The purpose of this study is to examine the differences of young South Korean (hereafter, Korean) and Chinese children’s social competence, empathy, and their mother’s pos- itive parenting attitude and to analyze the mediating effect of young children’s empathy on the relationship between mother's positive parenting attitude and children’s social competence. Methods: The subjects of this study were 200 young children aged 4-6 and their mothers in Gwangju, Korea, and 203 young children aged 4-6 and their mothers in Hanam, China. Re sults: First, Korean subjects showed higher scores in mother's acceptability and responsiveness, chil- dren’s empathy, and children’s social competence than Chinese subjects. Second, there was a difference between Korean and Chinese subjects in the pathway among mother’s positive parenting attitude, young children’s empathy and social competence. Specifically, young Korean children's empathy fully mediated the relationship between mother's positive parenting attitude and their social competence, while young Chinese children's empathy partially mediated the relationship. Conc lus i on: The results of this study show the influence of cultural specificity as a macrosystem on child development.