Economic and Military Aspects

J. Huang

Background

The Korean War started on June 25, 1950, and ended with the participation and intervention of various countries including the United States, China, and other countries in the summer of 1953. The impact it brought has continued. Some estimates place the number of South Koreans who died of all causes including disease, exposure, and starvation at nearly 1 million.^[1]. Everything was destroyed and changed by the three-year war. As a result of the Korean War, many refugees from the city were displaced and moved to the countryside and settled there. The influx of a large number of urban populations resulted in the occurrence of land reforms, and the rural areas were no longer under the control of ancient noble land families, adding more vitality. Most of the people who stayed in the city center were poor people. These people could accept more opportunities for economic and social development of new ideas influenced by democratic ideas and concerned. Politically, South Korea was ruled by a 78-year-old man President Syngman Rhee. He was intellectual, dynamic, and politically smart, despite being too rigid, authoritarian, and stubborn, which caused a certain political upheaval. South Korea needed a leader to establish a stable political system and leave poverty at that time. The future of South Korea looked grim: overcrowded, with limited resources, and artificially severed in half and cut off from the more industrial and developed North, with corruption and political unrest, and an economic depression. In this context, the United States’ relationship with South Korea, as a Western country with strong economic, political, and military power crucial to South Korea’s future development.

U.S.- South Korea relations

Political

After the Korean War, the South Korean government sought assurances that if a new war were to occur, the United States would defend South Korea. The United States and South Korea are allies under the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty. The treaty consists of a preamble and six main texts. The main contents are:^[2]

1. The Parties will consult together whenever, in the opinion of either of them, the political independence or security of either of the Parties is threatened by external armed attack. Separately and jointly, by self help and mutual aid, the Parties will maintain and develop appropriate means to deter armed attack and will take suitable measures in consultation and agreement to implement this Treaty and to further its purposes.
2. Each Party recognizes that an armed attack in the Pacific area on either of the Parties in territories now under their respective administrative control, or hereafter recognized by one of the Parties as lawfully brought under the administrative control of the other, would be dangerous to its own peace and safety and declares that it would act to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional processes.
3. The Republic of Korea grants, and the United States of America accepts, the right to dispose United States land, air and sea forces in and about the territory of the Republic of Korea as determined by mutual agreement.

Under the agreement, U.S. military personnel have maintained a continuous presence on the Korean Peninsula and are committed to help South Korea defend itself, particularly against any aggression from the North. The United States maintains about 28,500 troops in the ROK.^[3]. Moreover, South Korea was relieved to a certain extent when the United States stationed ground troops along the DMZ, such that in the event of another North Korean invasion of the South, American troops would suffer casualties, almost guaranteeing an armed American response.^[4].

Economic

At that time, the United States encouraged South Korea to establish trade relations with Japan to produce rice and seaweed and other agricultural products for the Japanese market. Rhee rejected the US proposal because of concerns that such trade relations would gradually turn South Korea into an economic colony in Japan. Instead, he long resisted U.S. aid and overvalued currencies to maintain the country ’s economy and his regime. In the 1950s, South Korea was one of the largest recipients of American assistance; Washington financed most of the ROK operating budget, paying the entire cost of its large military. With such aid, South Korea’s basic infrastructure was largely rebuilt by the late 1950s, bringing the country back up to its prewar level.^[5] The government gave out import licenses to favored businessmen to buy commodities. Since the official exchange rate of the South Korean won did not reflect any market reality, this meant that import licenses were highly profitable.

U.S.- North Korea relations

From the moment the US military first joined the war in June 1950, the United States fought a three year costly and bloody war with North Korea. Military intervention by United Nations forces, including the US military, completely defeated North Korea’s ambitions. On July 28, 1954, a day after the Korean armistice agreement was signed, Kim Il­ Sung, North Korea’s premier and chairman of the Korean Workers’ Party, claimed a great victory over the “U.S. imperialists, their South Korean lackeys, and the entire imperialist camp,” and he vowed to continue his struggle against the United States for the “liberation of the southern half of the Republic.”^[6] The signing of Mutual Defense Treaty also made North Korea more hostile to the United States. In 1950 and 1960, North Koreans showed extreme hostility towards the United States in severe verbal attacks and occasionally accompanied by military operations, always demanding the withdrawal of US troops and ending the United Nations intervention in South Korea ’s internal affairs. North Korea insisted that the U.N. Commission for Unification and Rehabilitation of Korea (UNCURK), which had replaced UNCOK, be abolished immediately, as they continued to regard the U.N. as an instrument of American “imperialistic expansionism.”^[7] In the early 1960s, the foreign policy of North Korea toward the United States mainly pursued two purposes: the withdrawal of US troops from South Korea and the establishment of direct contacts with Washington. It can be seen that North Korea expresses a strong hostility towards the United States on the surface yet also hopes to establish a direct relationship with Washington. Kim Il Sung invested his country’s resources in heavy industry and the military. In stark contrast to South Korea ’s export market economy, North Korea focused on self-sufficiency. Due to excessive investment in military construction, the focus on self-sufficiency and the focus on political control of technological expertise led to economic stagnation and then plunged the country into poverty and famine.^[8]

Conclusion

The origin of the US military presence in South Korea is the product of the US-ROK alliance and is an extremely important component and historical witness of the US-ROK security system. In October 1953, South Korea and the United States signed the “Mutual Defence Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea” in Washington to include South Korea in the US defense system. Since then, Americans directly determined the ideology, training methods, and organizational structure of the Korean army. More than half a century has passed, Koreans should realize that the security of the past half-century has benefited from the military defense capabilities based on the Korea-US alliance system, especially the undeniable military deterrent capabilities. This military deterrent capability provides a basic guarantee for South Korean’s political, military, economic, and cultural development, allowing South Korea to enjoy a high status internationally, and has grown into one of the “Four Asian Tigers.”

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