Seoul is the political and industrial heart of the Republic of Korea. The metropolitan area holds half of the country’s population. Amid the city’s bustle the threat from the so-called Democratic People’s Republic of Korea seems far away, but Seoul’s suburbs lie just 25 miles south of the demilitarized zone, within range of North Korean artillery and Scud missiles. Hence the North’s latest threat to turn Seoul into a “sea of fire,”
South Korea became a defense dependent of Washington decades ago. Like America’s other alliances around the globe, the “mutual” defense treaty with Seoul does not protect the U.S. Given the South’s recent economic success, Americans should ask: When will this prosperous and populous friend begin defending America?
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