[Column] Moment to bolster the seven-decade alliance

Choi Hoon
The author is the chief editor of the JoongAng Ilbo.

President Yoon Suk Yeol this week is on a state visit to the United States to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the alliance. The first provision to the Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation signed between the Joseon Dynasty and the United States in 1882 to pave the way for Korea’s first diplomatic relationship with a western country was clause on mediation. Article One provides that “there shall be perpetual peace and friendship” between the two countries and “if other powers deal unjustly or oppressively with either Government, the other will exert their good offices on being informed of the case to bring about an amicable arrangement, thus showing their friendly feelings.” According to records kept by Korean envoy Yi Beom-jin in 1896, then-U.S. President Grover Cleveland had responded to King Gojong’s letter by wishing for “perpetual friendship” in the spirit of signing the treaty.

The envoy from the hermit kingdom in the Far East 127 years ago wrote his impression of American democracy and freedom. “Legislators shrewdly defend themselves and criticize the other party, while the vice president sits quietly and listens to debates of others.” “The president, minister and senate chair puffing cigarettes in the same room, what strange equality,” he observed. The envoy concluded that the country was an “ideal society with everyone happy and content, and well-managed.”

Korea’s relationship with the U.S. since its victory in World War II — embroidered with Korea’s liberation from Japan’s colonial rule, its founding of the republic, the successful repelling of the communist aggression, and the economic development and democratization under the security guarantee — had been a blessing for South Korea. The two countries have good reasons to whole-heartedly celebrate the 70th anniversary of the special bond in Washington.

But there is a takeaway we must never overlook in relationship with the U.S. The choices the U.S. ultimately makes are entirely based on its practical interests in international politics. The U.S. playing the good guy is just a Hollywood stereotype. A pivotal lesson we learned from all the twists and turns in the 70-year relationship is that we must be strong on our own to survive.

President Yoon Suk Yeol, left, shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden before a summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in November 2022 on the sidelines of the Asean meetings in the city. Yoon is on a state visit to the United States for his fourth summit with Biden. [YONHAP]

In 1953 shortly after the Korean War, U.S.-educated founding President Syngman Rhee reminded the U.S. special envoy that the United States had betrayed Korea twice — during Japan’s annexation of Joseon in 1910 and the bisection of the Korean Peninsula in 1945 after the liberation. The president pressed hard for a mutual defense treaty, arguing that the armistice treaty could not prevent another invasion from the communists. The U.S. indeed had exchanged Joseon for the Philippines with Japan after the Russo-Japanese War.

President Park Chung Hee pursued independent nuclear weapons program during the 1970s to defend the country and peace amid the talk of a withdrawal of U.S. troops. He shared the skepticism of General Charles de Gaulle who had bluntly asked U.S. President John F. Kennedy if he would be willing to risk New York for Paris after the Soviets developed intercontinental ballistic missiles. But Park never saw through the mission due to U.S. oversight and his sudden death.

Kim Young-sam, who had led the main opposition against the Park Chung Hee military regime, doubted the U.S. as the defender of democracy. In an interview with the New York Times in 1979, he urged the U.S. to choose between a basically dictatorial regime and the majority who aspire democracy, referring to the military dictatorship maintained with the connivance of the U.S. Koreans’ suspicions about America’s identity as the defender of democracy deepened when the Ronald Reagan administration kept to noninterference on the civilian massacre in Gwangju on May 18 and a coup by the Chun Doo Hwan forces.

The rise of Roh Moo-hyun, a civil rights lawyer-turned-president, after the death of two teenage girls from a U.S. military vehicle added tension in Washington. But in his first visit to the U.S. in 2003, Roh recalled that he could have been a political prisoner “if not for the help from U.S. military 53 years ago.” While on his flight to the U.S., Roh raged against his diplomatic aide who advised him not to bring up such sensitive issues for smooth talks. But Roh surprised the people by agreeing to dispatch Korean soldiers to Iraq and initiating negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement with the U.S.

Presidents Yoon and Joe Biden meet against the backdrop of tumultuous developments in international politics. The Korea-U.S. alliance is being put to the test amid China’s saber-rattling towards Taiwan, Russia’s nuclear threat, closer Beijing-Moscow ties, and North Korea’s unceasing nuclear provocations. Skepticism over the U.S. security assurance deepened after the Taliban’s command over Afghanistan in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal of troops in 2021. Complaints are simmering over a chain of nationalistic legislations such as Inflation Reduction Act and the Chips and Science Act. In a poll last month, 64 percent of South Koreans favored Korea’s own nuclear weapons development.

The U.S. must reassure a rock-solid alliance through the momentum of the 70th anniversary. South Korea is the world’s 10th largest defense spender — and fifth largest in the ratio against GDP — all to defend free democracy. Washington must assure enhanced nuclear deterrence against ever-escalating North Korean nuclear threat. The U.S. also must respect Korean enterprises so that they are not victimized in the hegemony contest between the U.S. and China. That is the way to uphold the “perpetual friendship” in a show of goodwill.