After South Korea announced the decision to place a US THAAD system in response to North Korean nuclear tests, China reacted with informal economic sanctions. Despite South Korea’s careful...Show moreAfter South Korea announced the decision to place a US THAAD system in response to North Korean nuclear tests, China reacted with informal economic sanctions. Despite South Korea’s careful balancing of the relations with the US and China, also called “hedging”, this strategy reached its limits with regards to the THAAD situation, as they inevitably had to choose between the US and China. Since the lack of research on what hedging state can do when receiving outside pressure, this thesis aims to fill that gap. I apply a theoretical framework with three hypotheses to the results of analyzing the political and economic situation between South Korea and China after THAAD. Although the Chinese economic sanctions damaged the bilateral relation with regard to politics and economics temporarily, South Korea continued their hedging strategy, ultimately resulting in the improvement of Sino-ROK relations.Show less
