Background
During Cold War
era, the Korean peninsula was divided into two parties because of differences
of ideology. When the Korean War broke out between South Korea and North Korea,
the U.S. came to South Korea giving aids against North Korean invasion. Though
the fighting ceased with an armistice in the 1953, the U.S. and South Korea
enacted a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953, two months after the end of
the Korean War. This agreement U.S. solidified the alliance and guaranteed South Korea’s
national security and also its military protection
against external threats. (Ho Bae Jung and Abraham Denmark, 2009)
The security alliance counts as one of the most important of U.S.'s alliances, it is not only serving to deter another North Korea attack on South Korea, but also providing a continental base for U.S. forces to face Russia, China, and to provide a front line defense for Japan. The alliance has also deter augmented South Korea's military forces and provide a nuclear umbrella, thus will enable the South Koreans to pursue economic progress with relatively low military budgets.
As time passes, the alliance has grown and transformed
beyond traditional security cooperation by sharing political, economic, and cultural values. The U.S-ROK alliance has
grown deeper since 2009, when Presidents Obama and Lee Myung Bak announced a U.S.-ROK Joint Vision Statement that expanded the framework
for bilateral cooperation beyond the Korean peninsula to regional and global
issues. (Kurt M. Campbell,
Victor D. Cha, Lindsey Ford, Kazuyo Kato,, 2009)
The Challenges of The U.S.-ROK Alliance in 21st Century
However the
alliance faces several challenges which
are coming from North Korea, domestic politics, economics and geopolitics. The North Korean threats continue to be the
fundamental basis for the security relationship. The rationale that the North Korea is a threat for South Korea, and the existance of U.S-ROK alliance in order to deter threat from North Korea. The growing unconventional nature of these threats from North Korea such as
nuclear program, military armed provocations, and
chemical or biological weapons, those challenge efforts to find coordinated
solutions to solve the problems. Even though, the two governments have closely
coordinated their policies toward North Korea in recent years, it is inevitable
that one or the other is likely to be more hard line vis-à-vis North Korea. (Kurt M. Campbell,
Victor D. Cha, Lindsey Ford, Kazuyo Kato,, 2009)
A second
challenge for the U.S.-ROK alliance is domestic politics. Even though support levels for the U.S.-ROK alliance have
been rising in both countries, some people and parts of the
public still have doubts about the need for the alliance and the cost of
maintaining the alliance may be deemed too high. In South Korea, depending on
various circumstances, anti-American and anti-alliance sentiments may flare up
again. (Kim, 2010) In the United States,
the U.S.-ROK alliance could become the unintended victim of a budget squeeze
and isolationist sentiments arising there. (Joo, 2011)
The third
challenge is about fiscal constraint budget
problem that arises in an atmosphere of fiscal constraint. Both
countries, particularly the United States are
facing economic and financial difficulties. This situation will force both
sides to deal with issues of cost-sharing and securing resources for military equipment as well as financing the planned relocation of U.S.
troops in South Korea. (Joo, 2011)
The last,
there is the geopolitical challenge posed by a rising China. In the
past, China saw a strong relationship between South Korea and the United States
as desirable because it helped prevent a Japanese military buildup. But in
recent years, China has exhibited misgivings over South Korea's close alliance
with the United States, especially regarding naval exercises in the Yellow Sea
and the augmentation of South Korean military capabilities. (Lee, 2011) The Republic of
Korea and the United States must convince China that their alliance will
actually be in China's interest by promoting the security, denuclearizing North Korea, stability, and prosperity of the
region. (Joo, 2011)
Conclusion
Within the strengthening, expanding, and upgrading the U.S.-ROK alliance in 2009, when Presidents Obama and Lee
Myung Bak announced a U.S.-ROK Joint Vision Statement face several challenges which are coming from North Korea, domestic politics of both countries, economics and geopolitics. Both parties should form working groups or initiate dialogues where solutions
and specific steps for implementation can be formulated. They must recognize and expand on their mutual interests,
since shared values are as important as geopolitical interests in sustaining
the alliance. They also should let shared values like
democracy, prosperity, peace, nuclear proliferation and security globally as well as regionally to gain supports from another countries for the further
development of the alliance.
References
Ho Bae Jung and Abraham Denmark. (2009). The
U.S.-ROK Alliance in the 21st Century. Korea Institute for National
Unification.
Joo, H. S. (2011, October). The State of the U.S.-ROK
Alliance:Current Issues in U.S.-ROK Relations. Retrieved from Council of
Foreign Relations:
http://www.cfr.org/south-korea/state-us-rok-alliance/p26204
Kim, H. J. (2010). A Brief History of the U.S-ROK
Alliance and Anti-Americanism in South Korea. Stanford: Asia-Pasific
research Center, Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.
Kurt M. Campbell, Victor D. Cha, Lindsey Ford, Kazuyo
Kato,. (2009). Going Global: Future of the U.S.-South Korea Alliance.
Center for a New American Security.
Lee, S. C. (2011). The ROK-U.S. Joint Political and
Military Respomse to North Korea Armed Provocation. Washington D.C.:
Center For Strategic Studies and International Studies.
Mark E. Manyin, Emma Chanlett-Avery, Mary Beth Nikitin, Mi
Ae Taylor. (2010). U.S.-South Korea Relations . Congressional Research
Service.
