Korea is now enjoying a beautiful season with autumn leaves changing colors magnificently. It is also the season for harvest and the season for thanksgiving for our forefathers and reflecting on history as well. In this connection, this writer would like to reflect on our past and present history of Korea-U.S. relations. Towards the end of the 19th Century, it was the the United States that first proposed to open formal relations between our two countries, which the then reigning King of the Joseon Dynasty rejected. Without giving up, the U.S. continued her efforts and succeeded in opening relations with Korea in 1882. Looking back on the 123 years since, one may notice a history entwined with love and hatred between the two countries. First, the so-called Taft-Katsura secret agreement signed in 1905 dealt a disgraceful blow to the Korean people in their 5,000-year history. Under the agreement, America allowed Japan to aggressively move into the Korean Peninsula eventually to conquer the Joseon Dynasty. Consequently, for 35 years since 1910, Japan occupied Korea with one of the harshest colonial rules in history. Even Prof. Arnold Toynbee, the world-renowned historian, in an interview with this writer in London in 1973, strongly lamented this fact, which he attributed to Japan's inexperience in colonial rule. Without the Japanese colonial rule over Korea, there must have been no territorial division in the Peninsula, and, no 1950 Korean War, either. Second, it is assumed that the U.S. was largely responsible for the territorial division of Korea at the end of World War II. If there was any justifiable reason to divide Germany after the war, likewise Japan was to be divided, not Korea. Thus, the United States historically committed mistakes regarding Korea. Nevertheless, many Koreans still consider the U.S. a benevolent nation. In referring to America, Japan uses two Chinese characters meaning "the country of rice (米國)," while the Korean people use the Chinese characters describing it "a beautiful country (美國)," that is, a good country. While, Koreans are grateful to America because, firstly, the United States did a major contribution to restoring an independent Korean country after the Second World War, and secondly when the Korean War broke out in 1950, U.S. President Harry Truman promptly called for a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to dispatch the U.N. troops for the defense of the Republic of Korea from Communist aggression. Thirdly, the United States provided, during the 1950s, a tremendous amount of economic assistance including grant aid to help the Republic of Korea rebuild itself from the war devastation. Fourthly, the United States has been contributing a major portion of the U.N. Forces in Korea to safeguard peace and security on the Peninsula at much sacrifice. And finally, since the 1960s, America's major business firms have made a considerable amount of direct investment to contribute to the economic development of the Republic of Korea. As viewed above, the two countries have maintained very close relations. There have been some worrisome voices in the past few years, complaining about a cooling-off in Korea-U.S. relations. There could be some affectionate arguments even between a loving couple, and more so between friendly nations naturally. Important, however, is that if there should be any disagreement between two friendly nations, that should be immediately addressed by the nations concerned with rational solutions. I earnestly hope that the leaders of our two countries, and their people as well, should continue efforts incessantly to maintain this close relationship between the two countries, with the Korean's remaining grateful for America's past help and U.S. remembering that it shall bear some responsibility for Korea's territorial division.
Korea is now enjoying a beautiful season with autumn leaves changing colors magnificently. It is also the season for harvest and the season for thanksgiving for our forefathers and reflecting on history as well. In this connection, this writer would like to reflect on our past and present history of Korea-U.S. relations.
