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1 1 (October 25, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/govercr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated October 25, 2024 South Korea: Background and U.S. Relations Overview South Korea (officially the Republic of Korea, or ROK) is one of the United States' most important strategic and economic partners in Asia. The U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty, signed in 1953 at the end of the Korean War, commits the United States to help South Korea defend itself, particularly from North Korea (officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, or DPRK). Approximately 28,500 U.S. troops are based in South Korea. The economic relationship is bolstered by the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), implemented in 2012. In 2023, South Korea was the United States' seventh-largest trading partner (goods and services trade combined), and the United States was South Korea's second-largest trading partner, behind the People's Republic of China (PRC, or China). Over the past decade, congressional interest in U.S.-ROK relations often has focused on U.S.-ROK cooperation on North Korea, Indo-Pacific policies, the U.S.-ROK alliance, and U.S.-ROK trade and investment flows. ROK President Yoon Suk-yeol, in office since May 2022, is seeking to transform South Korea into a global pivotal state by raising its profile beyond the Korean Peninsula and becoming a more active U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific. U.S. President Joseph Biden and Yoon have forged closer cooperation on North Korea policy, including through bilateral and trilateral (with Japan) military exercises. They also have committed to strengthening economic security in line with U.S. efforts to promote technological development and supply chain resiliency. The increased U.S.-ROK alignment was on display during April 2023, when Biden hosted Yoon for a State Visit and Yoon spoke to a Joint Meeting of Congress. To address increased South Korean concerns about the credibility of the U.S. commitment to ROK security, Biden and Yoon issued the Washington Declaration on extended deterrence. In the document, the United States agreed to expand consultations with South Korea on the use of U.S. nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea restated its commitment not to develop nuclear weapons. Since the late 2010s, as North Korea has advanced its nuclear and missile capabilities, opinion polls have shown the ROK public supports developing indigenous nuclear weapons. In August 2023, Biden hosted Yoon and the prime minister of Japan at Camp David, the three countries' first-ever standalone summit meeting. The leaders announced a set of unprecedented initiatives for trilateral consultation and collaboration. In 2024, the three countries have deepened and expanded their cooperation. North Korea Policy Coordination Historically, North Korea has been the dominant strategic concern in the U.S. -ROK relationship. Whereas the previous ROK government emphasized diplomacy with North Korea, Yoon and Biden have emphasized deterrence. They have reactivated high-level consultations on extended deterrence under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and expanded the scope and scale of combined military exercises (including with Japan), which then-President Donald Trump and Yoon's predecessor had curtailed. The United States has increased deployments of strategic assets-such as nuclear-armed submarines-to South Korea, introduced new unilateral sanctions designations on North Korea, and proposed new DPRK sanctions measures in the United Nations. (China and Russia vetoed the attempt.) The two allies also have offered Pyongyang unconditional humanitarian assistance, and Yoon has pledged large-scale economic assistance if North Korea embarks on a genuine and substantive process for denuclearization. Biden Administration officials say they have reached out to North Korea, offering to meet without preconditions. Pyongyang largely has ignored U.S. and South Korean outreach. If negotiations restart, the Administration appears to envision offering some sanctions relief in exchange for steps toward denuclearization. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have increased since 2021. In the ensuing period, North Korea has test-launched more than 80 missiles, including multiple tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which are capable of delivering nuclear warheads. Analysts are concerned that North Korea may conduct its seventh nuclear weapons test. Kim has pledged to exponentially increase North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile and said he will never denuclearize. In 2023, North Korea declared that South Korea is a hostile state rather than one inhabited by fellow countrymen, and in 2024 warned of possible military actions in the waters surrounding the Korean Peninsula. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also has boosted relations with both Russia and China, including forging a new strategic partnership with Moscow that includes a mutual defense pledge in the event either country is attacked. Analysts worry that possible Russian transfers of advanced military technology, in addition to China's increased economic and diplomatic support, could boost North Korea's military capabilities and embolden Kim to conduct aggressive diplomatic, military, or other actions. In August 2024, Yoon announced a new vision of Korean reunification, saying he envisions a unified Republic of Korea, a goal some observers interpreted as entailing South Korea's absorption of North Korea. Subsequently, Yoon's Unification Minister clarified that the goal is not unification of the Korean Peninsula through force, but instead a gradual and peaceful unification. The new approach promises a more concerted push to improve human rights in North Korea, including increasing the North Korean people's access to information about the outside world and the Kim regime. https://crsreports.conqress.qov

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