Has the US Overstayed its Mission in South Korea?

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When the Korean War ended 50 years ago, the Korean Peninsula was divided into Communist North Korea and South Korea, an underdeveloped ally of the US. Though today, South Korea is a prosperous and thriving democracy, almost 40,000 American troops are still stationed there. Late last year, smoldering anti-Americanism was inflamed when an American court martial acquitted two US soldiers in the accidental deaths of two teen-aged Korean girls. US troops were also an issue in that country-s recent election. Do American soldiers provide necessary protection against the nuclear threats from the North, or have they overstayed their usefulness? We hear several perspectives from a journalist in Seoul, political scientists who specialize in US-Asian relations, a former ambassador to the region, and an Army spokesman who was himself was the victim of knife-wielding attackers shouting anti-American slogans.
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Grutter v. Bollinger

Gratz v. Bollinger

University of Michigan-s news release on the cases

UC v. Bakke

White House press briefing on affirmative-action cases

US-NK 1994 Agreed Framework

Army's "New Horizons Day"

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney