This study will provide a review and critique of a collection of essays, One Hundred Years of Korean-American Relations, 1882-1992, edited by Yurk-Bok Lee and Wayne Patterson. The essays examine various periods and aspects of the relations between the two nations in the century after the 1882 signing of the Korean-American (Shufeldt or Chemulp'o) Treaty.
The purpose of the book is to show "where the relationship has been, where it is, and where it is heading" and the essays "show the relationship to be a complex one, with disappointments and triumphs on both sides" (1). The essays deal with numerous issues, as stated, but they all emphasize the "duality and dominance" of the relationship. The duality refers to the fact that there are two Koreas and, therefore, two perspectives on the relationship between the United States and South Korea:
On the one hand, the South Korean government tends to characterize the relationship as one of equal partnership. where both sides share identical aims and problems are virtually nonexistent. On the other hand, the North Korean government tends to characterize the relationship in extremely negative terms (1-2).
Another aspect of the duality---existent long before the split in Korea between North and South Korea---involves the conflict of interests between the United States and Korea. Korea has only its own interests at stake, but the United States has a concern for both its own and Korea's interests. When the two interests collide, the United States pursues its own goals first and Korea's interests secondarily. For example, Korea wants to the United States to support it and take its side in every conflict, but since the very beginning of relations with Korea, the United States "had been content to allow the dominant power in the region to take the lead" because "the Americans had concluded that their interests in Korea were minimal and that it would be better to allow others to take the lead...