CIAO DATE: 04/02

The Origins and Evolution of the Korean-American Alliance:
A Japanese Perspective

This paper examines the importance of the Korean-American alliance for Japan from a historical perspective.

The U.S.-Japan alliance is important for the security of South Korea because it provides logistic support for the U.S. activities on the Korean peninsula. This is obvious if we look into the reasons why the Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation were revised in September 1997. At the same time, the U.S.-ROK alliance is also important for the security of Japan because it functions as a buffer or shield for Japan. Bounded on the north by China and Russia, and only thirty miles from the closest Japanese island, the Korean peninsula is the fulcrum where the major powers' interests in Asia converge. Tokyo is about one hour from Seoul by jet aircraft.

Nonetheless, Tokyo has been very reluctant to express its concern for the security of the Korean peninsula–at least in public. Tokyo has occasionally done so in the context of U.S.-Japan relations. When Tokyo feels the necessity to sustain a credible U.S. defense commit-ment to Japan, it tends to express Japan's security concern over the Korean peninsula. Once declaring that security concern, however, Tokyo seems reluctant to assume real responsibilities on the peninsula.

If alliances are "marriage of convenience," they are faced with various dilemmas. Glen Snyder points out a typical security dilemma in alliance politics: that between "abandonment" and "entrapment." The former is the fear that an ally may leave the alliance or may not fulfill its obligations. The latter refers to "being dragged into a conflict over an ally's interests that one does not share, or shares only partially."1 In the U.S.-Japan alliance, Japan has been more concerned about entrapment. But in the U.S.-South Korea alliance, South Korea has been more worried about being abandoned. Japan's reluctant attitude toward the security of Korea represents its fear of entrapment.

In this paper, I will trace Japanese reactions to the U.S.-South Korea alliance by focusing on two discrepancies: the discrepancy between Japanese and American attitudes and that between Japan's declaratory and actual policies toward the security of Korea. These discrep-ancies stem from the dilemma in the U.S.-Japan alliance: while Japan does not want to be dragged into a military conflict in Korea, it needs credible security ties with the United States. In particular, I focus on Japanese reactions to President Jimmy Carter's decision to withdraw U.S. ground combat forces from South Korea in the late 1970s. This is interesting as a case study because this decision had a serious impact upon the U.S.-South Korean alliance, and also because the late 1970s witnessed sea changes in Japan's defense policies. Both the National Defense Program Outline (NDPO) and the "Guidelines for U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation were adopted in this period.

Before entering into the case study, we need to trace the historical background of the U.S.-ROK alliance and Japan until the 1970s, dividing the period into several phases.

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