The Korea-US Alliance as a Source of Creeping Tension: A Korean Perspective

South Korea’s alliance strategies for the past several years have demonstrated that Seoul has a strong desire to maintain the US–South Korean alliance and to accommodate the US requests to transform the alliance. The Korean government accepted the flexible use of US forces in Korea and increased cooperation with the United States in developing antimissile shields. South Korea’s strategic choices have derived from the precarious situation on the Korean peninsula and the North Korean threat. Although the convergence of security interests between China and South Korea works against the transformation of the US alliance. North Korea’s provocations stimulate South Korea’s desire to maintain the alliance and limit the ability of South Korea to refuse the US requests.