War is an ugly thing. The young fight and die. Families are torn apart and in some cases the fallout can be more destructive than the bombs dropped across the land. “In 1953, after the armistice ending the Korean War, South Korea lay in ruins. President Eisenhower was eager to put an end to hostilities that had left his predecessor deeply unpopular, and the war ended in an uneasy stalemate” (Noah Feldman). After 3 long years of war that cost South Korea over four million lives, the country’s infrastructure lay in ruins. The war also came at a heavy economic price for the newly formed nation as they became one of the poorest countries in the entire world. In this essay we will be discussing how South Korea used its friendship with the United …show more content…
Recognizing the danger that North Korea and its neighboring country China represented to South Korea the United States kept a tradition that had been going since 1944 and kept over 100,000 of its soldiers on the Korean peninsula. Many believe this led to Korea getting a larger taste of the western culture which is now part of current Korean culture. This also helped give a needed boost to Korean economy as establishments were built up around military bases to provide additional food and entertainment to the many soldiers stationed there. While that number has dwindled over time, the benefits have only increased for both nations. South Korea has benefitted from the sharing of military technology, especially in its air defense program, which now boasts the United States PATRIOT missile technology in response to the growing number of Theatre Ballistic Missiles (TBM) North Korea has developed. The United States has benefitted by having a powerful trade partner in the Asian region as well as Air bases the will allow U.S forces to get anywhere in Asian region quick and decisively. All of this hinges on political cooperation between the two nations. A cooperation that has seen South Korean politics take many twists and turns since 1960. In 1960, South Korean politics were in a state of upheaval. Despite the fact that South Korea had a democratic government, many people believed the government