South Korea and the United

South Korea and the United States South Korea and North Korea, the two parts of the peninsular nation called Korea who shared identities for more than 5,000 years, have still not recovered completely from the fight for the division of the borders between them, fifty years after the War that took place called the 'Korean War' that started in June 1950.

However, it has been noticed, in recent months, that the tensions between the two sides are in fact subsiding to a certain extent, and a series of historic incidents point towards this fact.

People from one side were allowed to meet their relatives and friends on the other side for four days at the border, an old cross border railway line that had been in existence years ago in the past has been scheduled to be repaired and reconstructed, and several meetings are now being held by officials on both the sides to bring about more reconciliation between North and South Korea.

A historic Summit was held for the purpose of discussions between these leaders, and a landmark agreement was signed to try to further relations between both the sides. The Korean War had left North Korea embittered and desolate with a lack of sufficient resources for food and water and clothing for her citizens and turned her into a communist dictatorship, while South Korea became turned into a capitalist democracy with dynamism and the knowledge needed for entry into the digital technology era.

How did all this come about, and how did Korea become divided? Repeated attacks by Japan as well as Russia on Korea may have contributed towards the split to some extent. With the capture of Korea by Japan in 1910 there followed years of oppression, and it was only after the Second World War that Korea was finally freed of the domination and oppression of Japan.

(Crossing the Great Divide) After the War, the United States as well as the Soviet Union pledged that Korea would be considered an independent state from thenceforth. However, this was not to be, because when the Soviets began to move into Korea after the debacle of the atomic warfare in Hiroshima in the year 1945, the U.S.A. realized that she had to take some action, and fast; otherwise, the Soviets could very well occupy the entire Korean peninsula themselves. At the time, U.S.

troops were not available, and as a temporary measure, the U.S.A. commanded and engineered a division of the peninsula at the thirty eighth parallel so that two different zones of occupation: the North and the South would be created. The soviets complied with this rule, and they occupied the North of Korea, while the troops from the U.S.A. ended up occupying the South of Korea.

These two separate occupational zones, originally meant as a mere convenience to accept the surrender of the Japanese, became a firmly divided region, with North Korea, backed by the Soviets declared itself the 'People's Republic of Korea' in 1948, and South Korea, backed by the United States of America becoming the 'Republic of Korea'. With the starting of the Korean War, the divide became even stronger. The Korean War, though it did not solve any of these problems between the two factions, it did leave about 2.3 million Koreans dead and dying.

About 37,000 U.S. troops were killed, and about a 103,000 U.S. soldiers were seriously wounded. Apart from this, more than 900,000 Chinese troops were killed, and Turkey and France and Britain and Greece and Australia and some other UN countries together lost about 2,000 to 3,000 troops. (Crossing the Great Divide) What actually happened during the Korean War that left so many people dead and wounded? The Korean War is often referred to as the 'forgotten war' because of the lack of attention it received from the rest of the world.

The most important fact about the Korean War is the entry of the United States of America into the 'Cold War' that was taking place at that time. (Examining the Korean War) the book entitled 'Witness to War' by Robert Paschall describes the Korean War in great detail with several first eyewitness accounts. The book starts with the description of the scene of the War just some time after the action had taken place there. It describes in detail how Americans charged on Chinese soldiers.

The Americans put up a great show of courage and determination even while they were losing their weapons and being injured by the charge that was taking place. The author describes how one soldier in particular kept going even when his machine gun had become useless after a Chinese bullet managed to penetrate and damage it. This brave soldier continued to fight with his pistol, and when the ammunition was exhausted, with grenades. That battle on that day ended with soldiers fighting each other with bayonets.

Paschal states his feelings on the War thus: though the U.S.A. is known all over the world for its immense wealth and power, it did manage to neglect the important issue of the training of its infantry. The infantry's prowess during this war was not up to the mark, he felt, and the success or failure of the war was depending on the infantry since most of the battles were being fought on foot.

(a Critical Review of 'Witness to War, Korea) There is a general opinion that the Pacific War had dragged on for far longer than was necessary, and the Japanese had been willing to surrender a long time before they actually did, if their terms that the Emperor would remain in his position had been accepted earlier. In fact, this was what led to the occupation of Manchuria as well as the division of Korea into two factions, the North and the South.

With the occupation of North Korea by the Soviets, there grew tensions along the border, and there was a virtual Cold War taking place between the two sides, and since the Koreans are a nation of proud people, they were naturally resentful of those who had caused this division, the United States. The Americans in the meanwhile took an easy way out, and appointed the Japanese as administrators of local affairs in South Korea.

At this time there was a strange argument among the leaders of the world that America had to be 'disarmed' if there was to be world peace, while Russia had to be 'armed' as a buffer zone. As a result, the U.S. troops were deprived of heavy artillery, just in case they decided to attack the North for any reason. However, the opposite happened, and the North attacked the South in 1950, and this was the Korean War.

Both Stalin and Mao had expressed their concern for the South even as they knew that Sung was planning his attack. Stalin was afraid of American intervention during the attacks, and Mao simply did not want any fighting along his borders. However, Mao used this chance to rally the Chinese with Korea, while Stalin was aware of the fact that the attack would estrange China fro America, and this would only be an advantage to him. During the Korean War, Seoul was evacuated of U.S.

personnel, and this was done by the cruel method of just pushing them all into one small freighter, even as the NKPA armies approached the South for carrying out its campaign of attacks. MacArthur arrived at the scene of the fighting and was appropriately distressed. Sung's army from the North trampled upon both ROK as well as U.S. troops, and the U.S. army was vanquished. Why did this happen? Quite a few causes have been stated for this defeat, one among them being that the U.S.

troops were not armed properly and adequately, and the infantry was not well trained. The second reason often stated is that the troops from the North were familiar with the terrain that consisted of forests and ridges, and this helped them in their movements, while the U.S. troops were quite unfamiliar with the entire terrain. In all this period of time also known as the 'blitzkrieg' proved to be horrendous for both the North and the South.

The division between the two sections of Korea became worse, and the several prisoners of war were treated with such inhumanness that it is said that its actually unparalleled in history. Thus the Korean War ended with deaths of more than a few thousands of U.S. soldiers. The problems between the two sides were still left unsolved, and it was only recently that there have been some small attempts to try to sort out the problems and mend the divide.

(Roughstuff's Summary and Analysis of the Korean War) What is a war good for, after all? From 1950 to 1953, the Korean War was fought, and when the UN approved of U.S. troops fighting the North Koreans in their attack against the South Koreans under the Commander MacArthur, peace was lost, lives were lost or damaged.

An 'armistice' was signed in 1953, and this detailed that the two Koreas would be kept separate by the 38th parallel, and friends and relatives were cruelly separated from one another, some never to see each other ever again. The after effects of the Korean War can also be seen in the Gulf War that took place in the years from 1990 to 1991 between the Allied Forces and Iraq, and when Kuwait was invaded by Iraq for the purpose of capturing her oil fields, the U.S.

got interested again and tried to interfere, and in 1990, the President Bush sent U.S. troops to the Middle East. The UN declared a deadline for Iraq to quit Kuwait, but war broke out anyway. It is the general opinion today that when the U.S. carries out attacks on quarrelling countries in this manner, there will be war. The Korean War is one such example.

(War, what is it good for?) However, one good effect that came about because of the Korean War is that the Military Industrial Complex' that was actually in a state of slump due to the War became more energized and measures were taken to improve the U.S. Army and the Navy, and several Air Groups were deployed to Europe, the Middle East including Asia and Vietnam.

The general view that American had had of the so-called 'Third World' was changed for the better, like for example in Indochina, where the actions of the French that had been criticized until then came to be supported thereafter. (Korean War) The United States affects South Korea today in quite a few matters. For example, in the matter of military assistance offered to South Korea by the U.S.A., the U.S.A. plays a predominant role.

It is a fact that 'communism' collapsed and came to an end in the year 1990, but the dominance of the status quo in Northeast Asia still remains as it always has been. The various security measures that had been installed following the Korean War remain as they are, these being the deployment of U.S. forces, the various bi-lateral security measures, the maintenance of strategic stability, and a drastic restructuring of U.S. troops posted in South Korea.

South Korea has been forced to acknowledge the fact that her security policies have to be reviewed and changed wherever necessary, and also that the economic and political and also strategic issues that involve China have become extremely complex and difficult to handle. Therefore, a sort of interdisciplinary approach is necessary to handle all of these issues, and a variety of strategies and plans have to be combined together in order to achieve this.

The Republic of Korea, if she wants to enjoy wealth and economic prosperity in the future, will eventually be based on the responses of China to these issues. When taken in another perspective, Korea and USA have formed an alliance over the past fifty years that is in fact a deviation from the generally trodden path taken by Korea all throughout its richly cultural history.

The centuries of suzerainty that Korea suffered under China were only replaced by the severe colonialism under Japan, and, there finally came the partition of Korea into North and South. Korea is now faced with the important question of whether to prolong the ties that she has had with the United States of America during the past few decades, under which she had been enjoying hitherto unprecedented security furthered by the military assistance offered by the U.S.A., and also a better economy and better political perceptions.

(Managing U.S.-ROK Cooperation on Relations with China) Therefore the issue facing Korea today is whether to continue with these bonds in the twenty first century, or whether to strengthen ties with her age-old patron, China. South Korea has to bear in mind the factor of continued war with North Korea, and whether she has the capability of fighting such a war, and whether she has the facilities and the resources to face war of this kind.

She also has to consider the fact that her security options are not as they must be, and over the next few decades she has to be very careful and aware of this fact. However, even while the issue of continued alliances with the United States is being debated and discussed, certain incidents that have occurred in the meanwhile have to be taken into account too.

One such incident is the terrorist attack that took place in the Pentagon and in the twin towers of the World Trade Center in the U.S.A. On September 11, 2002 by Islamic Fundamentalists that left more than 3,000 people dead and more wounded and maimed. After this incident, the U.S.A. has fortified her troops and has addressed the issue of additional security for her country with added zest and zeal.

This has, despite the fact that Korea is in desperate need of fortifications and deterrents on her peninsula, the United States has concentrated more on global security than on Korea's needs, and this has become blight on the relationship between the U.S.A. And the Korean Peninsula in terms of military assistance and aid and improved security measures. The truth is that the priorities of the U.S.A. have undergone a change, and as the U.S.A.

now concentrates all her energies on the issues of fighting terrorism, and on the various weapons of mass destruction, and on the initiatives to be taken for proliferation, the alliance has taken a back seat for now. (Managing U.S.-ROK Cooperation on Relations with China) Another factor to be considered is that when U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced after the Korean War that the U.S. troops would be withdrawn from South Korea, and rescinded his statement, the alliance between the U.S.

And the Koreans was considered to be unchangeable and permanent. This may be due to the continuing threat from North Korea to the South Koreans and the exacerbation of this danger after Pyongyang's WMD in the 1990's and the several nuclear weapon programs brought out at this time. FOTA or the 'Future of the ROK Alliance Policy Initiative' was signed at this time, and Seoul and Washington agreed to it in 2004 to reinforce the 'Second Infantry Division' to the South of Seoul by the end of the year 2008.

There has been widespread criticism on the subject, however, and some persons like the Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld have been arguing constantly that the U.S. advent into Seoul has to be reduced so that newer and better political strategies may be implemented sooner rather than later. The final verdict is that it is very nearly inevitable that this sort of a forcible reduction in the armed U.S.

troops in South Korea would be carried out, and that it is even a very real possibility that the Second Infantry Division may finally be withdrawn form Korea. The Roo My Hoon Government took over South Korea in 2003, and this has changed the very core of the thinking of South Korea. The U.S.

And Korean Alliance has been rocked by various political troubles and tensions since its inception during the 1950's, and despite opinions to the contrary, Korea has in fact been supporting the alliance, and this despite the vehemently anti-American feelings that persist in the minds of quite a few south Koreans who still seem to blame the United States for the splitting up of Korea into two different parts before the Korean war in the 1950's, and although most Koreans feel that it is of utmost importance to maintain the alliance and the relationship with the United States so that a strong military presence would be felt in the south of Korea when there was any type of threat towards her security, there are some who feel that the alliance must be reconsidered as of now and redefined.

(Managing U.S.-ROK Cooperation on Relations with China) The Roh government in South Korea has in fact redefined the Korean- U.S. alliance already by stating that South Korea must formulate her own security policy, also known as 'alliance lite' while maintaining more self-reliance and better defense strategies while at the same time preserving all the better parts of the alliance with the U.S.

Therefore it has been the widespread thought that after the National Assembly Election on the 15th of April, it would no longer be possible to protect the alliance from the polarization of the security issues in South Korea and to leave the alliance, as it is, totally unaffected.

There will be changes, and even though the United States of America will never withdraw assistance nor will she break the alliance with south Korea, the innate workings of the alliance and the offers of assistance would be changed according to the changing conditions of today where USA herself has suffered a major security threat and is concentrating all her energies on the 'War on the fight Against Terrorism'.

There is no longer any doubt that the alliance has to be re configured in a manner that would be suitable for the twenty first century.

There are certain events and actions that have to be considered before any action can be taken, and the confluence of emerging forces, like for example the future pathways that may be made into North Korea, the creation and growth of certain major forces in south Korea like the emerging of the left as a strong force in political activities in the south and the resultant repercussions on the alliance, certain important developments regionally as well as in mainland China including that of the emergence of competition for power, and so on.

The innate truth is that South Korea has to rethink its security issues and decide on the conditions of the alliance with the United States of America and whether or not to continue on the same terms as it has been doing for the past few decades or to change it in some parts only. The choices and the decisions that South Korea makes today will stand her in good stead through the future years whenever there is a threat to her security and the well being of her people.

(Managing U.S.-ROK Cooperation on Relations with China) As far as the issue of economic aid for South Korea is concerned, the U.S.A. is the most important economic partner of South Korea and is also one of the leading investors in the South Korean market, having invested $20 billion dollars in foreign direct investments into South Korea over the past seven years.

South Korea is in fact the seventh largest trading partner of the U.S.A., which is a few steps ahead of European countries like France as well as Italy, and is also the second largest export market for the U.S.A., and a very important source of imports and foreign investments. However, nothing happens without repercussions, and it is a fact that as the economic interactions between the two countries increased so did the disagreements and arguments over the trade policies to be followed.

South Korea adapted the policy of sweeping economic reforms as 'quid pro quo' for the receipt of a $58 billion from the International Monetary Fund-IMF after her economy suffered from a near collapse in the year 1997. (South Korea-U.S. Economic Relations: Cooperation, Friction, and Future Prospects) After this event, the trade relations between the U.S.A.

And South Korea seem to have become more amicable and friendly, and this may be in part due to the starting of quarterly bilateral trade meetings that are being held as part of the process of improving and changing the trade relationship between the U.S.A. And South Korea so that both sides benefit equally and remain amicable in the future also. What must be remembered is that the U.S.A.

And South Korea have been allies for the past few decades, after the Korean War was fought between the north of Korea and South Korea. (South Korea-U.S. Economic Relations: Cooperation, Friction, and Future Prospects) The 'Mutual Defense Treaty' was signed by both USA and South Korea in 1954, whereby when any one of the countries were to be attacked by a third party, then the other would rise to the defense of that country.

By the year 1960, South Korea had demonstrated excellent economic growth, and it became known as one of the world's best and largest industrialized countries. The alliance between the two countries has not been broken and to date they remain the most important trading partners to each other over the past few decades up to today. In the statistical figures measuring the trade between the U.S.A.

And South Korea, the fact that almost $60 billion was passing between USA and South Korea by virtue of their being trade partners astonished economists. The South Korean market stands at the fifth place for Californian traders, at the second place for the traders of Oregon, and at second place for almost all of the agricultural traders and exporters for the entire area of the U.S.A. However, the fact that South Korea is very much dependent on the U.S.A.

For finance is not very well-known, in fact the dependence is only on the part of South Korea and not by the U.S.A. Though USA has retained its position as the premier trading partner of South Korea all these years, it was in the year 2003 that China managed to replace America as the number one export market for South Korea. All the disputes and disagreements that had been taking place between the U.S.A.

And South Korea came to a reasonable stop with the enactment of the sweeping set of economic reforms that brought in hordes of foreign investors who became important shareholders in quite a few large corporations in South Korea, also known as 'chaebol'. These foreign investors now hold more than 40% of the total shares being offered in the South Korean stock exchange market, and also own more than one third of the entire banking industry of South Korea. (South Korea-U.S.

Economic Relations: Cooperation, Friction, and Future Prospects) The President of South Korea, Roo Moo-Hyun, has pledged that he will carry out even more extensive economic reforms in his country so that his aim of raising the per capita gross domestic product, in other words, the GDP to $20,000, and also of making South Korea one of the most important economic.