Korean Question

<p>A legacy of the Cold War indeed a legacy of the past century of the tumult that is Northeast Asia the Korean peninsula remains divided. The Republic of Korea the South has prospered into an Asian Tiger and stands as one of the economic miracles of the past quarter-century dramatically raising the standard of living in one generation. The Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea the North is a failed nation with a pathetic economy and a cult of personality almost unrivalled in history. The common theme between the two nations other than the remarkably homogeneous ethnicity stand facing each other across the demilitarized zone - two armies of a combined 1.7 million soldiers. United States'; forces have remained in the south following the Korean War in strength .<br><br>Unification of the peninsula of the people remains a stated policy objective of both governments and many Koreans as well as foreigners consider unification the destiny of the Korean people. This study proposes to ask whether American forces would be a part of that unification specifically following unification should the United States and Korea seek to retain their security arrangement that bases American forces in Korea? <br><br>There are two major components to this argument: Is it in the Korean's best interest to maintain the relationship? Is it in the interests of the United States to seek the extension of forward based forces in a unified Korea? This paper argues that when the security options of a new Korea are examined the maintenance of the alignment with the United States best fits. Likewise Korea is the best place for American forces to base in Northeast Asia the stability of the region is a vital national interest to the United States and it should pursue the forward basing of forces following unification.</p><p>This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore you will see the original copyright references library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world) and other notations in the work.</p><p>This work is in the public domain in the United States of America and possibly other nations. Within the United States you may freely copy and distribute this work as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.</p><p>As a reproduction of a historical artifact this work may contain missing or blurred pages poor pictures errant marks etc. Scholars believe and we concur that this work is important enough to be preserved reproduced and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.</p>