• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.18 no.7
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• pp.577-589
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• 2018

The future of ROK-US alliance has not been discussed in detail by both governments since early 2000s. However, it is becoming more apparent that ROK-US alliance is facing various daunting challenges. The new administrations both in ROK and US might have different perspectives about the future of alliance. In the process of resolving outstanding North Korean nuclear issue, the alliance can face challenges to change its fundamental features such as halting joint military exercise. ROK-US governments also agreed to transfer wartime operational control as soon as possible. All those factors indicates the growing necessity to articulate the future of ROK-US alliance. ROK and US needs to facilitate to dialogue for future alliance with the possible scenarios of changing security environment such as maintaining status quo, reconciliation of North and South Korea, and entering the reunification stage. In each phase, ROK-US has to develop the goal for the alliance, military institution to implement the alliance, role of USFK, and etc. It is imperative to develop the road map for future ROK-US alliance at this stage to avoid unnecessary folly.

• Strategy21
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• s.42
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• pp.154-195
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• 2017

This paper is to analyse conflict between the US and China over the South China Sea and Korea's responses. To this end the paper is composed of 6 chapters titled instruction; the current status of South China Sea sovereignty disputes; changes in US and Chinese maritime security strategies and the strategic values of the South China Sea; key issues and future prospects for US-China conflicts in the South China Sea; South Korea's security and diplomatic responses; and conclusion. The recent East Asian maritime security issue has evolved into a global issue of supremacy between the US and China, beyond conflicts over territorial disputes and demarcation among the countries in the region. China is pursuing offensive ocean policy to expand economic growth. The core of the maritime order that the United States intends to pursue is the freedom of navigation in the oceans and the maintenance of maritime access. China is making artificial islands in the South China Sea, claiming the sovereignty of these islands, building strategic bases in East Asia, and securing routes. The United States has developed several "Freedom of Navigation Operations" to neutralize the declaration of the territorial sea surrounding Chinese artificial islands. We can not be free from marine conflicts in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. Regarding the South China Sea dispute, it is expected that the strategic competition and conflict between the two countries will intensify due to China's failure to make concessions of core interests and adherence to the US compliance with international norms. In the midst of conflict over the South China Sea, we need a harmonious balance between our alliance security and economic diplomacy. We must continue our efforts to strengthen the ROK-US alliance but not to make China an enemy. Considering the significant impacts of the oceans on the survival and prosperity of the nation, we must continue to develop our interest in the oceans, appropriate investments and tactical strategies.

• Journal of National Security and Military Science
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• s.4
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• pp.351-379
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• 2006

Former ministers of national defense and foreign affairs, intellectuals such as former and incumbent professors, and various NGO groups are demanding the South Korean government to stop promoting independence in operational control which is currently held by the United States Armed Forces in Korea commander. Although the Korea should exercise operational control independently in the future, orientation on the direction which should be taken under consideration in promoting this transfer should be assumed. First of all, South Korea must sufficiently examine the criticisms and dissenting opinions, and reflect them in promoting independence in operational control. From now on, the South Korean government should reflect the opinions of experts in operational control, and must promote the transfer with national consensus. Unilateral enforcement of the transfer may cause serious errors and aggravate conflicts Second, ROKA's exercise of independence in operational control should take place only after gaining restraint on North Korea's attack against the South, and the issues on nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction(WMD) has been resolved, and a peace regime has been reached. Furthermore, exercise of independence in wartime operational control should be promoted only if there is a guarantee that international trust and the military collaboration will be restored to a level beyond the present state. Third, the USFK and the Korean-US alliance is providing South Korea with national security, not to mention tremendous diplomatical, and economical benefits However, if the alliance between the two countries become weakened due to the exercise of the independence in operational control, we might suffer a great deal of loss. Even though reasonable justification and external independence may be gained through promoting independence in operational control, it should be promoted in a longitudinal manner because national security problems and conflicts may be intensified, and there is no actual profit in doing so. Fourth, if the Korean-US alliance becomes weakened and therefore the United States decides to discuss eastern-asia strategies, North Korea deterrence strategies, and Japanese rearmament issues with other neighboring countries, South Korea may become diplomatically isolated and a subordinate to surrounding countries, destroying the independence we have now instead of restoring it Therefore searching for means to reinforce international trust and collaboration between South Korea and the United States, and leaving ROKA’s independence in operational control as a long term objective would be a more realistic method.

• International Journal of Advanced Culture Technology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.277-296
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• 2023

The South Korean ethnic diaspora US lobby shows efficacy as an interest group in generating influence in American foreign and domestic public policy making. The persuasive portrayal of South Korea as a critical Cold War US ally reinforced US amenability to pro-South Korea lobbying. Also, the South Korean US diaspora is a comparatively recent immigrant group, thus its lingering resistance to assimilation facilitates its political mobilization to lobby the US government. One source of this influence includes the foundational legacy of proselytizing Western and particularly American religious social movement representatives in Korean religiosity and society. US protestant Christianity acquired a strong public association with emerging Korean nationalism in response to Japanese imperialism and occupation. Hostility towards Japanese colonialism followed by the threat from Soviet-sponsored, North Korean Communism meant Christianity did not readily become a cultural symbol of excessive external, US interference in South Korean society by South Korean public opinion. The post-Cold War shift in US foreign policy towards targeting so-called rogue state vestiges of the Cold War including North Korea enhanced further South Korea's influence in Washington. Due to essential differences in the perceived historical role of American influence, extrapolation of the South Korean development model is problematic. US hegemony in South Korea indicates that perceived alliance with national self-determination constitutes the core of soft power appeal. Civilizational appeal per se in the form of religious beliefs are not critically significant in promoting American polity influence in target polities in South Korea or, comparatively, in the Middle East. The United States is a perceived opponent of pan-Arab nationalism which has trended towards populist Islamic religious symbolism with the failure of secular nationalism. The pronounced component of evangelical Christianity in American core community nationalism which the Trump campaign exploited is a reflection of this orientation in the US.

• Strategy21
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• s.37
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• pp.177-192
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• 2015

The Chinese government portrays the One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI) and South Korea President Park Geun-hae's Eurasia Initiative as a win-win opportunity which will hurt nobody's interests, but some South Korean commentators have interpreted it as much more than just a trade and development deal: they focus on the geopolitical implications and the possibility that the balance of power in Asia will be disturbed. South Korea depends upon its maritime-oriented Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC) in focusing on its alliance with the US to deter North Korean threats and explore its export-based economic growth and development, and yet cannot afford to be left out of these initiatives which could transform the economic and logistical linkage between South Korea and Europe. Given its negative reception by the some pundits, however, South Korea should be more precautious for expressing only full-fledged supports for the BRI and Eurasia Initiative. Opponents of these two initiatives doubt that its putative benefits can be realized, at least in the short term, arguing that creating the necessary rail interconnections may be too costly.

• Journal of Korean Society of Archives and Records Management
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.95-115
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• 2019

The relocation project of the US military base in South Korea is a large-scale national project aimed at ensuring a stable presence of US troops stationed in South Korea and strengthening the future-oriented Korea-US Alliance by relocating the US military base scattered across the country to Pyeongtaek. The purpose of this study is to examine the classification of records produced by various agencies involved in the relocation project, including the MND USFK Base Relocation Office that is the main body of the project, and provide basic data for systematic records management in the future. This study aims to ensure the people's right to know and achieve the objective of the transmission of the military documentary heritage at a macro level.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.55-83
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• 2018

This paper is written to identify the opportunities and risks of the declaration of the end of the Korean War with North Korea. The declaration has been seriously discussed in the course of negotiation for the denuclearization of North Korea especially in 2018. For this purpose, this paper revisits the concepts of related terms such as peace, peace regime, peace agreement and declaration of the end of war. It assesses the background and intention of North Korean request for the declaration. Then, it analyzes opportunities and risks regarding South Korea, if it agrees on the declaration. As a result, this paper found that declaration of the end of the Korean War could provide South Korea with opportunities such as a progress on the North Korean denuclearization, contribution to the peace regime on the Korean Peninsula and improvement on South Korea and North Korea relations. At the same time, the declaration could bring risks such as the dismantlement of the United Nations Command, demands of the withdrawal of US forces in Korea, a possible stop of North Korean denuclearization process and the weakening of South Korean peoples' awareness on North Korean threats. South Korea need to heed more on the risks than the opportunities, because the national security should be handled with caution.

• Strategy21
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• s.34
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• pp.5-25
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• 2014

On July 3~4, 2014, the Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Seoul might be seen as a step on the path toward strategic outcomes for both country. For South Korea, Seoul shrewdly retains some degree of self-reliance by balancing between ROK-China strategic cooperative partnership relationship and ROK-US alliance. For China, Beijing appears to put its interests on the Korean Peninsula increasingly within China's larger geopolitical influence. To what extent can ROK-China relationship maintain futuristic strategic cooperative partnership between them? As we observed joint press communiques of the Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit on July 3, 2014, four agendas of bilateral relationship between Seoul and Beijing can be identified: intractable rivalry between the two great powers, North Korea nuclear issues, disparities of their displeasure with Japan denying the past wrongdoing and enhancing its military capabilities and Chinese imposing of its core interests on its Korea policy. With these evolving strategic environments, however, China and the ROK appear justifiably be pleased with the state of their relations: their strategic cooperative partnership is the cornerstone of peace and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific or Indo-Pacific region and continues to grow broader and deeper.

• Korean Journal of Legislative Studies
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.53-75
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• 2016

This article presents a descriptive analysis on national security policy platforms promoted by the ruling parties of South Korea during general and presidential elections. National security platforms made during the elections campaigns are a window that allows us to see how the ruling party perceives the threat environment, opportunity-structures, policy preferences and material capabilities faced by the state. South Korea presents a unique case since it faces constant military threats from North Korea and interacts with China and the United States. Therefore, the national security policy platforms, which are explicitly campaigned during the general and presidential elections, showcases the worldview of the ruling party. The study essentially focuses on three areas of the platforms - its threat perception on North Korea, the ROK-US alliance and the future vision for the Korean peninsula by covering two presidential elections and three general elections for the last 20 years.

• Convergence Security Journal
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.83-93
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• 2017

The U.S.-China Relations could be analyzed two perspectives and their basis under major international p olitics theory-power transition with conditions: (1) North Korean's nuclear puzzle, (2) THAAD in the Kor ean Peninsula and (3) the U.S.-ROK Alliance. One perspective is the global order dominates the regional order, and then stable regional order comes out. The other is the regional order dominates the global ord er, and China wages a regional hegemonic conflict against the United States. Consequently, America's o verwhelming leadership in North Korean's nuclear, THAAD and U.S.-ROK Alliance as national power is expected to endure. But China also has expected empowerment and cooperation for the peace and stabilit y on the Korean Peninsula military problems. In this perspective, South Korea needs to pay attention to the changing power distribution and competition between the U.S. and China and needs to strengthen a balancing and harmonious diplomatic strategy, so called 'see-saw diplomacy'.