U.S. Foreign Policy: The Case of South Korea
United States policy toward the ôTwo Koreasö has many dimensions which derive from the historical complexity of the situation, its strategic nuances, and debates between supporters of a continued alliance with South Korea and supporters of a new effort to ôreach outö to North Korea (Olsen, 2000). This brief essay will examine American foreign policy toward South Korea from the end of the Korean War to the present. The thesis will be advanced that the one consistent aspect of American policy that has not changed is an overt and pointed ôone-Koreaö policy in which American officials have made Korean unification secondary to recognition of Seoul as the legitimate government of Korea (Olsen, 2000).
After the Korean War was ended by a cease-fire, the United States introduced a number of foreign policy initiatives for South Korea that focused on stabilization programs, military support, and transfer of foreign private capital (Park, 1999). A defining characteristic of such policies was the belief, frequently expressed by Washington, that the only true and legitimate government in Korea was located in Seoul; this policy positioned the ôotherö Korea, North Korea, as an illegitimate entity in which an unauthorized government controlled territory that ôbelongedö to South Korea (Park, 1999). For the better part of a decade and a half, from the end of the Korean War to 1961, it as this ideological posture which underpinned all American policy impacting upon South Korea û including massive military aid and support in order to ensure that potential hostilities with North Korea would not erupt.
In 1961, Park (1999) states that the foregoing policies were replaced by American initiatives stressing South Korean economic development, social reforms, and long-range U.S. public assistance. During the administration of President John F. Kennedy, and in conjunction with the 1961 estab...