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1 1 (January 29, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govxyi0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Cogesoa Reeac Seric Updated January 29, 2019 South Korea: Background and U.S. Relations Over view 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, which is included under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. The U.S. -ROK economic relationship is bolstered by the U.S.- South Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). South Korea is the United States' seventh-largest trading partner, and the United States is South Korea's second-largest trading partner, behind China. After several years of close coordination, notably on North Korea, collaboration between the United States and South Korea has become more inconsistent and unpredictable under the administrations of Donald Trump and Moon Jae- in. Moon, a progressive, was elected in May 2017 after a decade of conservative rule in South Korea. On the one hand, the two leaders have found a number of areas of agreement and cooperation. In 2018, Trump and Moon reached an agreement over modifications to the six-year-old KORUS FTA. They also have aligned aspects of their approaches toward North Korea, with both pursuing a rapprochement with Pyongyang. The outreach has included a Moon-brokered June 2018 summit in Singapore between Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong-un, the first time leaders of the two countries have met, as well as three summits between Moon and Kim since April 2018. In these summits, inter-Korean relations have blossomed and Kim has pledged to work toward complete denuclearization if the United States takes corresponding measures. After months of stalled U.S.-DPRK negotiations, Trump in January 2019 said he and Kim will meet again, likely in late February. On the other hand, Washington and Seoul reportedly have made significant unilateral policy decisions without any or much prior consultation or coordination with each other. Critical differences remain on policy issues like whether and under what conditions to offer concessions to North Korea and how to share costs associated with the U.S.-ROK alliance. Some observers see a possible disconnect between U.S. and ROK priorities. Seoul has tended to emphasize creating a new peace regime and relaxing sanctions at the outset of negotiations (both of which also appear to be DPRK priorities). Washington has stressed denuclearization and delaying sanctions relief until Pyongyang denuclearizes. The U.S.-ROK military alliance also appears to be under some stress: despite months of negotiations, the burden-sharing agreement that divides costs associated with hosting U.S. troops expired at the end of 2018. With the status of cost-sharing uncertain and President Trump's stated preference to bring the troops home, some observers see a risk that the alliance could fundamentally shift. Potential tariff hikes on U.S. imports of autos and auto parts, including from South Korea, has also strained the relationship. The Trump Administration's tendency to change policy positions unexpectedly adds another element of uncertainty. North Korea Policy Coordination North Korea is the dominant strategic concern within the U.S.-South Korea relationship. In 2016 and 2017, North Korea conducted scores of missile tests and three nuclear weapons tests, demonstrating major strides in the ability to strike the continental United States with a nuclear-armed ballistic missile. The Obama and Trump Administrations responded by expanding multilateral and unilateral sanctions against North Korea. Moon supported Trump's maximum pressure campaign, but also retained his longstanding preference for engaging Pyongyang. During 2017, Trump Administration officials, including the President, emphasized the possibility of launching a preventive military strike. This possibility, which would risk triggering a North Korean retaliation against South Korea, appears to have convinced Moon that the United States, rather than North Korea, represented the greatest immediate threat to South Korean security. The combination of the fear of war, an ideological preference for engagement, and a belief that South Korea should shape the future of the Korean Peninsula drove Moon to improve inter-Korean relations and broker U.S.-DPRK talks. Kim Jong-un made these moves possible in early 2018 by dropping his belligerent posture and embarking on a charm offensive. Differences between Washington and Seoul ittps://crsreports.congressgc

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