ISLAND VOICES
South Koreans changing their view of U.S.

By Susan Kreifels

The results of a Gallup Korea Survey taken last December were astonishing and would have been unimaginable only a decade ago, said Choong Nam Kim, who specializes in U.S.-Korea relations. The poll found that South Korea's Cold War allies — the United States and Japan — were perceived more negatively than its Cold War enemies, North Korea and China.

Kim says these changing attitudes will complicate trilateral talks among the United States, North Korea and China on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program.

"There is a reduced perception of North Korea as a threat, and South Korea has close relations with China and Russia," Kim said. The number of South Koreans who believe North Korea will invade plummeted from 69 percent in 1992 to 37 percent early this year, polls show. Moreover, North Korea can no longer rely on China and Russia for military or economic assistance.

Because of these changes, South Korea depends less on U.S. military support and wants a more equal relationship with the United States, which maintains a Cold War mentality and perpetuates an unequal military alliance with Seoul, said Kim, who served as assistant for political affairs under two South Korean presidents before joining the East-West Center.

"Seoul's position weakens Washington's negotiating position toward Pyongyang," Kim said.Ê"North Korea's programs of weapons of mass destruction do not mean additional threats to South Koreans, who have lived under the constant threat across the DMZ for half a century.

"But the United States is only preoccupied with weapons of mass destruction in the North. It has no broader vision for the U.S.-ROK alliance, the Korean peninsula and Northeast Asia. Without a comprehensive security framework in the region and broader participation in the dialogue, bilateral talks may be frustrating and time-consuming. The North may save enough time to develop nuclear weapons."

In his newly released East-West Center publication, Kim quotes a former South Korean foreign minister who said "anti-Americanism may reach a point where events could become uncontrollable." Kim's article examines this dramatic shift in attitudes.

Susan Kreifels is assistant to the president at the East-West Center. She covered the Asia-Pacific region for 20 years as a journalist.