Center for a New American Security

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Washington, D.C., December 17, 2010 — North Korea’s ever-growing belligerence, illustrated by its vow to retaliate against the South for artillery drills and the recent attacks on Yeonpyeong Island, highlights the need to further strengthen the U.S.-South Korea alliance.  South Korea must also play a greater role in regional stability and prosperity, according to a report released today by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS).

Securing South Korea: A Strategic Alliance for the 21st Century, authored by Abraham Denmark and Zachary Hosford, provides policy recommendations for how the United States can enhance its alliance with South Korea. This includes how South Korea can create a more adaptive military force – including ground, air and naval forces – that would allow the country to meet the wide range of threats posed by its northern neighbor. Additionally, it would give them capacity to help manage regional issues such as China’s rise and access to the region’s numerous seaways. Additional recommendations in the report include:

• To gain the experience, skills and capabilities necessary to respond to a
  North Korean collapse, South Korea’s military should expand its participation in international peacekeeping, stabilization and humanitarian assistance/disaster relief operations.
• The United States and South Korea should make the management of China’s rise a fundamental element of the alliance. While the U.S.-ROK alliance should be a vehicle to engage China, it should also sustain a strategic hedge against potential Chinese coercion or aggression.
• South Korea should pursue an adaptive force structure that can effectively respond to a variety of contingencies, ranging from an attack by North Korea to its collapse.
• The U.S.-ROK alliance should expand engagement with Japan to address the challenges posed by North Korea and China.

Download Securing South Korea: A Strategic Alliance for the 21st Century.

“While South Korea can rely upon its American ally for its ultimate defense, challenges to America’s long-term capacity to project and sustain military power demand a greater role by the ROK,” write the authors. “South Korea’s military cannot afford to focus on a single scenario, however, given South Korea’s rapidly evolving strategic environment. The ROK military must be flexible and experienced enough to address a wide range of threats.”

To address the growing regional threat posed by North Korea, CNAS also released a report today on Japan's need for enhanced Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR), Robotic Skies: Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and the Strategic Defense of Japan. 

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The Center for a New American Security(CNAS) is an independent and nonpartisan research institution that develops strong, pragmatic and principled national security and defense policies. CNAS leads efforts to help inform and prepare the national security leaders of today and tomorrow.