merging his party with two opposition parties; Kim Young Sam, a member of the new party, took office as president in 1993.
South Korean Relations with the United States
Relations with the United States are second in importance only to relations with North Korea. US armed forces are the prime guarantor of protection against a North Korean attack, and the US is also South Korea's most important trading partner. In 1991, the US withdrew its nuclear weapons deployed in South Korea; however, the Clinton administration pledged support to South Korea in countering any nuclear threat from North Korea. In 1994, the US announced the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries to help defend the country against a northern attack.
The US has also played an influential role in shaping the South Korean political system, which is patterned after the American presidential system. In 1987, in part due to Amer
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