ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the major factors of diplomatic relations between the United States and Korea. In American-Korean relations, cultural differences caused all kinds of tragicomic episodes and problems. The Korean mind was operating within the framework of the most orthodox moralistic and idealistic Confucian ideology in the Far East; America was a part of the rational and pragmatic Western culture. Nuclear proliferation in the region—specifically, the Japanese possession of nuclear weapons and the possible emergence of some more formidable weapons system in the future—will undoubtedly add a new dimension to Korean defense and to American-Korean relations. In view of the continuing Sino-Soviet rivalry, the impact of the Vietnam War on American and world public opinion, and the changing value system in American society, the bipolar system seems to have more probability. Of course, for the stability of Far Eastern international relations, the second course—maintenance of a genuine multipolar system—is most desirable.
