Balancing Alliances and Ethics : The Role of U.S. Foreign Policy in Promoting or Hindering Human Rights in South Korea’s Democratization

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This thesis analyzes the conditions under which the United States advanced or curtailed human rights promotion in its foreign policy toward South Korea between 1976 and 1987. To explain variation in U.S. behavior, the study develops a conditional framework in which outcomes depend on the interaction of two variables: normative pressure (domestic and international demands for moral action) and security threat (perceived military or geopolitical risk).The thesis examines five critical cases: the Koreagate scandal, the troop-withdrawal debate, diplomacy under the Yushin regime, the Park Chung Hee assassination, and the Kwangju Uprising.
The findings show that U.S. human rights policy was consistently shaped by the strategic environment. High pressure combined with low threat (Koreagate) enabled assertive human rights engagement. High pressure combined with high threat (troop withdrawal) produced strong rhetoric but limited substantive action. Low pressure combined with high threat (Yushin diplomacy, Park assassination, and the Kwangju Uprising) resulted in quiet or symbolic diplomacy as security and alliance considerations dominated decision-making. Across all cases, bureaucratic actors reinforced a stability-first posture and narrowed the space for meaningful rights promotion even when presidential rhetoric was supportive.
The study concludes that U.S. policy toward South Korea operated as a form of conditional realism, in which moral commitments remained possible but only when they did not conflict with overriding security imperatives. This framework clarifies the causal mechanisms linking pressure, threat, and policy outcomes and contributes to broader debates on moral diplomacy, alliance management, and Cold War foreign policy.

Keywords: U.S. foreign policy; human rights promotion; U.S.–South Korea alliance; Cold War security; normative pressure; security threat

목차 (Table of Contents)

• Acknowledgments i
• Abstract ii
• Table of Contents iii-v
• List of Tables vi
• Chapter 1. Introduction 1
• 1.1 Background 1
• 1.2 Research Question 2
• 1.3 Literature Review 3
• 1.3.1 Security Imperatives and Authoritarian Tolerance 3
• 1.3.2 The Rise of Human Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy 4
• 1.3.3 President Carter's Dilemma 5
• 1.3.4 Tools of Human Rights Promotion 5
• 1.3.5 Domestic and International Pressure 6
• 1.3.6 Strategic Threats and Alliance Limitations 7
• 1.4 Gap Statement 8
• Chapter 2. Theory/Hypothesis 9
• 2.1 Competing Explanations in International Relations 9
• 2.2 Conditional Framework 10
• 2.3 Defining Key Variables 11
• 2.4 Hypotheses 13
• 2.5 Contribution 13
• Chapter 3. Methodology 14
• 3.1 Research Design 14
• 3.2 Case Selection 14
• 3.3 Data Sources 16
• 3.4 Operationalization of Variables 16
• 3.5 Method of Analysis 17
• 3.6 Limitations 17
• Chapter 4. Empirical Analysis 18
• 4.1 Koreagate Scandal (1976-1977) 18
• 4.1.1 Political Fallout in Washington 19
• 4.1.2 Carter's Response 20
• 4.1.3 Analysis of Conditions 20
• 4.1.4 Outcomes and Implications 21
• 4.1.5 Conclusion 22
• 4.2 Carter's Troop Withdrawal Debate (1977-1978) 22
• 4.2.1 U.S. Policy Response 23
• 4.2.2 Analysis of Conditions 24
• 4.2.3 Outcomes and Implications 25
• 4.2.4 Conclusion 26
• 4.3 Rights Diplomacy under the Yushin Regime (1977-1979) 26
• 4.3.1 U.S. Diplomatic Approach 27
• 4.3.2 Analysis of Conditions 27
• 4.3.3 Outcomes and Implications 28
• 4.3.4 Conclusion 29
• 4.4 The Assassination of Park Chung Hee (1979) 29
• 4.4.1 U.S. Policy Response 30
• 4.4.2 Analysis of Conditions 31
• 4.4.3 Outcomes and Implications 31
• 4.4.4 Conclusion 32
• 4.5 The Kwangju Uprising (1980) 32
• 4.5.1 U.S. Policy Response 33
• 4.5.2 Analysis of Conditions 35
• 4.5.3 Outcomes and Implications 36
• 4.5.4 Conclusion 36
• Chapter 5. Comparative Analysis and Synthesis 37
• 5.1 Patterns of Pressure and Threat Interaction 37
• 5.2 Theoretical Implications 39
• 5.3 Bureaucratic Mediation and Policy Adaptation 40
• 5.4 Broader Consequences 40
• 5.5 Synthesis of Findings 41
• Chapter 6. Conclusion and Hypothesis Evaluation 43
• 6.1 Evaluation of Hypotheses 43
• 6.2 Summary of Findings 44
• 6.3 Theoretical Contributions 46
• 6.4 Policy Implications 46
• 6.5 Limitations and Future Research 47
• 6.6 Conclusion 47
• References 48
• Appendices 53
• Appendix A 53
• Appendix B 54