“New Beginnings” in the U.S.-ROK Alliance: Recommendations to U.S. Policymakers

With the inauguration in February 2008 of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, The Korea Society and Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center launched a nonpartisan group of former senior U.S. government officials, scholars, and other American experts on Korea to explore how to revitalize the U.S. alliance with the Republic of Korea (ROK) after nearly a decade of strains and tensions.

New Beginnings group members believe that the United States cannot afford to lose the opportunity presented by President Lee’s desire to build a global partnership. The group has identified several steps that the United States, in cooperation with the ROK, could take to move the alliance into a new era.