ABSTRACT
Two stages can be distinguished in the security cooperation between the Republic of Korea (ROK) and the United States since the signing of the ROK-United States Mutual Defense Treaty in October 1953. The first stage was characterized by a cold war environment, dominated by the United States and the Soviet Union, and a patron-client military relationship between the United States and the ROK. The second stage has been characterized by abalance-of-power relationship among the four major powers in the East Asian region-the United States, the Soviet Union, China, and Japan. Under the chill of a bipolar cold war between the United States and the Soviet Union, the Korean Peninsula had only a very limited strategic value to either nation as an outpost for their overall security interests in the Asian/Pacific region. With regard to the basic strategic framework of the ROK United States alliance, three differing concepts on the role of United States forces in the security of South Korea must be evaluated.
