About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 1 (July 5, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemef0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con re &onoI fles horniig len I avede a 3rch Service since 1914 Updated July 5, 2023 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 the ROK. The economic relationship is bolstered by the U.S.-South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA), implemented in 2012. In 2022, 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.-South Korea trade and investment flows. South Korean 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 partner in the United States' Indo-Pacific strategy. Yoon issued South Korea's first-ever Indo-Pacific strategy in 2022. U.S. President Joseph Biden and Yoon have capitalized on greater U.S.- ROK strategic alignment by forging closer cooperation on North Korea policy through both 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. South Korea is one of 14 negotiating partners in the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) initiative, a proposed new trade and economic arrangement. The increased U.S.-ROK alignment was on display in April 2023, when Biden hosted Yoon for a State Visit. During his visit, Yoon became the 7th ROK president to address a Joint Meeting of Congress, and the first to do so since 2013. Biden and Yoon issued a broad joint statement proclaiming a global comprehensive strategic alliance. To address increased South Korean concerns about the credibility of the U.S. commitment to ROK security, they also issued the Washington Declaration on extended deterrence. In the document, the United States agrees to expand consultations with South Korea on the use of U.S. nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula and to enhance the regular visibility of strategic assets, including nuclear-capable weapons systems, deployed to the 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 strong support from the ROK public to build independent nuclear weapons. 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 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.) Alongside these steps, the two allies 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. Since the collapse of Trump's diplomatic engagement with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in 2019, however, 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. Since the start of 2022, North Korea has test-launched more than 80 missiles, including multiple tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which are capable of delivering nuclear warheads, and has boosted relations with Russia and China. Analysts are concerned that North Korea may conduct its seventh nuclear weapons test, which would be the first since September 2017. In 2022, Kim pledged to exponentially increase North Korea's nuclear weapons stockpile, said he will never denuclearize, and promulgated a law expanding the conditions under which North Korea would use nuclear weapons to include non- nuclear attacks and situations that threaten the regime's survival. Pyongyang continues to evade sanctions and conduct illicit activities to raise funds. U.S-South Korea Security Issues The Biden Administration has worked to repair and expand the alliance, which had been strained under Trump, prompting the 115th and 116th Congresses to impose conditions (via National Defense Authorization Acts) on the President's power to withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea. In 2021, the Biden Administration concluded a cost- sharing negotiation with South Korea-an earlier agreement had expired in 2019-that boosted South Korea's contribution to alliance costs by 13.9%. The ROK traditionally has paid for about 50% (over $800 million

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most