South Korea–United States relations

International relations between South Korea and the United States commenced in 1950, when the United States helped establish the modern state of South Korea, also known as the Republic of Korea, and fought on its UN-sponsored side in the Korean War (1950–1953). During the subsequent four decades, South Korea experienced tremendous economic, political and military growth.

South Korea has a long military alliance with the United States, aiding the U.S. in every war since the Vietnam War, and most recently during the Iraq War. At the 2009 G20 London summit, U.S. President Barack Obama called South Korea "one of America's closest allies and greatest friends." In 1989, South Korea was among the first batch of countries to be designated as a major non-NATO ally.

According to academics David Shambaugh and Michael Yahuda, there are currently several security factors shaping the alliance:
# The challenges posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile program and the potential of weapons proliferation to other states,
# The impact of peace and reunification developments on the Korean peninsula on the strategic relationship between the United States and China
# The potential impact of events on the Korean peninsula on Japan and Sino-Japanese rivalry.

South Korea is currently one of the most pro-American countries in the world. According to a 2018 Pew survey, 77% of South Koreans had a favorable view of the United States, while 21% had a negative view. According to a 2018 Gallup poll, 77% of Americans had a favorable view of South Koreans, while 22% had a negative view.

However, signs indicate S.K.-U.S. relations may be simultaneously strengthening, as cultural exchange (see also TALK program), developments in media partnership (See Parasite Oscar win), and a strong trade in goods and services continues. South Korea is also a top destination of U.S. military hardware, with a recent deal in August 2019 for Seahawk helicopters topping 800 million dollars.

The former US Ambassador to South Korea, Harry Harris, arrived in Seoul on July 7, 2018. The post had been vacant since President Donald Trump took office in January 2017. Harris, a former head of the US military's Pacific Command, has expressed his resolve to work as an ambassador to strengthen the alliance between the United States and South Korea.

Country comparison

Leaders of South Korea and the United States from 1950

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id:lib value:blue legend:Liberals_(S._Korea)
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from: 10/05/2022 till: $end color:con text:" Yoon"
from: 10/05/2017 till: 10/05/2022 color:lib text:"Moon"
from: 25/02/2013 till: 10/03/2017 color:con text:" Park G."
from: 25/02/2008 till: 25/02/2013 color:con text:" Lee M.B."
from: 25/02/2003 till: 25/02/2008 color:lib text:" Roh M.H."
from: 25/02/1998 till: 25/02/2003 color:lib text:" Kim D.J."
from: 25/02/1993 till: 25/02/1998 color:con text:" Kim Y.S."
from: 25/02/1988 till: 25/02/1993 color:con text:" Roh T.W."
from: 01/09/1980 till: 25/02/1988 color:con text:" Chun D.H."
from: 26/10/1979 till: 16/08/1980 color:con text:" Choi"
from: 24/03/1962 till: 26/10/1979 color:con text:" Park C.H."
from: 13/08/1960 till: 24/03/1962 color:lib text:" Yun"
from: $Start till: 26/04/1960 color:con text:" Rhee"

bar:us
from: 20/01/2021 till: $end color:dem text:" Biden"
from: 20/01/2017 till: 20/01/2021 color:gop text:"Trump"
from: 20/01/2009 till: 20/01/2017 color:dem text:"Obama"
from: 20/01/2001 till: 20/01/2009 color:gop text:" G.W.Bush"
from: 20/01/1993 till: 20/01/2001 color:dem text:" Clinton"
from: 20/01/1989 till: 20/01/1993 color:gop text:" G.H.W.Bush"
from: 20/01/1981 till: 20/01/1989 color:gop text:"Reagan"
from: 20/01/1977 till: 20/01/1981 color:dem text:"Carter"
from: 09/08/1974 till: 20/01/1977 color:gop text:"Ford"
from: 20/01/1969 till: 09/08/1974 color:gop text:"Nixon"
from: 22/11/1963 till: 20/01/1969 color:dem text:"Johnson"
from: 20/01/1961 till: 22/11/1963 color:dem text:" Kennedy"
from: 20/01/1953 till: 20/01/1961 color:gop text:"Eisenhower"
from: $Start till: 20/01/1953 color:dem text:" Truman"

Historical background

Following the United States expedition to Korea in 1871, the United States and Korea's Joseon Dynasty established diplomatic relations under the 1882 Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, a 1905, when Japan assumed direction over Korean foreign affairs. In 1910, Japan began a 35-year period of colonial rule over Korea.

Following Japan's surrender to the Allies in 1945, at the end of World War II, the Korean Peninsula was divided at the 38th parallel into two occupation zones, with the United States in the South and the Soviet Union in the North. Initial talks in 1945–6 to achieve a unified, independent Korea were not successful, and in 1948 two separate nations were established – the Republic of Korea (ROK) in the South, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the North. On January 1, 1949, the United States officially recognized the Republic of Korea as the sole legitimate government of Korea and established diplomatic relations on March 25 of that year.

Korean War (6.25 War)

Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel escalated into open warfare when the North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. In response, 16 member countries of the United Nations, including the United States, came to the defense of South Korea. It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War with extensive deployment of U.S. and other troops.

Origins of the South Korea–United States alliance

Following the end of World War II, the United States established a bilateral alliance with South Korea instead of establishing a multilateral alliance with South Korea and other East Asian countries.

Moreover, the "U.S. alliance with South Korea would consequently have three functions. First, it would serve as part of a network of alliances and military installations designed to ring the Soviet threat in the Pacific. Second, it would deter a second North Korean attack, with U.S. ground troops serving as the "tripwire" guaranteeing U.S. involvement. Third, it would restrain the South from engaging in adventurism."

The United States and South Korea are allies under the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty. Under the agreement, U.S. military personnel have maintained a continuous presence on the Korean peninsula.

US military in Korea

South Korea and the United States agreed to a military alliance in 1953. They called it "the relationship forged in blood". In addition, roughly 29,000 United States Forces Korea troops are stationed in South Korea. In 2009, South Korea and the United States pledged to develop the alliance's vision for future defense cooperation. Currently, South Korean forces would fall under United States control should the war resume. This war time control is planned to revert to South Korea in 2022.

At the request of the United States, President Park Chung-hee sent troops to Vietnam to assist American troops during the Vietnam War, maintaining the second largest contingent of foreign troops after the United States. In exchange, the United States increased military and economic assistance to South Korea. In 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun authorized dispatching a small contingent of troops to Iraq at the request of U.S. President George W. Bush.

Since 2009, air forces of South Korea and the U.S.A. have conducted annual joint exercises under the name "Max Thunder". In 2018 the drills began on May 11 and continued until May 17.

At a Cabinet meeting in Seoul on 10 July 2018 the government decided not to hold that year's Ulchi drill, scheduled for June 2018. The Government said the decision was made in line with recent political and security improvements on the peninsula and the suspension of South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises.

Former South Korean President Moon Jae-in, elected in May 2017, has said he supports the continuation of sanctions against North Korea if it is aimed at bringing North Korea out of its state of isolation and to the negotiating table. He also argued, at the same time, that he was against a "sanctions-only" approach toward North Korea. His approach to North Korea is similar to Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy, which only continued up to the Roh Mu-hyun's administration.

In 2018 there were several rounds of talks regarding sharing the cost of U.S forces in South Korea. These reflect Washington's desire for South Korea to share a "greater burden" of the costs of the military deployment. On February 10, 2019, South Korea and the United States confirmed that a year long deal for keeping American troops, numbering 28,500, in South Korea had been made. This was in exchange for South Korea paying 925 million dollars to the United States.

In terms of American leadership, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush both emphasized the Middle East over North Korea. Clinton had deep emotional ties with Israel but neglected North Korea issues and never built strong personal relations with South Korean leaders. Bush, whose religious fundamentalism led him to divide the world into good and evil, had a personalized hatred for North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, but he also had frosty relations with South Korean leaders.

In his 2021 New Year’s press conference on January 18, President Moon Jae-in stated that the two Koreas might be able to discuss the U.S.-South Korea military drills through a joint inter-Korean military committee. However, U.S. officials expressed that it is not a topic to be decided by Pyongyang, and that scaling down the exercises was not desirable.

In May 2022, President Joe Biden and President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed in talks to begin discussions on restarting and potentially expanding joint military training on and around the Korean Peninsula. The move was a signal that
Biden was changing course from former President Donald Trump's positions in Asia.

Nuclear and missile diplomacy

Between 1958 and 1991, the United States based a variety of nuclear weapons in South Korea. The number reached a peak of 950 warheads in 1967. Since 1991, when President George H. W. Bush announced the withdrawal of all tactical nuclear weapons based abroad, the Korean peninsula has seen ongoing efforts by the U.S. to negotiate an end to North Korea's own nuclear and missile development. These efforts have been characterized by "stalemates, crises and tentative progress." Despite the ongoing tensions, the U.S. has not redeployed nuclear weapons, although one recent press report suggests a majority of South Koreans are in favor of developing their own nuclear weapons. South Korea announced the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-ballistic missile defense system at the end of 2017.

Opinion polls

According to Pew Research Center, 84% of South Koreans have a favorable view towards the United States and Americans (ranked within top 4 among the countries in the world). Also, according to a Gallup Korea poll, South Korea views the U.S. as the most favorable country in the world. On the political side, the United States supported South Korea after 1945 as a "staunch bastion against communism", even when the ROK itself was ruled by a US-backed dictatorship. In a March 2011 Gallup Poll, 74% of South Koreans said that they believe that the U.S. influence in the world is favorable, and in a November 2011 Gallup Poll, 57% of South Koreans approved of U.S. leadership, with 22% disapproving. In a 2011 Gallup poll, a 65% favorability rating, the highest rating to date.

According to a 2014 BBC
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