¹ Jung Sung-Ki, “South Korea Eyes THAAD Despite China's Fear,” Defense News, February 14, 2016

² Jeffrey Lewis, “Are You Scared About North Korea's Thermonuclear ICBM?” Foreign Policy

³ In 2015 South Korea was first among importers of Chinese goods and China's fourth largest export market, for a total trade of over $275 billion—slightly below China-Japan trade. Global EDGE, “China: Trade Statistics,”

⁴ As one analysis put it in 2014, “Beijing no longer sees the need to choose between the two Koreas, and prevailing sentiment within China increasingly views the South as an asset and the North as a liability determined to frustrate Beijing's policy goals.” Jonathan Pollack, “The Strategic Meaning of China-ROK Relations: How Far Will the Rapprochement Go, and With What Implications?” Brookings Institution, September 29, 2014

⁵ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Wang Yi press conference of March 8, 2017 (Chinese text)

⁶ See here

⁷ “Averting War in Northeast Asia—A Proposal”

⁸ After these words were written, the US military announced on the eve of Tillerson's trip that it was deploying Grey Eagle drones to South Korea for “intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance.” The drones are capable of firing Hellfire missiles, though whether they would be armed with the missiles was not announced. Either way, the move represents a significant escalation of tensions. Julian Borger, “US to Deploy Missile-Capable Drones Across Border from North Korea,” The Guardian, March 14, 2017, online ed.