The Birth of Korea-United States Relations

In the United States, Korea is remembered primarily through the Korean War (1950-1953) and, more recently, seen in the context of the North Korean nuclear crisis. However, how did the U.S. meet Korea for the first time before the Korean War? How did the U.S. establish diplomatic relations with Korea under the isolationist policy of the Joseon dynasty? How did the American public view Korea and its citizens during the birth of their relations? This paper explains the origins of relations between Korea and the U.S. as well as the role of the U.S. in shaipng bilateral relations with Korea before, during, and after the Japanese colonialism in Korea as well as during the Korean War. This study investigates primary sources of treaties between the two countries and secondary literature on the U.S.'s strategic calculations regarding the Korean Peninsula. It presents an interpretive and documentary analysis, relying on various historical documents that cover important military and geopolitical events from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries. The initial encounter between the two countries can be traced back to the Korea-U.S. conflict in 1871, which resulted in an unequal agreement through the 1882 Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation. It demonstrates how the 1882 Treaty superficially emphasized friendship while actually imposing unequal relations, and how the U.S. sanctioned Japan's domination of Korea through the 1905 Portsmouth Treaty and the Taft-Katsura Agreement. Unlike the peace and amity between the two countries that the treaty called for, the U.S. made a secret agreement with Japan at the end of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905 to let Japan colonize Korea through the Treaty of Portsmouth of 1905. South Korea and the U.S. did not have a strong alliance until they established their collective defense system through the Mutual Defense Treaty at the end of the Korean War.