Changes in U.S. Asia-Pacific Strategy and Implications for South Korea’s National Security under the Post-Cold War Period

Purpose: Although more than thirty years have passed since the end of the Cold War, the security environment in Northeast Asia continues to be characterized by persistent confrontation and rivalry between the authoritarian bloc (North Korea, China, and Russia) and the liberal bloc (South Korea, the United States, and Japan). Accord-ingly, the purpose of this article is to understand the U.S. Asia-Pacific strategy and to analyze the military role of the United States Forces Korea (USFK), which has a significant influence on the formulation of Korea's foreign and security policies, as well as its role as a stabilizer for the regional balance of power. Method: The analytical scope of this study focuses on Asia-Pacific strategies from the George H. W. Bush administration to the Joe Biden administration. Considering the nature of the research, this study employs a qualitative research method, utilizing literature review and case analysis as its primary research approaches. Results: Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States has concentrated its national capabilities on containing China, which poses a potential threat to pax-Americana. As China's hegemony in East Asia may threaten the national survival of South Korea, the ROK-U.S. alliance and the United States Forces Korea(USFK) serve as core leverage in South Korea's foreign policy. Accordingly, it is necessary to strategically maintain the ROK-U.S. relationship to prevent the United States from retreating its Pacific defense line to Japan, while simul-taneously exercising diplomatic capacity to ensure that South Korea does not become a regional alliance aimed at containing China in a manner that undermines its current and historic amicable relations with Beijing. Conclusion: The ROK-U.S. alliance should not be confined solely to a military alliance but should be continuously developed into a comprehensive strategic alliance through the sharing of democratic val-ues and the expansion of economic cooperation. In order for the ROK-U.S. alliance to harmonize with multilateral security cooperation frameworks, its scope of activities should be expanded across East Asia, and efforts to promote regional stability and peacekeeping activities should be strengthened. The ROK-U.S. alliance should also expand multilateral security cooperation, including participation in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), and actively engage in efforts to establish regional arms control mech-anisms through regional security dialogue.