1. Digital Entanglement; Lessons Learned from China’s Growing Digital Footprint in South Korea
- Author:
- Kristine Lee, Martijn Rasser, Joshua Fitt, and Coby Goldberg
- Publication Date:
- 10-2020
- Content Type:
- Special Report
- Institution:
- Center for a New American Security
- Abstract:
- The South Korean experience is an illustrative case study of digital entanglement with China. This paper focuses on South Korea’s 5G networks for the purposes of scoping, but the spotlight on telecommunications networks offers just one window into a broader trend of technology and economic interdependencies between Seoul and Beijing. In particular, the paper’s focus on 5G illuminates four central observations that could also apply to other technology areas: (1) the U.S.-China strategic competition has wedged South Korea between its most important ally and its largest trading partner; (2) geopolitical risk assessments are not top of mind in South Korea’s technology policymaking calculations; (3) the country’s political leadership largely defers to private industry on the use of Chinese equipment; and (4) South Korean privacy regulations remain relatively fluid and are evolving both to meet domestic pressures and to generate new market opportunities. These trends are evident in the history of South Korea’s economic entanglement with China and the risk of coercion carried with it. Ongoing entanglement with digital infrastructure—and 5G networks in particular—increases the potential for and reach of adverse economic statecraft by Beijing and will make it more difficult and costly to unravel.
- Topic:
- Science and Technology, Communications, Bilateral Relations, COVID-19, and 5G
- Political Geography:
- China, Asia, and South Korea