Company LOGO Amb. YIM Sung-joon Distinguished Professor together with Mr. AHN Yung-jip Deputy Director-General MOFAT And Mr. James WAYMAN Minister-Counselor US Embassy, Seoul

Table of Contents Amb. YIM Sung-joon Mr. AHN Yung-jip Mr. James WAYMAN 1. Introduction & Overview 2. Korean Perspective 3. American Perspective

1. Introduction & Overview 1.Introduction: “ What the US Means for Korea Now? ”  The ROK-US Alliance - To defend South Korea against North Korea - To address regional and global security challenges  The US-Korea Free Trade Agreement - To reboot a new bilateral & global trade effort - To increase 6% of Korea’s GDP ($ 7.5 b.) - +$10-12 billion to US GDP

 Global Partnership - UN PKO, ODA, Green Growth 2. An Historical Overview of the Korea-US relations “ How the US - Korea First Met? ”  The Korea-US War (1871) - The General Sherman Incident (1866) - The first US naval expedition to Choseun by Adm. Rogers

 The Korea-US Treaty of Friendship and Amity of Negotiations between Li Hung-chang and Commodore Shufeldt - The “good offices” clause (Article 1) and “ the dependence issues ” - Signing Ceremony (May 22, 1882) - Dispatch of the first Korean diplomatic delegation (Jul, 1883)

“ How the US Abandoned Korea? ”  King Gojong’s diplomatic policy - To use the US to check the influence of Japan, Russia and China

 The US policy of neutrality and non-intervention in the Korean affaire - The US considered Korea unimportant and American interests minimal - American diplomats in Seoul sympathetic with King Gojong: Dr. Horace Allen ( )

 President T. Roosevelt’s pro-Japanese policy gave a clear-cut green signal and a “free hand” to the Japanese in Korea - To mediate the Russo-Japanese war of The Taft - Katsura Memorandom (Jul. 1905)

 “ The Imperial Cruise ” by James Bradley, Alice Roosevelt (21) landed on Incheon on Sep Gojong tried to ask ‘Teddy’ to exercise his good offices and save Korea from Japan

『 The Imperial Cruise 』 by James Bradley, 2009

 Gojong, the helpless Korean Emperor signed the Treaty of Protection in Nov The Treaty of Annexation of 1910 ended the first 28 years of American-Korean relations

3. Korea’s “Second Unfortunate Encounter” with the US ( )  Allied Nations discussed about the Korean Independence issue - The Cairo Declaration by the US, UK and China, Dec “……in due course, Korea shall become free and independent ” - The Yalta Conference Feb. 1945: President Roosevelt Proposed a Trusteeship for Korea to Stalin

- The Potsdam Declaration Jul. 1945: The US, UK and China reaffirmed the Cairo Declaration and invited the USSR to participate in the war against Japan in the Far East  The US armed forces under Gen. McArther entered Seoul on Sep. 9 ending 35 years of Japanese occupation

 The US preseated the deadlocked Korean issue to the UN, calling for the establishment of a united Korean Government - But the Soviet Command denied the UN Commission : the establishment of the separate Governments of South and North Korea in 1948

 The US, seeking to transfer the burden to the UN, viewed the Korean problem as an “unhappy burden” and “a needless liability to the free world ”  The Acheson line : Secretary of State Acheson ….implied on Jan that the defense perimeter of the US in Asia no longer included either Formosa or Korea

- As of the outbreak of the war on June , the US armed forces were pulled out except 500 military advisors

4. Conclusion: Why the US abandoned Korea twice?  Korea fell primarily because of her own weakness and ineptitude  Roosevelt’s lack of sympathy and respect for Korea and pro-Japanese stance on Japan’s role in Korea encouraged the Japanese to nurture their ambitions in Korea  The lack of positive economic interests in Korea led to the absence of strong actions against the Japanese

 As early as 1947, US concluded that from the point of view of its own military security, it had little strategic interest in Korea  The Joint Chiefs of Staff judged that in the event of hostilities in the Far East, American forces in Korea would be a military liability

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