EAI · SBS Joint Founding Special Documentary Series "Korea and the US" - Episode 2

SBS Founding Special Planning Documentary Series 2



<<Korea and the US>>

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Reduction of over 12,000 US Forces Korea personnel.

The US Forces Korea, which has been the central pillar of the ROK-US alliance for the past 50 years, is undergoing rapid change.

In terms of personnel alone, about one-third will be leaving Korea...

Is the transformation of US Forces Korea a sign of cracks in the alliance, or a prelude to a new security framework?

How will the US's global strategy of the Global Posture Realignment (GPR) plan change the security reality on the Korean Peninsula?

And can Korea achieve self-reliant defense after half a century...



The ROK and the US have declared a new alliance for the 21st century.

Amidst the escalating North Korean nuclear issue, the preemptive strike rhetoric of some hardliners in the US, and the competition among Northeast Asian powers surrounding the Korean Peninsula, what position will the ROK-US alliance occupy?

SBS's founding special planning documentary series 2, <<Korea and the US>>, explores what the US represents to Korea in the context of changing global dynamics and the future direction of the ROK-US alliance.



Episode 2, <ROK-US Alliance under Bush's Second Term>



Is North Korea's regime merely a target to be eliminated for US President Bush?

North Korea's Kim Jong-il regime, which has pursued nuclear development for regime survival,

and the hardliners in the US, who are prepared to launch a preemptive strike – are these not red flags of crisis on the Korean Peninsula?

Furthermore, in this situation, anti-American sentiment and the mood for inter-Korean reconciliation demand new coordinates for relations with the US, which designates North Korea as an enemy.

How will the ROK-US alliance resolve the complex security reality on the Korean Peninsula?

And Japan, which dreams of superpower ambitions through the US-Japan alliance. What is the hidden aspect of the ROK-US alliance seen through Japan?

Officials from the Bush administration, including US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Douglas Feith, senior ROK government officials, and representatives from think tanks in Washington, Seoul, and Tokyo representing both progressive and conservative viewpoints, such as former Ambassador to Korea Thomas Hubbard and former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Robert Gallucci.

Episode 2, <ROK-US Alliance under Bush's Second Term>, directly interviews over 30 such experts to draw a blueprint for the progressive future of the ROK-US alliance.