Myopia in Korea: The U.S.-South Korea Alliance and the Relationship Between Lyndon Johnson and Park Chung-hee, 1963-1969
Keywords:
Korea, Park Chung-hee, Lyndon JohnsonAbstract
This is an in-depth analysis of the relationship between South Korean President Park Chung-hee and US President Lyndon Johnson and how said relationship impacted the character of the U.S.-South Korea alliance. I use a variety of primary (mainly documents from the archives at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library) and secondary sources as I examine three specific developments (The Treaty on Basic Relations, Vietnam mobilization, and the security crisis of 1968) as inflection points in the history of the U.S.-ROK relationship. I specifically emphasize two main arguments throughout, although they may be a bit subtle at times: (1) By virtue of his identity as a strongman and staunch nationalist, Park's relationship with whoever was the U.S. president was nearly synonymous with the relationship between the ROK and the U.S.; and (2) The U.S.-ROK alliance was largely transactional in nature, i.e. grounded in a common desire to promote an anti-communist agenda vis-a-vis shared political and security interests and mutual acquiescence to demands and policy decisions rather than genuine goodwill -- I find that Park's embrace of the U.S. as his preeminent partner is a calculated but ultimately begrudging decision.