The U.S.-ROK Alliance at 60 years

Looking Back, Looking Forward

“60 Years of Partnership and Shared Prosperity”

April 1, 2013 – US Ambassador Sung Kim and ROK Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kyou-hyun unveil the logo.

The Alliance has been a success, providing security for the ROK and the region, and support and context for the ROK’s extraordinary economic and political development.

“There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.”

Harry Truman

Looking Back -- An Alliance Forged in Blood, and also in Division, Dissent and Determination June 25, 1950 – North Korean forces(NKPA) cross the 38th parallel in attack on ROK

June 28, 1950 – NKPA takes Seoul

August 4, 1950 – Naktong River (Busan) Perimeter set up

September 15, 1950 -- Incheon Landing

September 27, 1950 – UN Forces retake Seoul

October 25, 1950 – Chinese forces enter war

July 10, 1951 – Armistice talks begin

July 27, 1953 -- Armistice signed

October 1, 1953 – Signing of US-ROK Mutual Security Treaty

July 27, 1953

“I cannot find it in me to exult in this hour. Rather, it is time for prayer, that we may succeed in our difficult endeavor to turn this armistice to the advantage of mankind. If we extract hope from the occasion, it must be diluted with the recognition that our salvation requires unrelaxing vigilance and effort.”

General Mark Clark, UNCCINC, upon signing the Armistice.

October 1, 1953, SeoulUS ROK Mutual Defense Treaty Signing

“We had accepted it as one of the prices we thought we were justified in paying to get the Armistice.” Dulles

U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty October 1, 1953 The Parties to this Treaty,

Reaffirming their desire to live in peace with all peoples and all governments, and desiring to strengthen the fabric of peace in the Pacific area,

Desiring to declare publicly and formally their common determination to defend themselves against external armed attack so that no potential aggressor could be under the illusion that either of them stands alone in the Pacific area,

Desiring further to strengthen their efforts for collective defense for the preservation of peace and security pending the development of a more comprehensive system of regional security in the Pacific area . . . .

Former ambassadors in Seoul October 2013

Memory and HistoryWhen I was younger I could remember anything, but my faculties are decaying and soon I shall only remember those things that never occurred.

Mark Twain

A success, but not without major bumps and crises. ROK doubts about US commitment to alliance.

Carter-Park era tensions over troop withdrawal plan, and ROK human rights situation.

US blamed by many for inadequate support for democratization after Park’s assassination, for not preventing tragedy of Kwangju.

Trade frictions. USFK basing and SOFA controversies.

North Korean provocations/attacks/nuclear and missile programs. US-ROK differences over North Korea policy.

Observations about the Alliance

An alliance with one part of a divided country against its other part.

Valued more in the ROK when tensions are high with North Korea; devalued/more ambivalence during periods of lower tensions/engagement.

U.S. and alliance-related issues play as domestic political issues in the ROK, not as foreign policy issues.

Differing perspectives on how much influence U.S. could and did exercise in Korean political and economic development, particularly in early stages.

Broader, Deeper, More Resilient KORUS Free Trade Agreement – 2012

Visa Waiver Program – 2008

People to people ties: Students, Korean-American community

Korea’s global weight – at the UN, in its ODA programs, through G-20 membership has strengthened alliance, increased its value. Very few global issues on which our interests diverge.

Pending Issues in Alliance Management 123 Agreement on Nuclear Cooperation

“Special Measures Agreement” – Burdensharing for cost of USFK

US Force Transformation in South Korea – the move out of Seoul

Wartime OPCON transfer to ROK lead

Challenges

Relations with China, China’s rise regionally and globally

ROK-Japan Relations

North Korea

Our Respective Domestic Challenges

Looking back, looking ahead, with South Korean university students at Nakdong River, August 2010