The meeting between President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Washington was closely watched in China. And at the end of the summit between the two leaders, the consensus among international relations experts in China was that the US had failed to “drive a wedge” in the deeply intertwined economic and tech cooperation between China and South Korea. [https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202105/1224166.shtml]

The U.S. has been trying to convince Moon to take a tough stand on China on various issues including trade, human rights, Taiwan and others, but South Korea, it seems is convinced that not annoying China is in its interest.

Moon knows that the South Korean economy depends on China, as it is its largest trading partner. The Chinese boycott of South Korean companies in 2017 in protest against the deployment of a US Thaad missile defense system led to billions of dollars of loss to South Korean multinationals. South Korean president is mindful of the experience.

South Korea has also seen the trouble Australian exporters landed themselves in after China found various ways to restrict them soon after the Australian government took a tough stand on various issues with China.

China’s influence over North Korea also played an important role in South Korea not walking into the “trap” set by the U.S., according to observers in China. On the summit between the US and South Korean Presidents, an editorial in Global Times, a Chinese government-controlled outlet, said, “Over the past few years, Seoul has, in general, made efforts to strike a balance between Beijing and Washington. Its national strength is not as strong as Japan’s, yet South Korea is much wiser than Japan in keeping a diplomatic balance.”

Various opinion polls in South Korea have shown that China is not a popular country. It is on par with North Korea. A recent poll said that almost 60 percent of respondents found China unfavorable. [https://www.thechicagocouncil.org/research/public-opinion-survey/south-koreans-see-china-more-threat-partner-not-most-critical-threat]

Read more:

A news report on the summit talks:
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3134455/us-south-korea-willing-engage-north-korea-denuclearisation-korean

Tight walk on China:
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Biden-and-Moon-align-on-North-Korea-but-walk-fine-line-on-China

Why South Korea wants to stay out of US-China rivalry:
https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/29626/south-korea-is-staying-out-of-the-china-us-competition