page_title: South Korea–United States relations
section_title: US military in Korea
hierarchical_section_title: South Korea–United States relations / US military in Korea
caption_attribution_description: English: U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter L. Sharp (second from the left) joins with American Soldiers and Korean War veterans to honor fallen comrades from Korean War at a wreath laying ceremony in Washington, D.C., Oct. 5.
context_page_description: South Korea–United States relations refers to international relations between South Korea and the United States. Relations commenced in 1950, when the United States helped establish the modern state of South Korea, also known as the Republic of Korea, and fought on its UN-sponsored side in the Korean War. During the subsequent four decades, South Korea experienced tremendous economic, political and military growth, and significantly reduced U.S. dependency.
  South Korea has a long military alliance with the United States, aiding the U.S. in every war since the Vietnam War, and most recently during the Iraq War. At the 2009 G20 London summit, U.S. President Barack Obama called South Korea "one of America's closest allies and greatest friends." In 1989, South Korea was among the first batch of countries to be designated as a major non-NATO ally.
  According to academics David Shambaugh and Michael Yahuda, there are currently several security factors shaping the alliance:
  The challenges posed by North Korea's nuclear and missile program and the potential of weapons proliferation to other states,
context_section_description: South Korea and the United States agreed to a military alliance in 1953. They called it "the relationship forged in blood". In addition, roughly 29,000 United States Forces Korea troops are stationed in South Korea. In 2009, South Korea and the United States pledged to develop the alliance's vision for future defense cooperation. Currently, South Korean forces would fall under United States control should the war resume. This war time control is planned to revert to South Korea in 2020.
  At the request of the United States, President Park Chung-hee sent troops to Vietnam to assist American troops during the Vietnam War, maintaining the second largest contingent of foreign troops after the United States. In exchange, the United States increased military and economic assistance to South Korea. In 2004, President Roh Moo-hyun authorized dispatching a small contingent of troops to Iraq at the request of U.S. President George W. Bush.
  Since 2009, air forces of South Korea and the U.S.A. have conducted annual joint exercises under the name "Max Thunder". In 2018 the drills began on May 11 and continued until May 17.
  At a Cabinet meeting in Seoul on 10 July 2018 the government decided not to hold that year's Ulchi drill, scheduled for June 2018. The Government said the decision was made in line with recent political and security improvements on the peninsula and the suspension of South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises.
  The current South Korean President Moon Jae-in, elected in May 2017, has said he supports the continuation of sanctions against North Korea if it is aimed at bringing North Korea out of its state of isolation and to the negotiating table. He also argued, at the same time, that he was against a "sanctions-only" approach toward North Korea. His approach to North Korea is similar to Kim Dae-jung's Sunshine Policy, which only continued up to the Roh Mu-hyun's administration.
  In 2018 there were several rounds of talks regarding sharing the cost of U.S forces in South Korea. These reflect Washington's desire for South Korea to share a "greater burden" of the costs of the military deployment. On February 10, 2019, South Korea and the United States confirmed that a year long deal for keeping American troops, numbering 28,500, in South Korea had been made. This was in exchanged for South Korea paying 925 million dollars to the United States.
  South Korea-U.S. relations have also been strengthened over the years from state to state cooperation that has largely remained out of the public purview. An example of this is the American assistance that was discretely given to the South Korean government immediately following the 1983 Rangoon Bombing assassination attempt against President Chun Doo-hwan, which killed 21 people including Chun's Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Commerce. The United States quietly provided military and logistics support to ensure that the surviving delegates and bodies of the deceased were safely returned to Korea. According to Victor Cha, an academic and former Director for Asian Affairs in the White House's National Security Council, a South Korean official recounted to him the sentiment that “this is what only a true ally like the United States was capable of doing, in ways that would never become public but would be remembered.”
caption: American Soldiers and Korean War veterans honor fallen comrades
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