By Sunny Lee
Korea Times Correspondent
BEIJING ― Several years ago, when Hu Jintao became the president of China, there was a widespread pun on the Internet, titled "Who's Hu?"
An imaginary conversation between Condoleezza Rice, then the U.S. secretary of state, and her boss, George W. Bush, went something like this:
Rice: Sir, we just heard that Hu became the new president of China.
Bush: Who?
Rice: Yes, it's Hu.
Bush: Who became the president?
Rice: I told you, sir. It's Hu.
Bush: Condi, I am busy now. Just tell me who has become the new president of China.
Rice: Sir, I already told you. It's Hu!
Rice: Hu!
As Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits South Korea, pundits in Seoul must have wondered aloud who this man was. Just like the case of Hu Jintao, they must have realized that they knew very little about Xi, who is widely regarded as pre-ordained to become the next Chinese president in 2012.
Xi, 56, is a graduate of the elite Tsinghua University, the same school as the current president Hu, and studied chemical engineering as an undergraduate.
He later returned to undertake graduate degrees in Marxist philosophy and law.
He is known to be practically minded and supports market-oriented economic reforms.
A foreign scholar on China who knows him personally characterized him as "reliable" and "someone who gets the job done." That's probably why he was chosen to handle the task of making last year's Beijing Olympics a success. But Xi is best known for marrying the famous and beautiful Chinese folk singer Peng Liyuan.
Xi's major mandate in South Korea is to work out a possible free trade agreement. China is very eager to have such a deal. South Korea also sees it as an eventual direction to move in, but has some reservations about the impact of a huge influx of cheap Chinese agricultural products into Korea, which will likely jeopardize Korea's agricultural sector ― a very sensitive issue in the nation.
Currently, China is South Korea's largest trading partner and also the largest export destination.
Observers also believe that Xi and his Korean host should engage in a constructive discussion on what is likely to become a very thorny issue in the future, including Korea's angst over China's rise, the North Korean nuclear issue, a historical dispute over Goguryeo, an ancient Korean kingdom and civilian-level discomfort between the two countries.
Some point out that South Korea, a traditional U.S. ally, will be increasingly pressured to side with China as Korea's economic dependence on China deepens and as China's political clout over the Korean Peninsula inches up.
Yet Scott Snyder, author of ``China's Rise and the Two Koreas," sees such worry as unwarranted because of South Korea's relationship with the two superpowers, U.S. and China, doesn't have to be mutually exclusive.
"The two relationships are not on a mutually exclusive basis," said Snyder, who is also the director of the Center for U.S.-Korea Policy at the Asia Foundation, a Washington-based policy think tank.
``What happens in the South Korea-U.S. alliance is not focused on, or directed by issues related to China. What happens in China-South Korea relationship is not constrained by South Korea's relationship with the United States either."
Snyder, however, pointed out that there are some issues emerging in the South Korea-China relationship itself. "Previously, no one ever saw any point of conflict between South Korea and China. Now, one can imagine a range of issue areas where there could be pretty severe political differences between South Korea and China. For example, on Goguryeo, border issues, as well as public discomfort between the two countries," he said.
In 2004, at the height of the fiery history dispute over Goguryeo, the two sides hurriedly moved to "resolve" their differences by agreeing to not talk about it. Critics, however, say "silencing" the issue does not fundamentally solve the issue, calling it a tinderbox.
Another dormant yet increasingly pronounced issue between the two countries is the "anti-Korean sentiment" among Chinese youths, especially on the Internet. The issue is potentially virulent enough that analysts call for government-level effort to enhance mutual understanding, for instance, through student exchanges.
"Unfortunately, this is a very much underestimated area," said Lee Sang-soo, a former China correspondent for South Korea's Hankyoreh newspaper. "For me, it's a time bomb."
The China's future top leader and Yu Woo-ik, the newly appointed South Korean ambassador to China, who will accompany Xi during his stay here, may want to have an open and honest discussion on these issues over some Chinese baijiu or Korean makgeolli.