Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

soryang

(3,299 posts)
Mon Nov 25, 2019, 01:44 AM Nov 2019

Timely thesis provides historical backdrop to current South Korea vs US + Japan disputes

As the headlines in South Korea are dominated by the current dispute with Japan and US demands lacking a sound diplomatic foundation, my search for resources on the subject of the so called San Francisco system came upon this surprisingly prescient and insightful undergraduate honors thesis disclosing the historical roots of the current problems among and between the three states.

I'm only disclosing content taken from the abstract to give the general premise of the 117 page thesis to anyone who may be interested:

The Casualties of U.S. Grand Strategy:
Korean Exclusion from the San Francisco Peace Treaty and the Pacific Pact
By Syrus Jin April 2019

https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1015&context=undergrad_etd

...Through a series of short-term tactical decisions, U.S. diplomats also transformed the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan from a post-war agreement of reconciliation and moral redress into a Cold War device that would reinstate Japanese strategic advantages, albeit under American control. Emblematic of this shift was the exclusion of Korea from both the peace treaty itself and its complementary defense negotiations. State Department officials avoided the responsibility of resolving persisting wartime issues even while attempting to implement a new postwar vision for
Asia. U.S. diplomats had long-standing racialized assumptions about Korean cultural and political inferiority which corresponded with Americans’ growing distaste for rehashing the legacy of Japanese imperialism in Asia. The stark reality was that Cold War geopolitics had left little room for long-term multilateralist visions for the future. By failing to address Korean concerns in the San Francisco Peace Treaty and its complementary defense structure, the U.S. in turn generated a postwar design for the Asia-Pacific guided solely by efforts to maximize American tactical advantages in both diplomatic and military contexts, to its long-term detriment.



The US attempt to build an Indo-Pacific Alliance out of the bilateral relationships it has with South Korea, Japan, Australia and other powers, is raised currently in otherwise mystifying and relatively offensive negotiations with Seoul ostensibly over cost sharing for the US military burden in South Korea. This is a crude and undiplomatic method to do an end around the unresolved historical issues. There is no "Pacific Pact," or NATO of East Asia. The thesis cited above discusses the historical roots of why and how that happened.


(Source- JTBC News 11.18) South Koreans demonstrate against US military cost sharing demands outside US embassy while negotiating teams meet. Signs say, is this an alliance or highway robbery? Chyron reads "Opposition to US extortion of taxpayer money. Opposition to US humiliating negotiations."






Latest Discussions»Culture Forums»World History»Timely thesis provides hi...