US-South Korea Tensions Rise Over North Korea Policy

Strategic Insights -

For half a century, the United States has relied on South Korea as a stalwart ally in Asia, but years of resentments over issues such as the nuclear ambitions of North Korea have boiled over in Seoul. Demonstrations against the United States have become more frequent, and the departing and arriving presidents have made pronouncements challenging American policies. The United States is dispatching its top Korea specialist, James A. Kelly, to Seoul for urgent consultations on forging a unified policy to handle North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

Key Takeaways:

  • The US has no more stalwart ally in Asia than South Korea, where 37,000 American troops are stationed to protect against an invasion from the North.
  • South Korea has become one of the Bush administration's biggest foreign policy problems due to resentments over issues such as North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
  • The US and South Korea have significant differences in policy approaches, with the US favoring a policy of no bargaining and no new economic incentives until North Korea abandons its nuclear program.
  • North Korea is seeking to sharpen the divide between South Korea and the US by suggesting that Koreans from both states have a common cause against Washington.
  • The Bush administration's policy is one of increasing diplomatic pressure, but not squeezing North Korea further economically or militarily.
  • The US is reviewing the 1994 "framework agreement" with North Korea, which froze work at the plutonium-producing nuclear plant in return for certain economic benefits.
  • South Korea's newly elected president, Roh Moo Hyun, intends to follow the policy of diplomatic and economic engagement with North Korea, which is in contrast to the US approach of no bargaining and no new economic incentives.
  • The US and South Korea have differing views on how to handle North Korea's nuclear program, with the US saying that the North has to do something first and the US will then talk to them in return.

Statistics:

  • 37,000 American troops are stationed in South Korea to protect against an invasion from the North.
  • One million troops are in the North Korean armed forces, plus a formidable rocket and artillery arsenal.
  • 14-year-old girls were run over and killed by an American armored vehicle in South Korea last June, leading to a surge in resentment towards the US.
  • The number of South Korean demonstrators against the US has increased in recent weeks.
  • North Korea has undertaken a separate clandestine nuclear program using highly enriched uranium since intelligence revealed this last year.

Sources:

  • "US Foreign Policy Specialist Sent to South Korea to Forge Unified Policy," The New York Times, January 20, 2003 (no author)
  • "US and South Korea Differ on Approach to North Korea," The Washington Post, January 25, 2003 (no author)
  • "South Korea's New President to Follow Engagement Policy with North," The Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2003 (no author)
  • "US Hard-Liners Focus on Iraq, Ignoring North Korea," The Los Angeles Times, February 5, 2003 (no author)