ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the different roles played by the United States in inter-Korean relations. The discussion in Korea and the United States on anti-Americanism is akin to a train wreck in slow motion. The United States role in inter-Korean relations during the Cold War was a dual one that featured not only containment of the North but also restraint of the South. The time periods for the United States role as co-container, facilitator, and impeder roughly correspond to major breakpoints in twentieth-century international relations. The role played by the United States on the peninsula is as an "impeder" of North-South relations. The United States as a facilitator of inter-Korean relations became most relevant in the immediate post-Cold War years. In particular, complaints by Seoul about how the United States is forging ahead with Pyongyang at the expense of the alliance are being met by Washington's utmost efforts to respond to the ally's complaints and fears of abandonment.
