Korea-U.S. Relations Drifting After Roh Pledges Self-Reliance In National Defense

The so-called ‘blood-tie’ alliance between South Korea and the United States is being cast away as distrust between the two governments continues to deepen, reported the Asahi Shinbun on July 15.

According to the Japanese press, the South Korean government is taking precautions against a possible change of Korea-U.S. relationship to a “local alliance” after the U.S. announced it would sharply reduce the amount of U.S. forces stationed in Korea last month.

Citing a story in the fall of last year when the U.S. proposed that the two nations redefine the “Joint-declaration of Korea-U.S. Security,” and the Korean government’s subsequent refusal on grounds of wanting to avoid aggravating its relationship with China, Asahi analyzed that this could be the reason for the drift in the alliance between the two nations.

The main point of “redefinition” that the U.S. requested at that time was in terms of South Korean support for the plans to reduce U.S. forces in Korea, and an enlarged role for itself in the alliance. The U.S., instead, was to commit itself to the defense of South Korea, said Asahi Shinbun.

Other events began to influence the alliance as well. U.S. President George W. Bush came to turn cold eyes upon President Roh Moo-hyun and eventually decided that “15 minutes for a bilateral meeting is enough,” prior to the summit between Korea and the U.S. in May last year. The actual time of summit however, was extended to 37 minutes.

In particular, the press said, “President Roh’s unexpected remarks regarding his pledge to ‘build fundamentals for self-reliance in national defense within 10 years’ in last August,” which resembled a similar declaration in the 1970s, seemed to offend the United States.

Won-Jae Park parkwj@donga.com