The Importance of Status: US-ROK Alliance Cohesion and the First Korean Nuclear Crisis, 1993-94

Abstract

The US-ROK alliance during the First Korean Nuclear Crisis provides the most-likely case of high alliance cohesion. Curiously, however, instead of dancing to the American tune in their joint management of the DPRK threat, the ROK caused frequent policy collisionssupporting the US-DPRK negotiations at one point and opposing it at another-at the risk of jeopardizing its physical security. The main finding here is that the variations in the South Korean behavior were a function of their experience of status inconsistency. In particular, the ROK became compliant with the US-DPRK talks when it believed that its desired status marker of taking the leadership role in crisis management was within reach, and unyielding otherwise. These fluctuations ended up not only eroding the US-ROK alliance cohesion but also inhibiting a successful resolution of the crisis. All this bears directly on the fundamental question of whether international politics is to be understood in essentially realist terms.

Keywords: US-ROK Alliance, Alliance Cohesion, Status-Seeking, East Asian Security, Nuclear Security