“Rhee-straint”: The Origins of the U.S.-ROK Alliance
Author: Victor D. Cha
There is a vast literature that examines the American containment approach to communism throughout the Cold War era. However, few authors focus on the flip side of U.S. Cold War policy: constraint. In addition to their distaste for communism, Americans also feared “rogue” anti-communist allies dragging the U.S. into a larger-scale war with their common communist enemies. This fear especially applied to the South Korean authoritarian state under Syngman Rhee, who harnessed rabid anti-communism both to legitimize his rule and to try to embroil the U.S. in further conflict on the Korean peninsula. In order to exercise greater influence over such “rogue allies” as Syngman Rhee’s South Korea, the U.S. opted to pursue strong bilateral alliances in East Asia, where they feared entrapment the most. As a result, solid relationships like the U.S.-ROK alliance came to dominate the East Asian security architecture, leaving little space for East Asian multilateralism to take root.
(Pages 1 – 16)
Reactions of the Sino-Soviet Bloc to the U.S.-ROK Alliance
Author: Samuel S. Kim
Covering and possessing an impressive chunk of the earth in both geographical and demographic terms, the relationship between two great continental powers (one Asian and one Eurasian) has always had a significant impact on Northeast Asia and beyond. At the same time, the Sino-Soviet relationship has been closely keyed to and shaped by two other great maritime powers (Japan and the United States) in Northeast Asian geopolitics. In the first half of the twentieth century, Japan had the greatest impact on Sino-Soviet relations, and the United States has played the largest role since the end of World War II.
(Pages 17 – 44)
Cooperation of U.S. and South Korean Air and Ground Forces during the Korean War
Author: Bruce E. Bechtol, Jr.
An examination of the cooperation that existed between the air and ground forces of South Korea and the United States in the years leading up to the Korean War and in the early stages of the Korean War shows that there were many issues. The United Stated neither trained nor equipped the South Korean military with the forces or the equipment needed to defend itself against an attack from a well-trained and wellequipped North Korean People’s Army. To be sure, there were also many readiness issues with U.S. forces The U.S. advisors to South Korea also lacked the language and cultural skills necessary to provide support to what was then an ally that was attempting to rebuild itself from the ravages of Japanese occupation and was struggling for legitimacy and survival. There are many lessons that can be learned today from this experience. Among them are better cultural understanding of an ally, better vision and planning for military forces, and improved cooperation at the highest levels of alliances.
(Pages 45 – 62)
Coming to South Korea’s Aid: The Contributions of the UNC Coalition
Author: Terence Roehrig
Soon after the North Korean invasion on June 25, 1950, the United Nations Security Council called for assistance to defend the South. Though South Korea and the United States carried the vast majority of the responsibility and costs of the war, 15 countries provided direct military assistance to the UN effort in Korea. This article examines the motivations and contributions of these 15 countries that joined the United States and South Korea in the United Nations Command.
(Pages 63 – 98)
Some Lessons for Today from the Korean War
Author: Patrick M. Morgan
The Korean War had an immense set of effects on the international system and a number of nations, primarily because of the interplay between the war and the historical context in which it occurred. Lessons include the importance of the historical context in a particular case since it undermines success in generalizing about the probable effects of seemingly similar events; the way even “small” wars can have a major impact; the need to be skeptical about suggestions that the U.S. significantly reduce its involvements in and efforts to manage regional security situations; the similarity between the Korean War and later forceful multilateral interventions for peace and security; and the need to be very cautious in offering predictions with high confidence about how a “limited” war with an Iran or North Korea will turn out.
(Pages 99 – 118)
China’s Strategic Lessons from the Korean War
Author: Andrew Scobell
The lessons of the Korean War are fresh in Beijing’s mind because the war remains the most significant, sizable, and sustained employment of force beyond China’s borders in the modern era. The five enduring strategic lessons that China has drawn from the Korean War are: (1) not to fear the United States but take it seriously; (2) never again get sucked into a massive military intervention on the Korean peninsula, but if China does then the goal should be to fix the problem permanently; (3) give more attention to the desired outcome but to pay even greater attention to the process; (4) use all the levers of national power but do not rule out the use of force; (5) while times have changed, armed conflict is still possible in the 21st Century. Unlike in the Cold War era, China doesn’t expect a major conflagration or world war.
(Pages 119 – 128)
The Impact of the Korean War on the Political-Economic System of South Korea: Economic Growth and Democracy
Author: Miongsei Kang
This article aims to pursue several goals. The first is to anchor an analytical description of Korean political development at the beginning of national state formation. The Korean state, I argue, emerged from the wreckage of the Korea War. A second goal is to provide an analysis of the impact of the war on state formation trajectory. The unfinished armistice has shaped the path of the national state and its relations with the United States, which sponsored it. The final goal aims to account for the complex relations between political development and economic growth, weighing in on the ongoing debate over which has priority. The discussion that follows is divided into four main parts. The first examines the linkage of the Korea War to economic development. Land reform during the war is conducive to Korea’s later development.
(Pages 129 – 154)
Beijing and the Paper Tiger: The Impact of the Korean War on Sino-American Relations
Author: James I. Matray
Mutual hostility and confrontation characterized the first two decades of relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. This article examines the impact of the Korean War on creating and perpetuating this mutual enmity. The first half describes how the U.S. reaction to the outbreak of the Korean War and especially Chinese military intervention in the conflict removed any chance for an early reconciliation, discussing Washington’s specific policies from June 1950 until the armistice in July 1953 aimed at achieving diplomatic isolation and economic punishment of China’s new regime. The second half defines China’s five primary postwar foreign policy goals and explains how Beijing faced strident opposition from the United States in its attempts to achieve each objective.
(Pages 155 – 186)
