Unified Korea’s policy under various scenarios of the US-Sino relationship:

What kind of policy goals and orientation would a unified Korea adopt? A concerned US asks, would it become a China-friendly state? Or, would it be an anchor for the American–Asian alliance network at the expense of China’s security interests? To address these questions, this article begins by identifying six possible scenarios for the US-Sino relationship at the time of a unification that result from the combination of (1) the relative power capabilities between the US and China and (2) whether the US and China cooperate or conflict with each other. After describing the six scenarios, this article examines what policies the US and China would pursue toward the Korean peninsula in each scenario. Also, it contemplates how a unified Korea should respond to policies of the US and China in each scenario.