The Metamorphosis of U.S.-Korea Relations

Jongwoo Han

doi:10.5771/9781498582827

Summary

This book contends that the long history of America’s interaction with Korea started with the signing of the Treaty of Peace, Amity, Commerce, and Navigation in 1882, and with the establishment of the Seward-Shufeldt Line. William Seward and Robert Shufeldt shared the same vision of achieving their American goal by opening Korea and extending the Seward-Shufeldt Line from Alaska to link it with the Philippines and the Samoan Islands, thus completing a perfect perimeter for the American era of the Pacific and for its dominance in the Asian market. Initiating diplomatic and trading relations with Korea was Commodore Shufeldt’s finishing touch on the plan for achieving American hegemony in the coming 20th century. In turn, the decline of Chinese sphere of influence over the Korean Peninsula and the fall of Russian power in the region, with the consequential rise of Japanese power there, which led to a change from the SS Line to the Roosevelts’ Theodore-Franklin Line, the colonization of Korea, the division of Korea, the Korean War, and has brought America back nearly full circle to that first encounter in Pyeongyang; the regrettable General Sherman Incident in 1866. This book argues that the United States must uphold its early commitment to peace and amity by now normalizing relations with North Korea in order to bring closure to the “Korean Question.”

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2022
ISBN-Print: 978-1-4985-8281-0
ISBN-Online: 978-1-4985-8282-7
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 280
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. 1. Figures No access
  2. Tables No access
  3. Map No access
3. Acknowledgments No access
1. Unwitting Creator of the Korean Question No access
2. A Short Survey of the Encounter No access
3. The History of Uneven Encounter: Jared Diamond No access
4. Analytical Frameworks: America’s Regime Denial of North Korea and Hegemonic Behavior No access
5. Summary of Chapters No access
6. Notes No access
1. 1. Robert Shufeldt’s Final Stroke in the Great Circle Route No access
2. 1. Power Struggles between the United States and China over Korea No access
  2. Can Korea Trust the United States? No access
  3. The American Question of Korea No access
3. 1. William Seward Opening the Pandora’s Box of the Corean Question No access
  2. Robert Wilson Shufeldt: Foreseeing the Corean Question No access
4. 1. Franklin Roosevelt: Completion of the Vacillation No access
5. 1. Uneven Encounters and Two Koreas No access
  2. Disparities between North and South No access
6. Notes No access
1. “Auspicious Beginning of an Enduring Partnership”: Swapping Korea for the Philippines No access
2. Overview of U.S.-Korea Relations No access
3. 1. United States v. Jenkins No access
  2. Mishaps in the Wake of the General Sherman Incident No access
  3. American Interest in Corea: Commerce and Navigation No access
4. 1. 1. Sinocentrism No access
5. Encounters between Strangers: The United States and the Joseon No access
6. 1. Illegalities of Treaties between Korea and Japan No access
  2. Controversy: Betrayal or Not No access
7. 1. Theodore and Racism No access
  2. Theodore Revisited No access
8. Conclusion No access
9. Notes No access
1. 1. The Shinmiyangyo: The Course of the War No access
2. 1. Criticisms of the U.S. Expedition No access
  2. No Bond between Strangers No access
3. 1. The Swift Choice to Cut Korea in Two No access
  2. Warnings Misfired No access
  3. The Wedemeyer Report No access
  4. Recommendation from Acting Secretary of State James Webb No access
4. Washington Vacillated No access
5. Korean War Veterans: The Generation That Saved the Relationship No access
6. U.S. Commitment Realigned: Aid No access
7. How the Korean War Shaped Twenty-First-Century U.S.-China Frictions No access
8. Another Korean War? No access
9. Notes No access
1. 1. Washington and Pyeongyang: “Inadvertently Consistent and Predictably Erratic”8 No access
  2. Historical Origins of Mutual Apathy and Hostility No access
2. Reasons for Stalemate No access
3. 1. Historical Background for Regime Denial No access
  2. Realist Perspective: Promotion of South Korea and Denial of North Korea No access
4. Conclusion No access
5. Notes No access
1. Half-Success in South Korea No access
2. Kilroy Resurrected No access
3. Legacy of U.S.-Korea Relations No access
4. What Lies Ahead for Korea: Korea Disregarded No access
5. 1. Deep Roots of American Racial Prejudice No access
6. The Legacy of the Korean War No access
7. 1. East Asian Potential No access
  2. Mutual Interdependence: No Getting Away from It No access
  3. Frenemies No access
  4. The Road Ahead No access
8. At the Crossroads of This Relationship No access
9. Notes No access
1. A Short Summary No access
2. Epilogue: A Petition to End the Korean War by the Voices of Korean War Veterans No access
3. 1. Preamble No access
  2. Petition No access
4. Notes No access
Bibliography No access Pages 253 - 266
Index No access Pages 267 - 278
About the Author No access Pages 279 - 280