South Korea's President-elect Park Geun-hye held talks with US Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell in Seoul earlier this month. Park called for a smooth resolution of pending issues between South Korea and the US. She wants to work closely with Washington to further upgrade the traditional alliance to a comprehensive strategic alliance.

Campbell delivered congratulatory letters to Park from US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

He also said the visit was aimed at underscoring Washington's commitment to the alliance with Seoul.

It has been 60 years since the Korean War (1950-53) ended and the US-South Korea alliance was formally signed in 1953. The US-South Korea relations remain the pillar of South Korea's foreign affairs. And this situation will not change in the predictable future.

South Korea's military capacity has developed, and it maintains a dominant position in the Korean Peninsula. However, South Korea does not feel completely safe as an independent actor in Asia.

The US is still the protector of South Korea, and has exerted a great influence on South Korea's diplomatic profile.

Economically, the US and South Korea's economic relationship has grown closer as the two countries signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2007.

The US market is a great place for South Korea's exports. The FTA has also gradually let South Korea become more independent from China's imports, balancing China's economic influence in Asia.

Seoul believes that the comprehensive strategic alliance should be based on the broader commitments of political cooperation with the US, and that it will also meet the needs of the expanding political cooperation of the two countries.

The US-South Korean military alliance is very solid as the US has the power to command South Korea's troops. In fact, both the US and South Korea are willing to upgrade the military alliance to a comprehensive strategic alliance in order to bear the burden of global affairs.

Japan has been of great significance to the US. Nonetheless, nowadays sometimes Japan cannot shoulder its responsibilities and help US to deal with regional affairs, because the economy remains in the doldrums and its leadership has changed frequently.

These situations have prohibited the US from intensifying its cooperation with Japan.

With its rapid economic growth, South Korea has gradually replaced Japan as the best regional partner for the US.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has made great efforts to intensify the alliance.

Since 2009, both countries have worked to move the alliance forward.

The Chinese media has reported that South Korea aims to contain China through a comprehensive strategic alliance with the US.

It is true that a country's position in the world is determined by its economic and military power. China's rise does result in anxiety in Washington.

In such circumstances, the most important thing for the new leader of South Korea and her administration is to properly deal with the relationship between China and South Korea, instead of standing together with the US and containing China.

US-South Korea alliance has cast a shadow on the relationship between China and South Korea. China has opposed the joint military exercises of the US and South Korea several times. Many Chinese people believe that the US-South Korea alliance poses a threat to the security of China.

All in all, China has realized that the US is vital to South Korea. But on the other hand, South Korea also needs to think about China's concerns so as to further develop its alliance with US without harming its relations with China.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Zhao Nan based on an interview with Dong Xiangrong, an associate professor at the National Institute of International Strategy Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. zhaonan@globaltimes.com.cn