"A New Configuration of Geopolitics and Global Hegemonic Politics, and a New Direction for ROK-U.S. Relations"​

An important implication of this emerging global order for ROK-U.S.​ relations is that the interests and values underpinning alliances forged during the Cold War era are shrinking. Even as Russia attacked Ukraine, a country seeking NATO membership, NATO's support remained largely symbolic. NATO likewise ignored Washington's request for support as the United States found itself mired in the war in Iran. The superpower intervention and alliance policies that once defined the Cold War era are steadily losing their force.

Korea now faces the daunting task of determining how to adapt to this revolutionary shift in the global order and how to respond to the new hegemonic politics being pursued by the United States. Traditional military alliance alone has clear limits in addressing the harsh realities Korea now confronts: pressure from America's "America First" push for greater defense cost-sharing, the entrapment dilemma posed by the expanding out-of-area role of U.S. Forces Korea, and constraints on Korea's autonomy in the economic and trade arena. As Korea rises to become an AI power, the moment has come for it to move beyond dependence on the United States and exercise sovereign judgment and decision-making commensurate with its national strength. ROK-U.S. relations now stand at a turning point where the survival and national interests of both countries collide and must be reconciled across every domain, and the challenge ahead is nothing less than a full-scale recalibration of the alliance paradigm itself.

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