To Double Down or Decouple? North Korea and China as Challenges to the U.S.‐South Korea Alliance

Abstract

This article argues that both North Korea's nuclear weapons and Chinese attempts at wedge‐driving between South Korea and the United States represent threats to degrade and perhaps decouple the U.S.‐South Korea alliance. These will intensify regardless of the outcome of current diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula. This puts at risk a component of the San Francisco System that has served as a pillar for Northeast Asian regional security for almost seven decades. We assess what the potential problems will be for the U.S.‐South Korea alliance as they emanate from these two policy challenges, and what actions policymakers in both Washington and Seoul can prioritize in order to modify or neutralize them.