The Korean conundrum : America's troubled relations with North and South Korea

For Over Fifty Years One Of America's Key Security Commitments Has Been To Protect South Korea From North Korea. A Product Of Happenstance Brought On By The End Of World War Ii And Frozen In Time By The Cold War, The Division Of The Peninsula Once Played A Key Role In America's Containment Of Global Communism. Now, Over Ten Years After The Fall Of The Soviet Union And The End Of Communism As A Serious Threat To Liberal Democracy, The Tensions Between The Two Koreas Are A Problem From Another Era. With Two Heavily Armed Opponents, North Korea's Nuclear Pretensions, And A Sizeable Contingent Of U.s. Forces Added To The Mix, Korea Remains An Unstable And Dangerous Flashpoint. The United States Seems To Be Heading Directly Toward A Confrontation With North Korea, As Koreans In The South And Nations Around The World Anxiously Witness Mounting Tension. Carpenter And Bandow Take A Look At The Twin Crises Now Afflicting U.s. Policy In East Asia : The Reemergence Of North Korea's Nuclear Weapons Program And The Growing Anti-american Sentiment In South Korea. They Question Whether Washington's East Asia Security Strategy Makes Sense With American Forces Spread Thin With The Iraq War And With The Looming Prospect Of U.s. Troops Stationed In South Korea Becoming Nuclear Hostages. Carpenter And Bandow Put Forth The Most Provocative Solution Yet To This Gnarled And Dangerous Situation.--jacket. Growing Tensions With Both North And South Korea -- The North Korean Nuclear Crisis : Then And Now -- Options For Dealing With North Korea -- South Korea As A Security Free-rider -- Time For An Amicable Divorce -- Forging A New U.s. Strategy In East Asia. Ted Galen Carpenter And Doug Bandow. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [189]-210) And Index. This book discusses the twin crisis now afflicting U.S. policy in East Asia. One crisis is the re-emergence of North Korea's nuclear-weapons program and the dangers it poses. The other crisis is the growing anti-American sentiments in South Korea. The book also questions whether Washington's East Asia security strategy makes sense any longer given the possibility of a nuclear-armed North Korea and the fraying ties between the United States and South Korea. The prospect of U.S. troops stationed in South Korea becoming nuclear hostages makes it imperative to reconsider U.S. policy on the Korean peninsular and throughout East Asia. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Acknowledgments......Page 7 Introduction......Page 8 1 Growing Tensions with Both North and South Korea......Page 16 2 The North Korean Nuclear Crisis: Then and Now......Page 46 3 Options for Dealing with North Korea......Page 78 4 South Korea as a Security Free-Rider......Page 108 5 Time for an Amicable Divorce......Page 130 6 Forging a New U.S. Strategy in East Asia......Page 152 Notes......Page 174 C......Page 218 F......Page 219 K......Page 220 M......Page 221 N......Page 222 S......Page 223 T......Page 224 Y......Page 225 An analysis of the United States's troubled relationship with North and South Korea discusses North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the growing anti-American sentiment in South Korea, and Washington's East Asia security strategy. By the co-author of Bad Neighbor Policy. The United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) have been allied for more than a half century.