South Korea's beef with US business

"There is an increasing loss of confidence and trust in each other, the two governments, even the military relationship," says Han Sung-joo, former ambassador to the United States, and foreign minister in the 1990s. "We are working towards our own operational command without adequate preparation, within a period that is too short."

Typical of many comments heard in Seoul that chafe in Washington is that of new South Korean national security adviser, Soong Min-soon. Mr. Soong raised eyebrows among US allied brass when he called America the "most warlike country in history." Move over Genghis Khan, Roman empire, Napoleon, and Nazi Gemany, remarked one diplomat.

The abiding Washington-Seoul relationship is complicated, analysts note. Korea has outgrown its old identity as poor and uncompetitive through hard work, intelligence, and ingenuity. Pride is high. The smaller power is not as willing to simply take orders and sign on to American ideas and directions unquestioningly. Koreans love much about America and its culture, as witness a whole new spate of "Krispy Kreme" doughnut shops opening in Seoul that sport nostalgic photos of America in the 1950s. Hollywood films are loved. Yet Korea's "depth" of experience in global and regional diplomacy and security is still a work in progress, analysts say. There's a significant minority, especially among the so-called "386 generation" – intellectuals raised after the Korean War – that feels America was too willing to support the former military regime.

The beef issue is typical of South Korea's new attitudes. Korea used to be the third largest importer of US beef. Now, since lifting the mad cow ban, Seoul has rejected three American shipments, causing US Agriculture Secretary Michael Johanns to state on Dec. 6 that "the rejection of the third shipment clearly illustrates that South Korean officials are determined to find an excuse to reject all [US] beef products... This is unacceptable and certainly not the way trading partners should work with one another."

Lone Star is another example of South Korea's populist moodiness toward US influence. Emotions swelled in Korea due to an American-Korean, Stephen Lee. Mr. Lee was the Korean country manager of Lone Star, a job earned partly by arranging the KEB deal. Yet as the sale began, it became clear that Lee had embezzled some $12 million – not from the bank, but from Lone Star itself.

When news of Lee hit, Korean public opinion went ballistic. Yet so far, despite four separate government agency investigations, and now three failed indictments, no evidence against illegality by Lone Star has been unearthed.

A possible future for South Korea without its old ally is a serious issue that has received too little attention and thought, says Mr. Han.

"The lack of a decent alliance puts us alone in a rough neighborhood," he adds. "We might find that Japan, China, and Russia treat us differently, as we stand without the Americans."

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