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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


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