The United States, Japan and the Security of Korea

The Carter Administration's decision to withdraw all U.S. ground forces from Korea by 1981 or 1982 met with little public criticism in this country when it was announced in March. Tokyo and, of course, Seoul were known to be unhappy with the President's announcement but, for more than two months, the withdrawal decision received extraordinarily little attention here. A national debate on Korea policy began to take shape only in mid-May, when Major General John K. Singlaub, chief of staff of U.S. forces in Korea, told the press of widespread concern among senior military people that the President's withdrawal plan would invite a North Korean invasion. Certain members of the Congress then voiced their own reservations, and in June, when an effort to put the Senate on record in support of the troop withdrawals was rebuffed, it became evident that congressional opposition to the Administration's Korea policy was substantial. Some of the criticism aimed at the withdrawal plan, both at home and abroad, stems from the way in which the Administration developed and presented its new policy. The Carter Administration has been notably deficient in its cultivation of congressional support on foreign policy issues, and Korea seems to be no exception. The legislators expressed their dissatisfaction with the extent of White House consultations on Korea when the Senate voted in June to require that all policy decisions concerning Korea be taken jointly by the President and Congress. Consultations with allied nations have been as problematic as those with the Congress. Although the Administration has repeatedly asserted that any change in U.S. policy would be developed in close consultation with Tokyo, as well as witb Seoul, the Korean withdrawal decision has shown just how difficult it is in practice to give meaning to that assertion. After taking the basic decision by itself, the

Business · Economics · International security · International trade · Political economy · Political science · Korean Peninsula Historical and Political Studies · Public Administration

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