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demand that a united Korea honor all lease agreements in
order to guarantee economic leverage over Korea. Finally, if
Korea is united, China will demand the withdrawal of U.S.
troops.

In addition, China may factor Korea into its planning for its
own unification. The Kim family regime has proven useful in
creating dilemmas for the United States. If China decides to
act against Taiwan in any way, it may ask Kim to act on the
Peninsula. This could range from increased threat to distract
the U.S. and divert attention and possibly resources or it could
be the actual initiation of hostilities to create conditions in
which the U.S. cannot provide sufficient resources to support
the defense of either Taiwan or Korea. The one drawback to
this is whether Kim Jong-Un would go along with China’s
demands as North Korea has historically acted independently
to suit its own interests. But Kim may see an opportunity
and the temporary alignment of Chinese and North Korea
interests may be too tempting for Kim to ignore.

The Second Three No’s towards South Korea – No More THAAD,
Integrated Missile Defense, or Trilateral Alliance

The THAAD situation of 2017 that continues to fester to
this day posed both a threat and opportunity for China and
11
also exposed some of its weaknesses. China objected to the
stationing of THAAD since its radar systems could range

11 Brian Padden, “China Objects to THAAD, South Korea’s Tourism, Imports Suffer,” Voice of America, March 30,
2017, https://www.voanews.com/a/china-objects-to-thaad-south-korea-tourism/3788460.html

Chapter Five : “Three No’s” Times Two: China’s North and South Korea Policy 81