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Special report on the Korean-American alliance

The latest information on the Korean-American alliance as South Korean President Park Geun-hye visits the United States.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye must balance Seoul's alliance with Washington with being excluded from the TPP Pacific trade deal. (Associated Press)

Obama to host Park Geun-hye as South Korea's growing ties to China threaten alliance

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

President Obama is expected to highlight this week's U.S. visit by South Korean President Park Geun-hye as an example of the rock-solid alliance between Washington and Seoul -- but a range of sticky issues will lurk in the backdrop behind Ms. Park's visit to the White House at week's end. Published October 12, 2015

Recent Commentary Columns

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MATT SALMON: An Alliance that Extends to the Stars

By Rep. Matt Salmon

The alliance between the United States and the Republic of Korea has been one of the pillars guaranteeing peace, stability and prosperity in Northeast Asia for more than 60 years.

U.S. President Barack Obama listens as South Korean President Park Geun-hye speaks during a joint news conference at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 25, 2014. Obama, continuing his four-nation Asia trip which began in Japan, underscored warnings against North Korean nuclear provocations, calls to lower tensions in regional territorial disputes, and words of condolence for the ferry disaster victims and the people of South Korea. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
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KATRINA LANTOS: Korea-U.S. Friendship, Partnership and Alliance

By Katrina Lantos and Gordon Flake and Greg Scarlatoiu

The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) warmly welcomes Republic of Korea President Park Geun-hye to Washington, D.C., and commends Her Excellency's vision and efforts toward a peaceful, prosperous, democratic and unified Korean Peninsula.

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JOSEPH DETRANI: Strategic Trends and Shifting Balances in Northeast Asia

By Joseph DeTrani

The Intelligence and National Security Alliance established the Asia-Pacific Task Force, with Ambassador Bob Joseph as chairman, to examine the evolving U.S. strategy in the region and assess the implications for the national security and intelligence communities.

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ED FEULNER: Nurturing a Crucial Alliance

By Ed Feulner

South Korean President Park Geun-hye is in Washington this week as the third of President Obama's summit trifecta with Northeast Asian leaders. She has the opportunity to address growing regional security challenges and reassert an important Korean role on the world stage.

To gain stature as a &quot;statesman&quot; in the male-dominated South Korean political arena, President Park Geun-hye developed skills in international politics, harking back to the time when she met foreign leaders as the lady of the Blue House. As a student, she made an impression as a person of integrity and honesty who worked hard and had little patience with liars and cheaters. (Associated Press)
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KONGDAN OH: Korea President Park Geun-ye: Then and Now

By Dr. Kongdan Oh

On a cold December day in 2012, Korea elected a new president. And not just another aging political leader, but a relatively youthful 60-year-old woman, Park Geun-hye, who became the country's 11th president. As a former citizen of South Korea who left the country over three decades ago to escape its male-dominated culture, I was filled with encouragement and pride.

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ED ROYCE: A Historic Opportunity to Strengthen the Korean-American Partnership

By Rep. Ed Royce

Forged in the horrific destruction of the Korean War that began 65 years ago, the U.S.-Korea alliance has emerged strong, resolute, comprehensive and enduring. It has become a "Blood Alliance." More than 1.7 million Korean American constituents represent yet another bond between our countries, with Southern California having the largest Korean population outside the Korean Peninsula.

Yong Soo Lee, of South Korea speaks to reporters on the West Lawn of Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, April 28, 2015, Yong Soo Lee is one of dozens of surviving &quot;comfort women&quot; from Korea other Asian countries that were forced into sexual servitude by Japanese troops. (AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
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JUNGSIL LEE: The Future of the 'Comfort Women' Movement in Korea

By Dr. Jungsil Lee

To this day, religious and some Korean political leaders have withheld their support for comfort women, choosing not to take a stance on this issue. Although disappointed, I remain resolute in our mission. Now it has fallen upon me and our organization to outline the direction that the Washington Coalition for Comfort Women Issues should take.

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WILLIAM WON KYUN HWANG: Freedom: The Common Glue Between America and Korea

By William Won Kyun Hwang

Freedom is the signature spirit of the United States and of South Korea. We should be humble, never forgetting that our brothers and sisters in North Korea are starving, in pain, and have no human rights. We must redouble our efforts to bring about a reunion among the tens of thousands of families separated between North and South Korea. We must do this before more of those separated by the war pass away.

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SUE MI TERRY: U.S. a Midwife to Peninsula Unification

By Sue Mi Terry

North Korea has been one of the most vexing and persistent problems in U.S. foreign policy since World War II, and it is certain to be a major topic of discussion this week during South Korean President Park Geun-hye's meeting with President Obama.

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CHARLES RANGEL: Korea and the United States: Our Great Legacy

By Rep. Charles B. Rangel

Little did I know in 1950, when I went to Korea for the first time as a combat infantryman, that I would be welcoming the distinguished South Korean President Park Geun-hye during her visit to our nation's capital to confer with our president concerning the global community and the U.S.-Korea alliance.

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The search for an effective U.S. strategy on North Korea

By The Washington Times

Senators on Oct. 7 convened a hearing titled "Assessing the North Korea Threat and U.S. Policy: Strategic Patience or Effective Deterrence?" Here are excerpts from four leaders who offered testimony that day.

South Korean President Park Geun-hye operates a robotic arm during a tour of projects and programs that are underway at the agency&#x27;s Goddard Space Flight Center, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015, in Greenbelt, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
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EUN-SUK SEO: Korean-Americans ready for innovation alliance

By Dr. Eun-Suk Seo

The historic visit of Park Geun-hye, president of the Republic of South Korea, to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is not surprising considering her plan to move the country toward a "creative economy." The words "exploration" and "innovation" could not be excluded from the many words that describe NASA because of its sense of creativeness and daring boldness. NASA is also well known for its spinoff technologies.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (right) waves alongside Chinese official Liu Yunshan during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the North&#x27;s ruling party and trumpet Mr. Kim&#x27;s third-generation leadership in Pyongyang, North Korea. The two men raised their clasped hands above their heads like a pair of victorious athletes, as international media and tens of thousands of North Koreans looked on. The gesture during a high-profile celebration in Pyongyang seemed designed to scotch appearances that their countries have been drifting apart. (Associated Press)
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BRUCE E. BECHTOL: The North Korean Military Threat

By Bruce E. Bechtol and Jr.

Following North Korea's most recent "shows of force" -- including a parade that showed off a swath of new or upgraded weapons systems and a provocation along the DMZ that left two South Korean soldiers badly maimed.

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ALEXANDRE MANSOUROV: The Han unbound: Korea goes global

By Alexandre Mansourov

Recent international headlines highlight the spectacular success of Korea's globalization campaign better than any academic study: "K-Pop madness sweeps Vietnam," "Dresden opens Korean Plaza," "Korean Online Comics Go Global," "16 new King Sejong Institute branches to be built in four continents," "Bibimpab, Kimchi await you in Milan," "Saemaul Undong becomes a global development model," "Korea tops Global Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Development Index."

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DAVID S. MAXWELL: The Korea-U.S. alliance: Ready for the next chapter?

By David S. Maxwell

A review of the successes shows how this blood alliance allowed the ROK to first survive the ruthless attack from the communist North and, in the aftermath, to rebuild a nation from the ashes of the war. The "Miracle on the Han" has resulted in the rise of the Republic of Korea as a major middle power that has developed a military that can deter and defend against the enemy to the north and contributes to global security from leading U.N. peacekeeping missions, as in East Timor, to successful counterterrorism and counterpiracy operations off the Horn of Africa and major military contributions in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq.

Christopher R. Hill.
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CHRISTOPHER R. HILL: North Korea's endgame

By Christopher R. Hill

Last August, negotiators from the two Koreas resolved yet another crisis provoked by the North, in which South Korea's use of loudspeakers to broadcast messages across the Demilitarized Zone spurred threats of war from the North. That was welcome news for the region and the world.

Dr. John J. Hamre.
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JOHN J. HAMRE: Redefining Korea as a global leader

By Dr. John J. Hamre

South Korean President Park Geun-hye returns to Washington after proving her mettle this summer in a tense standoff with North Korea. North Korean agents planted land mines in a long-standing path patrolled by South Korean soldiers, setting off another round of escalating tension between North and South. South Korea stood firm, and North Korea blinked.