| bibo:abstract |
U.S. Military Presence in a Unified Korea
저 자 명 : Kim Sung-han
날 짜 : 1999.06
Conclusion
The raison d'etre of the South Korea-U.S. alliance, which represents an important
element of Washington's Asia-Pacific strategy in the post-Cold War era, has been
sustained as inter-Korean relations have yet to depart from the Cold-War confrontation.
It is also true that there are limits to the alliance while various problems have emerged
in South Korea-U.S. relations due to differences in policy priorities of the two countries.
Therefore, South Korea and the United States should promote an engagement policy
toward North Korea with due patience, while at the same time strengthening their
alliance system and striving to develop a regional alliance capable of contributing to
regional stability in Northeast Asia. Security officials of both countries should engage in
close consultation and announce sometime in the future a "new Korea-U.S. security
joint statement" comparable to the "U.S.-Japan security joint statement," while
preparing to transform their bilateral relations into a new alliance based on a shared
new role for promoting stability and prosperity in Northeast Asia in the 21st century.
The U.S. forces in Korea, who have contributed immensely to ensuring stability on the
Korean peninsula, should continue to cooperate with the South Korean forces under the
South Korea-U.S. joint defense system so long as a threat from North Korea persists. Once this threat from the North dissipates, the scale of U.S. forces in Korea will
inevitably be reduced. But the continued presence in Korea of a symbolic number of U.S.
ground troops, along with naval and air force elements, even after Korean unification,
together with U.S. forces in Japan, (Re.8) will contribute to maintaining stability in
Northeast Asia.
(Remark 8) Regarding the question of the double presence of U.S. military forces in
Korea and Japan, the United States will have to consider the fact that Japan will remain
the sole country hosting the U.S. military presence when the United States withdraws
its forces from unified Korea. If so, opposing voices in Japan toward the U.S. military
presence will be stronger, thereby endangering the U.S. presence even in Japan. This is
not the scenario that China wants to happen, since Japan without the U.S. security
umbrella, would rapidly begin a military build-up. Thus, the question of U.S. military
presence in Korea and Japan should be treated as a single basket.
Since the present South Korea-U.S. joint defense system will have to be changed once
the threat from North Korea disappears, consultations should be held with the United
States to discuss the issues of restoring wartime operational control and improving the
South Korean military's ability to prepare for its own defense, manage command control
operations, and effectively gather and analyze intelligence.
The key to overcoming differences between South Korea and the United States in
policy priorities, as evidenced in the waging of a "triangular game" among North and
South Korea and the United States despite South Korea-U.S. concurrence in security
interests, lies in further cementing the South Korea-U.S. bilateral security alliance and
preparing to convert this alliance into a regional alliance system.
One thing that should be kept in mind in this process is that a multilateral approach to a
security system for Northeast Asia should be pursued in parallel with a consolidation of
the South Korea-U.S. alliance. South Korea's relations not only with the United States
but also with China, Japan and Russia should be handled with attention to detail under a
framework of South Korea's security policy structure. It is now time for South Korea to
lay the groundwork for long-term security programs by retaining cooperative relations
with the United States in regard to North Korean policy amid a changing security
environment in the post-Cold War era while preparing for new developments on the
Korean peninsula.
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