South Korea: An Alliance in Transition

For sixty years, the United States has maintained an extensive network of military bases on the Korean Peninsula to ensure South Korea's security. An alliance that lasts for over half a century is likely to evolve as power configurations and the security environment change; this has certainly been the case for the U.S.–South Korea alliance. The location and number of U.S. troops in South Korea have been adjusted on several occasions, the command relationships have changed, and the scope of the alliance is beginning to shift as the two partners look at security in broader terms that go beyond solely what happens on the peninsula. All of these elements are signs of an alliance that is evolving from the patron–client relationship of old to a relationship that is more of a partnership. This chapter examines the key dimensions of this evolution as they alter the U.S. military presence in South Korea.