When US Deputy Secretary of State Williams Burns visited Seoul on January 20, he reaffirmed Washington's strong support for the defense and security of South Korea, and reemphasized the continuing US commitment to working closely with South Korea in dealing with Pyongyang's provocative behavior.
At the summit between US President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun-hye in Washington last May, both leaders announced the elevation of the South Korea-US relationship to a comprehensive and strategic alliance.
Burns underscored the comprehensive side of the alliance by praising progress made in the South Korea-US free trade agreement and welcomed Seoul's expression of interest in the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations.
The visit by Burns to Seoul highlights the robust side of Seoul-Washington ties. But beneath this lie several unsettled discords. The most immediate issue is whether Obama will include a visit to Seoul in his Asian trip in April.
According to media reports, he will visit Japan, the Philippines, and most likely Indonesia and Malaysia, but China and South Korea are reportedly not included. South Korean officials are alarmed by the news reports. If South Korea is passed over while Japan is included, that would be seen as a very profound sign of a weakening in Seoul-Washington ties.
Since the execution of Jang Song-thaek, Kim Jung-un's uncle and a man once seen as the second most powerful leader in North Korea, the South Korean government has raised the possible contingency of a collapse of the government in North Korea, and has engaged in consultations with Washington on how to handle such a contingency.
While in Seoul, Burns reaffirmed that South Korea and the US have decided to conduct their annual joint military exercise and training starting late February, defying calls from North Korea to cancel them. But it is not clear at what level the military exercises will be conducted.
Seoul may well want the US to deploy strategic weapons such as F-22 fighters, B-2 and B-52 bombers, nuclear submarines and a carrier battle group, as it did last year. But Washington might be hesitant to do so for the sake of stability on the Korean Peninsula.
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Vice President Joe Biden, who visited Seoul in September and December respectively, urged President Park to improve worsening Seoul-Tokyo relations.
Nonetheless, Park was firm, responding that she would not hold any meetings with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unless he changes his attitude on contentious historical and territorial issues.
Given Washington's desire to strengthen trilateral cooperation among Washington, Tokyo and Seoul as part of its "pivot to Asia" strategy, this can continue to remain another source of discord between the US and South Korea.
When Biden met President Park on December 6 in Seoul, he said, "It's never been a good bet to bet against America," and "America will continue to place its bet on South Korea." No matter how we interpret it, the comments sound like a warning not to be stirred by China's rise, to continue the close alliance with the US and not to shake the cooperative ties between the US and Japan.
President Park responded: "South Korea will continue to develop a strategic partnership with China to contribute to the peace and development of the region."
Her remark underscores a profound chasm between Seoul and Washington over the issue of China's rise.
The South Korea-US relationship, in other words, has two faces. On the micro-level, it is congenial, robust, and cooperative. But on the macro and structural level, it is more complicated, with deeper and wider discords.
Nonetheless, being seemingly hemmed in by major powers in the region, South Korea's scope for maneuver seems to be narrowing.
The author is professor of political science, Yonsei University, Seoul. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn