But if you compare the economies of Taiwan and Korea, way back in the 1990s Taiwanese firms were already swarming into China, while Korea's "China fever" was very late in taking shape. This was especially so after the Asian financial crisis of 1997, when the government of Kim Dae-jung in Seoul blocked Korean firms from investing in China, persuading them to keep their corporate roots in Korea and upgrade instead.
但若以台韓經濟做比較，早在雙方競爭力消長關鍵的 1990 年代，台商便已一窩蜂搶進大陸，韓國的「中國熱」反倒姍姍來遲；尤其在 1997 年亞洲金融風暴後，金大中政府更一度壓制韓商赴中投資，成功迫使企業根留韓國，並力圖轉型升級。