South Korea is very reliant on China for manufacturing, and I wouldn't be surprised if it's even more than the US considering the close proximity of China and the lack of natural resources in Korea. It's generally acknowledged by Koreans that the most abundant resource in Korea is human brain power, especially with the high college graduation rate (50%+, versus 30%+ in the US). The stigma of manual labor jobs such as manufacturing and agriculture are very strong, leading to a rapidly aging workforce in those sectors, and this trend, like in many other post-industrial nations, continues to increase.