이명박-오바마 정부의 한미동맹: 도전과 미래

Abstract

The alliance in the 21st century would be based on three legs: new security agenda; common values; and deepening economic ties. The 21st century strategic alliance between Seoul and Washington should be developed along those three dimensions in a comprehensive manner including the ratification of KORUS FTA. For the past several years, South Korea and the United States have shown the uni-dimensional focus on the nuclear issue, thereby hampering a comprehensive and strategic approach to the ‘North Korean question’ as a whole. The ROK-U.S. strategic alliance can also play its ‘regional’ role as an effective stabilizer against all struggles for regional hegemony between China and Japan. Since multilateral security cooperation can be instituted only when the ROK-US alliance is well maintained, South Korea’s security policy should be so directed. When a strategic alliance covers the human security issues that are being dealt with mainly by the multilateral forum, it is more likely to be compatible with multilateral security cooperation mechanisms.