ROK-US alliance evolves from security treaty to comprehensive partnership

Foreign Minister Pyon Yong-tae, front left, and his U.S. counterpart John Foster Dulles attend a press conference after signing the Mutual Defense Treaty between the two countries in Seoul in this June 1953 photo. Korea Times file

Relationship grows stronger as it endures 70 years of domestic, geopolitical tests

By Jung Min-ho

Upon signing the Mutual Defense Treaty with the U.S. in 1953 after the Korean War, South Korea's first president, Syngman Rhee, said that the agreement would make the war-torn nation prosper "for many generations to come."

Seven decades later, that message of hope rings true, as Yoon Suk Yeol makes a state visit to Washington as the president of one of the world's most prosperous countries and a believer in how much the successful partnership can achieve.

The two countries celebrate the 70th anniversary of what has expanded to become a comprehensive alliance encompassing a wide range of sectors from science to environment. Over the decades, their ties have been tested by many domestic and geopolitical challenges, only to grow stronger.

The defense pact was forged in direct response to protecting South Korea from North Korea and its communist allies during the 1950-53 war on the Korean Peninsula, where more than 36,000 Americans died. So the two countries often call it a "relationship forged in blood."

South Korean soldiers march during a send-off ceremony in Seoul before being deployed to Vietnam, in this Feb. 9, 1965, file photo. Korea Times file

The alliance entered a new phase when South Korea decided to send troops to support U.S.-led war efforts in Vietnam between 1964 and 1973, sending a total of nearly 350,000 troops ― the second-largest contingent of foreign troops after the U.S. More than 5,000 South Koreans died as a result of the conflict.

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But when the relationship was still developing and South Korea's defense reliance on the U.S. was too great, South Koreans feared the possibility of U.S. abandonment amid the shifting geopolitical situation, which was fueled by then U.S. President Richard Nixon's decision to reduce U.S. troops from their country in 1970. Likewise, President Jimmy Carter's efforts to fulfill his campaign promise to withdraw all U.S. forces alarmed them. For their relief and the alliance, Carter eventually nixed the plan.

A further complication came in the 1980s, when South Korea was going through a political tumult following a military coup led by General Chun Doo-hwan. Many activists for democracy were angered by U.S. inaction over the dictatorship forming and its human rights violations. Many in the liberal political camp started to view the U.S. as complicit, sowing the seeds for anti-U.S. sentiment, which has surfaced in South Korean politics periodically ever since.

Liberal activists put "No War" stickers on images of the faces of President Roh Moo-hyun and U.S. President George W. Bush in Seoul in protest of sending South Korean troops to Iraq, in this Sept. 25, 2003 photo. Korea Times file

Many were concerned that such sentiment would undermine the South Korea-U.S. alliance. Yet it did not materialize in formal diplomacy even under the rule of progressive President Kim Dae-jung or his successor Roh Moo-hyun, who even authorized dispatching a contingent of troops to Iraq at the request of U.S. President George W. Bush in 2004 despite opposition from his own supporters.

Meanwhile, South Korea's economy was developing fast while undergoing a political transition from authoritarianism to mature democracy. By the early 1990s, North Korea was no longer a viable competitor to the South in any economic sector. Nevertheless, the regime remained a military threat, which was stepping up its efforts to develop nuclear weapons and advanced missiles.

As South Korea's economy ― and, therefore, its global standing ― improved dramatically, the U.S.' view of the ally has also changed. The alliance outgrew its former patron-client status, and U.S. politicians started to acknowledge it and the importance of that partnership in Asia, a region where the U.S. faces increasing challenges from its hegemonic rival, China. Former U.S. President Barack Obama called South Korea "one of America's closest allies and greatest friends."

The most recent ― and perhaps most threatening ― crisis to the alliance came when Donald Trump was in office. He was considering pulling U.S. troops from South Korea and appeared to show little interest in providing protection against possible North Korean nuclear attacks.

An ad promoting the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-U.S. alliance is shown on an electronic board near the Press Center in downtown Seoul, Monday. Newsis

Such statements by Trump unsettled many South Koreans, who felt that the alliance might not be as strong or lasting as they would like it to believe. But his words were not translated into action, leaving the principles of the alliance intact.

Regardless of politics and geopolitics, the South Korean public remains grateful for what the U.S. has done, not just for protecting their country in the Korean War but also for the security guarantee that made their economic rise from the tragedy possible. According to a recent poll, nearly 65 percent of South Koreans said their country would have not been able to grow into what it is today without its alliance with the U.S. Nearly 95 percent said they would support strengthening or maintaining that relationship, with 89 percent picked the U.S. as Korea's No. 1 partner country.