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=== Cold War Korea ===
=== Cold War Korea ===
[[Image:Mangwol-dong-cemetery.JPG|thumb|right|150px|A cemetery in [[Gwangju]] where the graves of pro-democracy protesters lie.]]
[[Image:Mangwol-dong-cemetery.JPG|thumb|right|150px|A cemetery in [[Gwangju]] where the graves of pro-democracy protesters lie.]]
{{Main|Division_of_Korea}}
{{Main|Division of Korea}}


Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel escalated into open warfare when the North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.<ref name="Devine 2007 819-821">{{cite book |last= Devine |first= Robert A. |coauthors= Breen, T. H.; Frederickson, George M.; Williams, R. Hal; Gross, Adriela J.; Brands, H.W. |title= America Past and Present 8th Ed. Volume II: Since 1865 |publisher= [[Pearson Education|Pearson Longman]] |year= 2007 |pages= 819–821 |isbn= 0-321-44661-5}}</ref> It was the first significant armed conflict of the [[Cold War]] with extensive deployment of American and other troops.<ref name ="TruceTent">{{cite book |last =Hermes, Jr. |first =Walter |title =Truce Tent and Fighting Front |publisher =[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |year=1992| origyear = 1966| id = CMH Pub 20-3-1 |pages =2, 6–9 |url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/korea/truce/fm.htm}}</ref>
Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel escalated into open warfare when the North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.<ref name="Devine 2007 819-821">{{cite book |last= Devine |first= Robert A. |coauthors= Breen, T. H.; Frederickson, George M.; Williams, R. Hal; Gross, Adriela J.; Brands, H.W. |title= America Past and Present 8th Ed. Volume II: Since 1865 |publisher= [[Pearson Education|Pearson Longman]] |year= 2007 |pages= 819–821 |isbn= 0-321-44661-5}}</ref> It was the first significant armed conflict of the [[Cold War]] with extensive deployment of American and other troops.<ref name ="TruceTent">{{cite book |last =Hermes, Jr. |first =Walter |title =Truce Tent and Fighting Front |publisher =[[United States Army Center of Military History]] |year=1992| origyear = 1966| id = CMH Pub 20-3-1 |pages =2, 6–9 |url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/korea/truce/fm.htm}}</ref>

Revision as of 05:21, 2 August 2010

South Korea–United States relations
Map indicating locations of South Korea and United States

South Korea

United States

Relations between South Korea and the United States are informed positively and negatively by the 1945 agreement of the Allies to divide the peninsular along the 38th parallel.[1] During the subsequent four decades, South Korea experienced tremendous economic, political and military growth, and significantly reduced US dependency.

Historical background

Cold War Korea

A cemetery in Gwangju where the graves of pro-democracy protesters lie.

Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel escalated into open warfare when the North Korean forces invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950.[2] It was the first significant armed conflict of the Cold War with extensive deployment of American and other troops.[3]

After Korean War, many Koreans were sympathetic to the ideas of land reform, both goals of the People's Republic in the North. The U.S. supported the South Korea leader Syngman Rhee. However his position was increasingly challenged by popular demonstrations and he was also subject to charges of corruption and election fixing[4].

A group of military officers, lead by Park Chung Hee, seized power in a coup in 1960s to pursue a more independent path. Park increased the strength of the military and consolidated his power by amending the Constitution to loosen term limits.[5] Yet as much as he loathed dependence on the U.S., he felt it necessary against a stabler, richer, industrialized, and mineral-rich North Korea. South Korea would only outpace the North in the 1980s and 1990s.[6]

After general Park died in 1979, democrats held hopes for a liberal government that respected human rights. The military instead declared martial law again seized control of the government, appointing Chun Doo Hwan the leader. He wooed the support of the United States by promising strong ties, but the people protested since they thought that the U.S. should support democratic movements in the country. General Chun put down the protests, especially harshly in the city of Gwangju, with nary a word from the United States—a major cause of anti-American resentment today. Democracy and human rights did not improve, but Chun met with President Ronald Reagan who promised him "a mutually vital alliance and friendship."[7]

Issues

A South Korean speaks out against U.S. beef imports

South Korea and the United States have maintained strong ties. According to American think tank organization Pew Research Center, South Korea has one of the most favorable views towards the US country and people. (ranked within top 4 among the countries in the world) [8][9] Also, according to a Korean gallup poll, South Korea views the US as the most favorable country amongst the countries in the world.[10] The United States supported South Korea after 1945 as a "staunch bastion against communism", even when it was ruled by a dictatorship.[11] However, the relationship has not been without problems.

Racism

Increasing numbers of foreign residents have created racial tensions in South Korea, a society where "until recently people were taught to take pride in their nation's ethnic homogeneity"[12] After the Korean War, women who had sex with American GIs were despised, their "children were shunned as twigi, a term once reserved for animal hybrids"[12] Newspapers sensationalize stories of American English teachers committing sex crimes against Korean girls and women, and teachers have been forced to submit to HIV tests and deported.[13]

Environmental degradation

On February 9, 2000, the Eighth US Army Division ordered 20 boxes of formaldehyde, a toxic fluid, into the Han River. Korean environmentalist groups protested that it could be harmful to aquatic life forms, but the U.S. military insisted that it was diluted with water.[14] This incident was satirized in the 2006 South Korean monster film The Host, where a horrible mutated monster from the river menaces the inhabitants of Seoul.[15]

Beef controversy

The Government of South Korea banned imports of US beef in 2003 in response to a case of mad cow disease in Washington. The protests against U.S. beef recalled the student "pro-democracy" movements of the 1980s.

Security

Embassy of South Korea in Washington, D.C.

Diplomats in both countries maintain that the roughly 29,000 United States Forces Korea troops should remain in South Korea as long as Seoul wants them to deter North Korean aggression.[citation needed] The United States and South Korea agree less on control of the troops there. President Lee Myung-bak (2008–) broke from his predecessors in that he has pledged to renegotiate to delay South Korean wartime operational control of American soldiers. The United States is firmly set on transferring control on schedule in 2012.[16]

Still other policymakers felt that American troops should gradually be leaving the country. They argued that South Korea in the late 1980s was more capable of coping with North Korea which has a far smaller economy. In Washington, meanwhile, an increasing number of United States politicians advocated troop withdrawal for budgetary reasons. The consultations on restructuring the Washington-Seoul security relationship held during Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney's February 1990 visit to South Korea marked the beginning of the change in status of U.S. forces - from a leading to a supporting role in the country's defense.

See also

References

  1. ^ Boose, Donald W. Portentous Sideshow: The Korean Occupation Decision. Vol. Volume 5, Number 4. Winter 1995–96. Parameters. US Army War College Quarterly. pp. 112–129. OCLC 227845188. {{cite book}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ Devine, Robert A. (2007). America Past and Present 8th Ed. Volume II: Since 1865. Pearson Longman. pp. 819–821. ISBN 0-321-44661-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  3. ^ Hermes, Jr., Walter (1992) [1966]. Truce Tent and Fighting Front. United States Army Center of Military History. pp. 2, 6–9. CMH Pub 20-3-1.
  4. ^ Selden, Mark (2003). War and State Terrorism: The United States, Japan and the Asia-Pacific in the Long Twentieth Century. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 110. ISBN 0742523918.
  5. ^ Lee, Byeong-Cheon (2006). Developmental dictatorship and the Park Chung-hee era: the shaping of modernity in the Republic of Korea. Homa & Sekey Books. pp. 234–235.
  6. ^ Steinberg, David (2005). Korean attitudes toward the United States: changing dynamics. M.E. Sharpe. p. 119.
  7. ^ Kang, Wi Jo (1997). Christ and Caesar in modern Korea: a history of Christianity and politics. SUNY. pp. 117–120.
  8. ^ Opinion of the United States 2009 Pew Research Center
  9. ^ Opinion of Americans 2009 Pew Research Center
  10. ^ "한국에 긍정적 영향을 미친 국가는 미국 " 80.7% (80.7% Korean think US gave most positive influence to Korea)Template:Ko
  11. ^ Stockwell, Eugene (1976-05-01). "South Korea's leader Communism's best ally?". The Gadsden Times. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  12. ^ a b Sang-Hun, Choe (2009-11-01). "South Koreans Struggle With Race". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  13. ^ Glionna, John (2009-02-24). "Trying to teach South Korea about discrimination". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  14. ^ "The Eighth US Army Division Discharged Toxic Fluid (Formaldehyde) into the Han-River". Green Society. 2002-09-01. Retrieved 2010-04-10.
  15. ^ Jon Herskovitz (2006-09-07). "South Korean movie monster gobbles up box office". Reuters. Retrieved 2006-11-02.
  16. ^ Park, Du-shik (2010-02-10). "Seoul's Dilemma on Wartime Operational Control". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved 2010-05-02.