Trust between Seoul and Washington: Cracks or Glue in the Alliance?

February 16, 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Mānoa Campus, East-West Center Research Program, Burns Hall, Room 3012

Trust between Seoul and Washington: Cracks or Glue in the Alliance?


Dr. Leif-Eric Easley

East-West Center POSCO Fellow

Tuesday, February 16, 2016 12:00 noon to 1:00pm
John A. Burns Hall, Room 3012 (3rd floor)

North Korea’s fourth nuclear test and subsequent long-range missile test in early 2016 highlight the importance of trust between South Korea and the United States. While policymakers in Seoul and Washington coordinate responses toward Pyongyang, they are also charged with assuaging classic abandonment and entrapment fears within the U.S.-ROK alliance. Mutual trust is strong today owing to improvements in how policymakers perceive the other country. Less than a decade ago, many Koreans saw the U.S. as a unilateralist country with eroding domestic strengths; many now view America as a defender of international norms and center of innovation. U.S. policymakers worried about pan-Korean nationalism and political polarization in South Korea, but now see a “Global Korea” with vibrant non-state sectors. Trust based on improving perceptions have allowed the U.S.-ROK alliance to effectively address North Korean provocations, relations with China and Japan, and basing and command reorganization. However, issues of technonationalism and the politics of history could damage perceptions and ultimately detract from policy coordination. Shared interests are often sufficient for cooperation, but bilateral trust requires more: that each ally respect the other’s democracy and international role.


Leif-Eric Easley is Assistant Professor in the Division of International Studies at Ewha University and a Research Fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul, Korea. At Ewha, Professor Easley teaches international security and political economics. His research interests include contested national identities and changing levels of trust in the bilateral security relationships of Northeast Asia. Dr. Easley was the Northeast Asian History Fellow at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (APARC) at Stanford University. He was also a visiting scholar at Yonsei University, the University of Southern California’s Korean Studies Institute, and the Japan Institute for International Affairs (JIIA) in Tokyo. He completed his B.A. in political science with a minor in mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University’s Department of Government. He is at the East-West Center pursuing his independent research on "U.S.-South Korea Identity Perceptions and Strategic Trust" under a Korean Foundation agreement.


Event Sponsor
East-West Center, Research Program, Mānoa Campus

More Information
Cynthia Nakachi, (808) 944-7439, NakachiC@eastwestcenter.org

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