The US seems to be heading directly toward a confrontation with North Korea as Koreans in the south, and nations around the world, anxiously witness mounting tension. Carpenter and Bandow take a look at the twin crises now afflicting US policy in East Asia: the reemergence of North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the growing anti-American sentiment in South Korea. They question whether Washington's East Asia security strategy makes sense with the looming prospect of US troops stationed in South Korea becoming nuclear hostages. Carpenter and Bandow put forth the most provocative solution yet to this gnarled and dangerous situation.
"Korean Conundrum makes a powerful, well-argued solidly-documented case for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from South Korea. This is an important book with a grim warning: that South Korea and the U.S. are headed for a "nasty divorce" as the strains in their half-century alliance steadily grow. It presents incontestable evidence that the alliance is no longer necessary in the context of South Korea
Selig Harrison, senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and author of Korean
