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The rise of China has become a topic of interest the world over, and is currently one of the most popular themes in academic and policy research. Nowhere has China’s ascendancy been more evident than in the Korean Peninsula, which has once again become the strategic hub of great power politics in Asia, and it seems that the shadow of China’s rise has been cast too quickly over South Korea. In a sense, South Korea—and its alliance with the United States—was caught largely unprepared, both strategically and psychologically, by the rising China. The gradual but inevitable bifurcation of security concerns and economic necessity is bound to render South Korea torn between its close ally (the United States) and its cooperative partner (China). The dilemma that South Korea now faces has crucial ramifications for many countries in Asia, where explicit attempts to counterbalance China have been rare. Working …