The Enemy of My Ally Is Not My Enemy: The ROK-US Alliance and ROK-Iran Relations, 1978–1983

Abstract

In this article we examine the exceptional case of South Korea’s establishment of cooperative relations with Iran, despite the latter’s confrontation with the United States, South Korea’s closest ally, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. We discuss the conventional idea of the imbalanced relationship—the enemy of my ally is not my enemy—to explain South Korea’s approach toward Iran, evaluate its past and current relations, and offer policy suggestions for the future relationship between the two countries. Using newly discovered archival resources and political records from South Korea, we provide a more exact picture of the international relations among South Korea, Iran, and the United States in the early 1980s.