| Abstrakt: |
For the better part of the past half-century, the ROK- US military alliance has been the bedrock of South Korea's national security. However, some dramatic social, political, and economic changes within and outside the Korean Peninsula have turned USFK and the alliance into a high profile issue for the Korean public and a major diplomatic challenge for the governments of Korea and the United States. This paper addresses this very question from a variety of angles. It provides a brief historical account of the economics of the ROK-US military alliance and reviews the basic data associated with USFK, including stationing costs, etc. A proper valuation of USFK is critically tied to the interdependence between public perception and policy or policy coordination with regard to the future of the ROK-US alliance. Within this framework, we examine in some detail the “demand and supply” of anti-Americanism in Korea. Finally, we link this analysis to the valuation of USFK in order to account for the changes in public perception in recent months, i.e. the noticeably rapid decline in anti-American sentiments. While these changes are mostly event-driven, we draw the more general observation that in the long-term, American foreign policy, especially with regard to North Korea, and North Korea 's reactions, is the key factor in determining the value of USFK and the ROK- US alliance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER] |
