U.S. Relations with other Powers on the Korean Peninsula in the Global Financial Crisis
Author: David C. Kang
The Korean peninsula continues to be a geostrategic and economic nexus for Northeast Asia. As such, relations involve economic, social, historical, and larger regional issues, as well as the nuclear issue. While the specifics are yet to emerge, this article surveys the Obama administration’s strategic approach to the region and the peninsula, concluding that it is working with a broad tradition of U.S. approaches to the region: engage China, uphold traditional alliances, and contain the North Korean threat. The economic crisis has affected the specifics of this grand strategy, but not the overall U.S. approach to East Asia.
(Pages 1 – 18)
The Republic of Korea and Its Four Regional Partners’ Policies Toward North Korea During the Global Financial Crisis
Author: John E. Endicott
This article examines the period 15 September 2008 to 15 September 2009, focusing on North Korean statements and actions regarding the denuclearization of the DPRK and the possibility of returning to the Six-Party Talks. The objective is to determine if the policies of China, Japan, South Korea, Russia and the United States have changed during the year, a time of severe economic downturn globally. North Korean actions were divided into negative, neutral or positive categories and placed on a timeline chart that visually depicts the number of events by month. From September 2008 until July 2009, negative actions predominated. Then, in August 2009, an “explosion” of positive events demonstrated that some factor or factors reversed the policies of the preceding ten months.
(Pages 19 – 44)
The Korea-U.S. Alliance in the Obama Era
Author: Mel Gurtov
Where does the U.S.-ROK alliance, which is once again on a firm footing, go from here? Is a strengthened bilateral alliance the only path to follow? Or is there wisdom for both the United States and the ROK in complementing bilateralism with multilateralism, serious engagement of North Korea, and a wider range of international relationships generally? This article urges the latter course, with emphasis on the usefulness of continuing close ROK-China relations, rather than forging a fuller strategic partnership. The central argument is that the vitality of the U.S.-ROK alliance no longer depends only on the quality of their partnership, or on deterrence of North Korea.
(Pages 45 – 70)
The U.S. and South Korea: Prospects for Transformation, Combined Forces Operations, and Wartime Operational Control: Problems and Remedies
Author: Bruce E. Bechtol Jr.
There will be many challenges to military cooperation between the militaries of the US and South Korea in coming years as each country strives for military excellence in Northeast Asia. Not the least of these challenges will be preparing for the ongoing and ever changing North Korean military threat. When it comes to defending South Korea against what continues to be a heavily armed and unpredictable government in Pyongyang, issues such as Seoul’s “self-reliant defense,” the ability of the government in Seoul to pay for badly needed capabilities as it transforms its military, the dissolving of Combined Forces Command to two separate structures that to date remain in a state of flux, and the visions of the two governments that have inherited many of the policies of their predecessors in Seoul and Washington, are all important and must be examined.
(Pages 71 – 96)
The U.S. and the Territorial Dispute on Dokdo/Takeshima between Japan and Korea, 1945-1954
Author: Hong Nack Kim
The territorial dispute over Dokdo/Takeshima (or Liancourt Rocks) has frequently strained South Korean-Japanese relations in the post World War II era. Japan claims that it acquired Dokdo/Takeshima as a terra nullius in 1905, whereas Korea rejects Japan’s claim on the ground that Dokdo was a Korean island, not a terra nullius, which Japan usurped illegally in 1905. The dispute was exacerbated further due to the inconsistent U.S. policy in the disposition of the disputed island during the Allied occupation of Japan (1945-1952). Initially, the U.S. decided to return Dokdo/Takeshima to Korea in accordance with the Cairo Declaration (1943) and the Potsdam Declaration (1945).
(Pages 97 – 126)
The Global Financial Crisis and U.S.-Korea Trade and Investment: A Perspective
Author: Dick K. Nanto
The global financial crisis of 2008-2009 that began in the United States quickly spread to other countries of the world, including South Korea. As the crisis progressed through four overlapping phases, each country has pursued policies to counter the worst effects. Phase I was to contain the contagion and strengthen financial sectors. This was done primarily by monetary policy lowering interest rates, rescuing troubled banks and other financial institutions, and, in Korea’s case, providing foreign currency to companies with short-term debt owed in dollars.
(Pages 127 – 163)
