ABSTRACT
News images have dominated the idea of "Korea" in the American mind ever since the 1940s; foremost are images of the Korean War. Most Americans who know Korea have encountered it as adults, and of these, the majority are members of the military who recall yearlong tours of duty on bases surrounded by walls and barbed wire. With South Korea as America's seventh-largest trading partner, most Americans are familiar with Korean products. In 1982 the United States and Korea marked the centennial of their first "Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation." The April Revolution of 1960 and the ouster of President Syngman Rhee were widely reported in the American press, which described events in Korea as progress toward democratic development. New types of encounters with Koreans helped enhance the image of Korea as a modernizing country. Anyone active in Korean-American relations can attest to the improving image of Korea in the American mind during the late 1980s.
