용사] 대단히 충격적인, 참혹한 [본문으로]
46. retaliatory attack ; 보복 공격. [본문으로]
47. uncertainty ; (pl. -ies) 1. [U] 불확실성; 반신반의 [본문으로]
48. refer to ; (… 에 대해) 언급하다[거론하다/들먹이다/말하다] [본문으로]
49. renewed ; [형용사] (주로 명사 앞에 씀) (새로운 관심・강도로) 재개된, (관심・강도가) 새로워진 [본문으로]
50. vigorous ; 1. 활발한; 격렬한 [본문으로]
51. principal ; [형용사] (명사 앞에만 씀) 주요한, 주된 [본문으로]
52. breakthrough ; [명사] 돌파구 [본문으로]
53. apply pressure (to, on) ; 압력을 가하다 [본문으로]
54. yet ; 6. ~ another/more, ~ again 거기에[그 위에] 또(수・양・횟수의 증가를 강조할 때) [본문으로]
55. in the wake of ; [부사] …의 뒤를 좇아, …에 뒤이어; …의 결과로서. ;; 동의어 following, succeeding, in the aftermath of; as a result of. [본문으로]
56. shoot down ; ~을 격추하다; ~을 총으로 쏘아 넘어뜨리다 [본문으로]
57. see into ; …을 들여다보다 [본문으로]
58. elevate ; 1. ~ sb/sth (to sth) | ~ sth (into sth) (격식) 승진[승격]시키다 [본문으로]
59. solipsistic ; [형용사] (철학) 유아론적(唯我論的)인. [본문으로]
60. woolly ; (美 또한 wooly) 3. (사람들이나 그들의 생각이) 분명하지 않은 [본문으로]
61. assault ; [vn] 1. 폭행하다(특히 범죄가 되는 행위) [본문으로]
62. go down (with sb) ; (~에게 어떤 식으로) 받아들여지다 [본문으로]
63. opinion poll ; [명사] 여론 조사. [본문으로]
64. hold sb in high esteem ; 남을 존경, 존중하다 ;; high 대신에 lower을 썼으니 정반대의 의미 [본문으로]
65. bicker ; [동사] ~ (about/over sth) (사소한 일로) 다투다 [본문으로]
66. shape ; 2. [타동사][VN] (중요한 영향을 미쳐서) 형성하다 [본문으로]
67. dovish ; [형용사] 비둘기파[온건파]의 [본문으로]
68. engagement ; 2. ARRANGEMENT TO DO STH | [C] (특히 업무상・공적인) 약속; (약속 시간을 정해서 하는) 업무 [본문으로]
69. reopen ; 2. 재개하다 [본문으로]
70. industrial zone ; [명사] (지리학) 공업 지대(工業地帶), 공단 [본문으로]
71. bring together ; …을 긁어 모으다; 묶다, 합치다 [본문으로]
72. come around to ; (지연된 뒤에) 겨우 …에 착수하다, …로 생각을 바꾸다. [본문으로]
73. hawkish ; [형용사] 매파[강경파]의 [본문으로]
74. be soft on ; …을 부드럽게 다루다, …에게 관대한. [본문으로]
75. incline to ; …로 향하게 하다, 경향이 있다 ;; to tend to think or behave in a particular way; to make somebody do this [본문으로]
76. humor ; [타동사] <사람·취미·기질 등을> 만족시키다(gratify); 어르다, 달래다; 맞장구치다, 비위를 맞춰주다; 잘 다루다 [본문으로]