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Stable Imperatives, Shifting Strategies: Reagan and Democracy Promotion in the Republic of Korea

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The Reagan Administration, the Cold War, and the Transition to Democracy Promotion

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Abstract

The development of US policy toward South Korea from the early to late Reagan administration offers a fertile case study with which to examine the continuity but also evolution of contradictory objectives, namely, support for democratic practices and institutions alongside the imperative of anti-communist stability. Although the same essential logic (i.e. strategic stability and relative US control) underpinned policy in both early and late periods, in the latter the administration shifted toward deliberate restraint of further authoritarian rule and exerted pressure for a democratic transition, if in somewhat limited form. The result was a more deliberate focus on democracy promotion as the preferred means for preserving US hegemony, replacing earlier patterns of hierarchical and coercive forms of social control with more consensual ones.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Hyug Baeg Im, ‘The US role in Korean Democracy and Security since the Cold War Era,’ International Relations of the Asia Pacific 6, no. 2 (2006): 157.

  2. 2.

    William Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996).

  3. 3.

    Peter W. Rodman, More Precious than Peace: The Cold War and the Struggle for the Third World (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994); Paul Kengor, ‘Reagan’s “March of Freedom” in a Changing World,’ in Reagan’s Legacy in a World Transformed, eds. Jeffrey L. Chidester and Paul Kengor (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015), 76–100; Jeffrey L. Chidester, ‘From Containment to Liberation: U.S. Strategy toward Eastern Europe,’ in Reagan’s Legacy in a World Transformed, eds. Jeffrey L. Chidester and Paul Kengor (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2015), 53–75.

  4. 4.

    Jeane Kirkpatrick, ‘Dictatorships and Double Standards,’ Commentary 68, no. 5 (1979): 34–45; on intellectual framework, see: Ariel David Adesnik and Michael McFaul, ‘Engaging Autocratic Allies to Promote Democracy,’ The Washington Quarterly 29, no. 2 (2006): 10.

  5. 5.

    Robert G. Rich, ‘U.S. Ground Force Withdrawal From Korea: A Case Study in Nation Security Decision Making,’ Nautilus Institute: For Security and Sustainability, September 27, 2012, http://nautilus.org/foia-document/u-s-ground-force-withdrawal-from-korea-a-case-study-in-nation-security-decision-making/.

  6. 6.

    ‘NODIS Holbrooke – ‘Nobody wants another Iran’ – Dec. 3 1979,’ http://timshorrock.com/wp-content/uploads/NODIS-Holbrooke-Nobody-wants-another-Iran-Dec.-3-1979.pdf.

  7. 7.

    Tim Shorrock, ‘Ex-leaders Go on Trial in Seoul,’ Journal of Commerce 407, no. 28669 (1996): 1A; Gi-Wook Shin, ‘Introduction.’ In Contentious Kwangju: The May 18 Uprising in Korea’s Past and Present, ed. Shin Gi-Wook and Kyung Moon Hwang (Lanham, MD.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2003), xi-xxviii.

  8. 8.

    Richard Holbrooke and Michael Armacost, ‘A Future Leader’s Moment of Truth,’ New York Times, December 24, 1997, A17; for Reagan’s National Security Advisor Richard Allen’s own recounting, see: Richard V. Allen, ‘On the Korea Tightrope, 1980,’ New York Times, January 21, 1998, A17.

  9. 9.

    ‘Briefing Book: The Official Visit of Korean President Chun, February 1–3, 1981 [FOIA – State],’ Electronic Briefing Book no. 306, Seeing Human Rights in the ‘proper manner’: The Reagan-Chun Summit of February 1981, The National Security Archive, http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB306/doc02.pdf.

  10. 10.

    ‘Document 5: Memorandum of Conversation, Subject: Summary of the President’s Meeting with President Chun Doo Hwan of the Republic of Korea, February 2, 1981, 11:20–12:05 P.M., Cabinet Room, with Cover Memorandum, Richard V. Allen to President Reagan, February 6, 1981, Subject: Your Meeting with President Chun of Korea [MDR-Reagan Library],’ http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB306/doc05.pdf.

  11. 11.

    Ibid.

  12. 12.

    United States Department, of State. 1982. U.S.-Korea Security Arrangements. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1679097446?accountid=14784.

  13. 13.

    ‘Document 5: Memorandum of Conversation’; by 1982, these commitments had been made, with sustained and moderately increased FMS credits as well as planned delivery of 36 F-16s scheduled for 1986.

  14. 14.

    Don Oberdorfer, The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. New ed. (New York: Basic Books, 2001), 151; for a detailed description of the different responsibilities within the CFC, see ‘CFC Command Relationships Orientation,’ Nautilus Institute: For Security and Sustainability, September 27, 2012, accessed December 5, 2014, http://nautilus.org/foia-document/cfc-command-relationships-orientation/.

  15. 15.

    ‘Briefing Book: The Official Visit of Korean President Chun’.

  16. 16.

    Walter LaFeber, The Clash: U.S.-Japanese Relations throughout History (New York: W.W. Norton, 1998), 372; Tracy Dahl and Young H. Lee, ‘Japan, in Surprise Move, Offers $4 Billion in Aid to South Korea,’ Washington Post, January 6, 1983.

  17. 17.

    Adesnik and McFaul, ‘Engaging Autocratic Allies,’ 10.

  18. 18.

    Ibid.

  19. 19.

    Ronald Reagan, ‘Address to Members of the British Parliament,’ The American Presidency Project, Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=42614.

  20. 20.

    Ibid.; for a summary of the Project Democracy plan as submitted to Congress in 1983, see: ‘Authorizing Appropriations for Fiscal Years 1984–1985 for the Department of State, the U.S. Information Agency, the Board for International Broadcasting, the Inter-American Foundation, the Asia Foundation, to Establish the National Endowment for Democracy.’ Hearings and Markup before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittee on International Operations, House of Representatives, 98th Congress, 1st session on H.R. 2915 (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1984), appendix 6; Carothers provides succinct summaries of both Project Democracy and the NED, see: Thomas Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad: The Learning Curve (Washington D.C.: Brookings Institute Press, 2011) 30–31.

  21. 21.

    Special to the New York Times, ‘Excerpts from State Department Memo on Human Rights,’ New York Times, November 5, 1981, sec. A.

  22. 22.

    Interview with Paul M. Cleveland, Deputy Chief of Mission, Seoul (1981–1985), in: ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, http://adst.org/oral-history/country-reader-series/, 847–848.

  23. 23.

    Interview with Richard Armitage, conducted by Adesnik and Kim, see: Ariel David Adesnik and Sunhyuk Kim, ‘If At First You Don’t Succeed: The Puzzle of South Korea’s Democratic Transition,’ CDDRL Working Papers, Stanford University, no. 83, (July 2008): 19, http://cddrl.fsi.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/No_83_AdesKimSouthKorea.pdf.

  24. 24.

    Ronald Reagan, ‘Address Before the Korean National Assembly in Seoul, November 12, 1983,’ Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/speeches/1983/111283b.htm.

  25. 25.

    Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy, 16.

  26. 26.

    Im, ‘The US role in Korean Democracy and Security,’ 170.

  27. 27.

    Adesnik and Kim, ‘If At First You Don’t Succeed,’ 10.

  28. 28.

    Hagen Koo, Korean Workers: The Culture and Politics of Class Formation (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2001).

  29. 29.

    Interview with Paul Cleveland, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 846.

  30. 30.

    Jooyoung Lee, ‘Forming a Democratic Society: South Korean Responses to U.S. Democracy Promotion, 1953–1960,’ Diplomatic History 39, no. 5 (2014): 844–875.

  31. 31.

    Chaeya, meaning “out in the field” or “in the opposition,” were informally networked dissidents made up of intellectuals, religious dignitaries, and political opposition leaders.

  32. 32.

    Danielle Chubb, Contentious Activism & Inter-Korean Relations (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014) 90–101; Interview with Thomas P.H. Dunlop, Political Counselor, Seoul (1983–1987), Country Director for Korea, Washington D.C., (1987–1989), ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 959–963.

  33. 33.

    Interview with Paul Cleveland, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 854–857; interview with Thomas Dunlop, ibid., 908–909; interview with Bernard J. Lavin, Public Affairs Officer, USIS, Seoul (1981–1985), ibid., 871.

  34. 34.

    Interview with Thomas Dunlop, ibid., 979–980.

  35. 35.

    Namhee Lee, The Making of the Minjung: Democracy and the Politics of Representation in South Korea (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2007), 109–144.

  36. 36.

    Interview with Thomas Dunlop, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 895.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., 908–909.

  38. 38.

    Interview with Hugh Burleson, Deputy Public Affairs Officer, USIS, Seoul (1985–1987), ibid., 1019.

  39. 39.

    Interview with Thomas Dunlop, ibid., 901–906; interview with William Clark Jr., Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian Affairs (1986–1989), ibid., 1046–1047.

  40. 40.

    Interview with Paul Cleveland, ibid., 848.

  41. 41.

    Meredith Woo-Cumings, ‘Slouching Toward the Market: The Politics of Financial Liberalization in South Korea’ in Capital Ungoverned: Liberalizing Finance in Interventionist States, ed. Michael Loriaux et al. (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997), 78–79.

  42. 42.

    Ibid., 88–91.

  43. 43.

    Hans Binnendijk, Peggy Nalle, and Diane B. Bendahmane, Center for the Study of Foreign Affairs, Authoritarian Regimes in Transition (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, U.S. Department of State, Foreign Service Institute, 1987).

  44. 44.

    Carothers, Aiding Democracy Abroad, 38.

  45. 45.

    Don Oberdorfer, ‘U.S. Policy Toward Korea in the 1987 Crisis Compared with Other Allies,’ in Korea-U.S. Relations: The Politics of Trade and Security, ed. Robert A. Scalapino and Hongkoo Lee (Berkeley: Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 1988), 174–175.

  46. 46.

    Interview with David Lambertson, Deputy Chief of Mission, Seoul (1986–1987), ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1023.

  47. 47.

    ‘South Korea: Reenacting the Philippine Drama?,’ CIA: Freedom of Information Act Electronic Reading Room, https://www.cia.gov/library/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP86T01017R000605920001-8.pdf, 1–2.

  48. 48.

    Adesnik and Kim, ‘If At First You Don’t Succeed,’ 24.

  49. 49.

    Interview with Gaston J. Sigur Jr., Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Washington, DC (1986–1989), ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1074.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., 1071–1072; interview with Edward W. Kloth, Korea Desk Officer, Washington, DC (1986–1987), ibid., 1032.

  51. 51.

    Sam Jameson, ‘S. Korea Seen at Crossroads for Democracy: WALKER: U.S. Envoy Gives Views,’ Los Angeles Times, September 30, 1986, 1.

  52. 52.

    Interview with Gaston J. Sigur Jr., ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1071–1072.

  53. 53.

    Gaston Sigur, ‘Korean Politics in Transition,’ Department of State Bulletin 87, no. 2121 (1987): 19–21.

  54. 54.

    Interview with Gaston J. Sigur Jr., ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1072.

  55. 55.

    Interview with Edward W. Kloth, ibid., 1033–1034.

  56. 56.

    Interview with Gaston J. Sigur Jr., ibid., 1072; David K. Shipler, ‘Seoul Gives Shultz a Democracy Vow,’ New York Times, March 7, 1987, 1.

  57. 57.

    Interview with James R. Lilley, Ambassador, Korea (1986–1989), ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1054–1055.

  58. 58.

    Selig S. Harrison, The South Korean Political Crisis and American Policy Options (Washington, D.C.: The Washington Institute Press, 1987) 3.

  59. 59.

    Oberdorfer, ‘U.S. Policy Toward Korea,’ 179.

  60. 60.

    Stephen J. Solarz, ‘Applying Leverage on South Korea,’ New York Times, May 17, 1987, 232; for congressional hearings, see: ‘Assessing the prospects for democratization in Korea,’ Hearings and Markup before the Committee on Foreign Affairs and its Subcommittees on Human Rights and International Organizations and Asian and Pacific Affairs, House of Representatives, 100th Congress, 1st session on H.R. 141, May 6, June 17, 24, and 25, 1987 (Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1988); see also, Raymond Bonner, ‘It’s Time We Start Backing Democracy in South Korea,’ Washington Post, June 28, 1987.

  61. 61.

    Don Oberdorfer, ‘Carefully Timed U.S. Advice Played Role in South Korean Events,’ Washington Post, July 5, 1987.

  62. 62.

    James R. Lilley and Jeffrey Lilley, China Hands: Nine Decades of Adventure, Espionage, and Diplomacy in Asia (New York: Public Affairs, 2004) 274.

  63. 63.

    Interview with Thomas Dunlop, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 926–936.

  64. 64.

    Lilley and Lilley, China Hands, 277–278.

  65. 65.

    Interview with Gaston Sigur, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1074; Oberdorfer, ‘Carefully Timed U.S. Advice’; Stephen Engelberg, ‘Man in the News: Gaston Joseph Sigur Jr.,’ New York Times, June 24, 1987, A19.

  66. 66.

    Harrison, The South Korean Political Crisis 4.

  67. 67.

    Interview with Gaston Sigur, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1074.

  68. 68.

    Ibid., 1072.

  69. 69.

    Interview with James Lilley, ibid., 1057.

  70. 70.

    Assessing the prospects for democratization in Korea,’ appendix 1.

  71. 71.

    Lilley and Lilley, China Hands, 270–271.

  72. 72.

    Interview with Richard Armitage, conducted by Adesnik and Kim, cited in: Adesnik and Kim, ‘If At First You Don’t Succeed,’ 25.

  73. 73.

    Ibid., 5.

  74. 74.

    Interview with Edward Kloth, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1036.

  75. 75.

    Interview with James Lilley, ibid., 1058–1059.

  76. 76.

    Adesnik and Kim, ‘If At First You Don’t Succeed,’ 27; Oberdorfer, Two Koreas, 164; Bruce Cumings, Korea’s Place in the Sun: A Modern History (New York: W.W. Norton, 2005), 332–333.

  77. 77.

    Interview with Gaston Sigur, ‘Korea: Country Reader,’ 1075.

  78. 78.

    Interview with William Clark Jr., ibid., 1040.

  79. 79.

    Scott Snyder, The US-South Korean Alliance: Meeting New Security Challenges (Boulder, CO.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2012); Funabashi provides an accessible description of the contentious yet ultimately cooperative US-ROK relations during this period; see Yoichi Funabashi, The Peninsula Question: A Chronicle of the Second Korean Nuclear Crisis (Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institute Press, 2007).

  80. 80.

    ‘Joint Declaration in Commemoration of the 60th Anniversary of the Alliance between the Republic of Korea and the United States of America,’ The White House: Office of the Press Secretary, published May 7, 2013, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/07/joint-declaration-commemoration-60th-anniversary-alliance-between-republ.

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  1. Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Clint Work

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  1. Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

    Robert Pee

  2. Institute for History, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands

    William Michael Schmidli

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Work, C. (2019). Stable Imperatives, Shifting Strategies: Reagan and Democracy Promotion in the Republic of Korea. In: Pee, R., Schmidli, W. (eds) The Reagan Administration, the Cold War, and the Transition to Democracy Promotion. Security, Conflict and Cooperation in the Contemporary World. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96382-2_11

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