The Death of an Alliance, Part V

An advisor to the U.S. Congress said Friday a resolution drafted in 2003 to commemorate 50 years of the Korea-U.S. alliance died a quiet death in the House over anger in Congress at anti-American demonstrations in Korea.

Rest the rest here. The advisor, Dennis Halpin, works for Henry Hyde. His wife is Korean, and he met her as a young Peace Corps volunteer. He’s considered one of the House’s go-to men on Korea policy. It’s friends like these that Korea simply can’t afford to lose. I suspect that for a generation of young Americans who served in Korea since 1997, and who may be tomorrow’s Korea experts in Washington, the alienation may prove deep and lasting. More here.

Here are links to Part I, Part II, Part III, and Part IV, and don’t miss these comments by Rummy, if you haven’t read them yet. The conclusion to be drawn from the rash of such stories is that Washington’s backlash against South Korea has had too tangible an effect on policy to conceal any longer.