The U.S.-ROK Alliance: American Perspectives
Author: David I. Steinberg
Non-specialist Americans, if they think of the Korean Peninsula at all, focus on the crisis that the U.S. faces with North Korea over nuclear and missile issues. Yet there are two crises facing the U.S. in that volatile and dangerous location that has been for two millennia a nexus of regional conflict. The first is the more obvious one with North Korea that the Bush administration has yet seriously to address on a bilateral basis, and still seems unwilling to do so at the highest levels; and the second crisis, a stealth one between South Korea and the U.S. – one that is obscured by both a lack of transparency on relations on the part of both governments and by the media in the United States that has under-reported the issue.
(Pages 1 – 18)
Force Restructuring in the ROK-US Military Alliance: Challenges and Implications
Author: Bruce E. Bechtol Jr.
The foreign policy issue regarding the ROK-US alliance that dominated the news headlines in South Korea for much of the spring and summer of 2006 focused on Wartime Operational Control (OPCON) of ROK and US forces and how this command and control relationship would change in coming years. Unfortunately, this issue has received almost no attention in the United States, where security concerns relating to other regions in the world have consistently dominated the headlines. In the view of the author, this has the potential to be extremely dangerous, as South Korea is Washington’s 7th largest trading partner, a staunch and loyal ally for six decades, and a country that has become culturally, economically, and politically linked to many aspects of society in the United States.
(Pages 19 – 41)
The U.S. East Asia Strategy and the Korean Peninsula: Retooling Alliance, Asymmetry, and Balancing
Author: Young Whan Kihl
A popular Korean saying right after World War II in 1945, as shown below, attests to the Korean people’s generally distrustful sentiment toward outside powers. This sentiment of realism also seems to be reflected in both North and South Korea today.
Ssoryon saramege sokchimalko,
Miguk saram mitchimalla,
Ilpon saram ironani,
Choson saram chosimhara!
(Don’t be deceived by the Soviets,
Don’t count on the Americans,
The Japanese will rise again soon,
So, Koreans, look out for yourselves!)
(Pages 42 – 74)
Inter-Korean Relations and the Future of the U.S.-ROK Alliance
Author: Choong Nam Kim
Relations between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) are undergoing dramatic changes. So is the security alliance between the United States and South Korea, which was established to deter a common threat from North Korea. The change in South-North Korean relations has a significant impact on the effectiveness of the United States’ North Korea policy. At the same time, progress in inter-Korean relations depends to a significant extent upon Washington’s North Korea policy. In addition, the strategic landscape of Northeast Asia and the political environment on the peninsula has changed significantly.
(Pages 75 – 106)
U.S.-DPRK Relations in the 21st Century: Ramifications of North Korea’s Declaration of Independence from the International Community
Author: C. Kenneth Quinones
North Korea’s July 4 launching of ballistic missiles declared its leader Kim Jong Il’s determination to secure its nation’s national defense irrespective of the international community’s concerns and opposition. Initial international reaction ranged from stunned disbelief to rage. Japan was particularly outraged and took the initiative, with strong support from the United States, to press for UN Security Council passage of a resolution that called for economic sanctions against North Korea. Even China took the rare step of supporting a moderated version of the UN Security Council resolution that censured North Korea, but without reference to sanctions. Absent from most reactions was perspective.
(Pages 107 – 126)
China’s Approach to the US-ROK Alliance? Background, Status, Outlook
Author: Robert Sutter
Among China’s neighbors in Asia, Chinese leaders have given highest priority to relations with the governments of northeast Asia, Japan and the administrations of North and South Korea. The salient reasons have included the strategic location of these nations close to the economic centers of China’s modernization, their economic, political, and military power and importance to China, and their close involvement with the United States. In terms of the last factor, Chinese leaders have long recognized the central importance of the US alliances with Japan and South Korea, and the related importance of the US military presence in both countries as enabled by the respective alliances.
(Pages 125 – 142)
