Dr. White formulates four major alternatives for U.S. policy toward South Korea, reflecting the spectrum of options available and ranging from disengagement to continued support, encouragement of peaceful unification with the north, and legitimization of the status quo. He presents and evaluates a case for each alternative, then offers a judgment a

North Korea has been described as the most secretive country on earth. Dealing with such a closed society_one that is simultaneously seeking acceptance through nuclear relations while defying the plea to cease development of nuclear weapons_is difficult for governments and policy makers, but Perspectives on Policy Toward North Korea opens discussion on the various approaches the United States has adopted and is considering. Providing expert views on the impasse between the U.S. and North Korea, the volume addresses topics that include the negotiating strategies of the Clinton and Bush administrations, the concept of building bilateral relationships through contact of U.S. and South Korean military officers, and the benefits of allowing China to take the lead in conflict resolution. Employing both traditional and unusual methods, including diplomatic, academic, and military viewpoints, Perspectives on Policy Toward North Korea is an essential guide to a better understanding of this complicated dynamic and an important work for policy makers, analysts, and anyone interested in conflict resolution and security studies.

Considering the future of U.S.-Korea relations, Edward Olsen first provides a rich assessment of the political, economic, and strategic factors that have shaped - and flawed - U.S. policy toward the Korean peninsula since World War II. Olsen suggests that the prospect of permanent separation has become integral to U.S. policy toward both Korean states. Offering counterintuitive recommendations for reinvigorating the in due course paradigm, his analysis is firmly grounded in the current debate about the course of U.S. foreign policy in general, and in particular, its role in the East Asian context.

This book examines the dramatic unfolding of US occupation, withdrawal, and intervention in the Korean peninsula in the past and sheds light on the broader issue of US military occupations of other countries in the twentieth first century.