United States Forces Korea Withdrawals: A Comparative Study

Abstract

Abstract United States Forces Korea Withdrawals: A Comparative Study

Moira Alice Kelley Department of International Studies, International Cooperation Major Graduate School of International Studies Seoul National University

The United States (US) has played an essential role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. Following the end of the Korean War in 1953, the newly formed South Korean government heavily depended on the military and security support of the US to deter possible aggression from its northern hostile neighbor, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea or DPRK. The US ultimately established a fully functioning security structure that worked alongside the continuously forming Republic of Korea (ROK) Army. The United States Forces Korea (USFK) presence along with the ROK Army became a permanent military fixture on the Korean Peninsula. However, since the end of the Korean War, the US has implemented several strategic withdrawals of US forces. Through numerous US and ROK administrations, the USFK drawdowns have proved to be a topic central to US-ROK bilateral talks. Major drawdowns began immediately following the Korean War under the US Eisenhower Administration and have continued through the former Bush, Jr. Administration. These withdrawals persisted despite outspoken concern from the South Korean government and while North Korea continued to pose a serious nuclear threat to the world. Research on each administration from Dwight Eisenhower to current US President Barack Obama found that the obvious overarching theme of confidence in the South Korean military capabilities and its exponentially strengthening economy littered the rhetoric of each withdrawal announcement. However, confidence has only served as a pillar to a series of administrative-specific philosophies that have contributed to the USFK withdrawals since the end of the Korean War.