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This paper revisits the formulation of the Mutual Defense Treaty (MDT) between South Korea (ROK) and the United States. It situates the treaty’s development in a more international and greater historical context by tracing how certain preceding developments, especially the existing security arrangements, could have impacted the shaping of the ROK-US MDT. The aim is to better understand the origins of this momentous agreement and what it stands for. A thorough examination of how the alliance was first forged suggests that the “bilateral” ROK-US alliance is more international in character than hitherto thought in a sense that developments in the Americas, Europe and the wider Pacific impacted the shaping of the ROK-US MDT. It seems fair to say this was an early indication that the ROK-US alliance could not be isolated from major unfolding of events elsewhere around the world. This has important implications for Seoul, as the future of ROK-US alliance recently came to the fore as the US continues to wrestle with the developments in the Indo-Pacific. In addition to this contemporary significance, this study also has academic significance as it seeks to fill certain gaps in the existing historiography, such as Washington’s experience negotiating the North Atlantic alliance and its bearing on the ROK-US MDT, and thereby offer a more balanced understanding of the ROK-US alliance. This article represents the author’s own opinion and in no way reflects the views of the Institute for Military History.

From San Francisco to Seoul: Re-Examining the Conception of the Mutual Defense Treaty Between South Korea and the United States