It is understood that peace and stability have been China’s major security interest on the Korean Peninsula for many centuries. Given its strategic location and its geographical proximity, the peninsula has been recognized by Chinese leaders as the core strategic area for protecting China’s vital security interests and maintaining regional stability. Traditionally China has identified Sino-Korean ties as “lips and teeth,” a symbolic term to refer to China’s buffer zone mentality that if the Korean “lips” are gone, then China’s “teeth” will get cold. In order to secure its own suzerainty over the buffer state, China has approached Korea based on strategic thinking of either dominating it or denying it to another power. Following this logic, China had decided to intervene in wars on the Korean Peninsula, including Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s invasion in 1592, the Sino-Japanese War in 1895 and the Korean War in 1950, in each case combating potential challengers.

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