Albany, NY: SUNY Press, 2018. xv, 273 pp. (Tables.) US$23.95, paper. ISBN 978-1-4384-6394-0.
Amidst increased tensions in Northeast Asia since 2016, as demonstrated by the commencement of a trade war between Japan and South Korea and the deployment of missiles into regional waters by North Korea, Partnership Within Hierarchy by Sung Chull Kim offers a possible explanation of current developments that look back at the evolution of the uneasy tripartite relationship between the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK). Employing the concepts of hierarchy, burden sharing, and commitment in alliance relations, Kim lucidly argues that ranking exists among the three countries, and the fact that no rules were explicitly established to govern the partnership between Japan and the ROK gave way to tensions in the tripartite relationship. While the Cold War brought the US, Japan, and the ROK together into a united front against the challenge of the communist front consisting of the Soviet Union, China, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in the region, as elaborated in the title, the US-Japan-ROK partnership did not always function smoothly. Washington often played an important mediating or intervening role in holding together the partnership.
Noting the ranked nature of the partnership—with the US on top and prioritizing Japan over the ROK—Kim points out that in the face of a common challenge, different and often conflicting national interests were in play between the US, Japan, and the ROK, with the resulting outcome often catering more to US and Japanese interests than otherwise. Four examples are used to demonstrate such phenomena: the repatriation of Korean residents from Japan to North Korea in 1959 (chapter 3); Japan-ROK normalization talks in the first half of the 1960s (chapter 4); Japan’s Two Koreas Policy in the 1970s (chapter 5); and “security-based economic cooperation” between Japan and the ROK in the first half of the 1980s (chapter 6). The notion that Japan was Washington’s most trusted ally in Asia in the Cold War period is critical in understanding the dynamics of the tripartite relationship. In the context of the Cold War, confronted with multiple fronts, the US consistently looked to Japan to play a larger role on the Korean Peninsula, or “share the security burden” in defending the ROK. Yet Japan, noting disagreements with the ROK over their mutual history, remained half-hearted in its commitment to the ROK’s defense. With its close proximity to the imminent threat of the DPRK, pragmatic considerations often forced South Korea to comply with or bend to the demands of the US and Japan.
Following the discussion of Cold War events, chapters 7 and 8 turn to changes in US-Japan-ROK relations in the post-Cold War period as a result of democratization and economic development in South Korea and changes in international relations. Chapter 7 departs from the previous hierarchy argument and shows that the history problem between Japan and South Korea re-emerged because of the termination of Japanese aid to South Korea. Extending from the case study in chapter 7, chapter 8 demonstrates that as a result of South Korea’s economic growth and China’s emergence as a regional challenge, the US-Japan-ROK partnership began to undergo changes. South Korea is no longer at the bottom of the hierarchy and now plays a bigger role in burden sharing in the tripartite relationship.
Overall, Partnership Within Hierarchy provides a concise account of contemporary developments in Northeast Asia centred on the dynamics of the US-Japan-ROK partnership specifically. In the sense that the author unpacks the complicated state of Northeast Asia through a coherent analytical framework, the book is invaluable. Unfortunately, it falls short of serving as a good introductory text on the subject, because the author fails to provide necessary context for events that take place in his case studies. For example, in the case study on the North Korean issue in chapter 8, the author barely discusses how the four-party and six-party talks came about and uses the talks as examples to reflect on the changing dynamics in the US-Japan-ROK partnership. Readers who are new to the subject may become lost in the discussions, or develop gaps in their understanding of past developments.
Correspondingly, the fact that the author does not attempt to provide a detailed account of developments in the tripartite relationship in discussion warrants cautious reading, as the title should be considered as merely providing an interpretation of past events. It is not hard to imagine that from an alternative angle—either from the US or Japan—the perception on commitment and burden sharing may be quite different. Noting the sophisticated nature of the history problem in Northeast Asia, especially between Japan and South Korea, perhaps it remains difficult to discuss the subject without receiving criticism for subjective or biased authorship. Partnership Within Hierarchy succumbs to this dilemma and can be described as providing a Korean interpretation of the US-Japan-ROK relationship.
Nonetheless, beyond the mentioned faults, the book offers important insights for the study of international relations and foreign policy, particularly in the post-Cold War period, when the US is often bound together with allies that may not necessarily share the same strategic interests. As the author points out in his final words for the title, the game surrounding burden sharing and commitment will continue to inform us of the fine workings of international politics.
Tony Tai-Ting Liu
National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan