While Japan has focused on the modernization of its alliance with the United States, the Republic of Korea (ROK) has been seeking a new equilibrium in its relationship with Washington, too. The maturing of South Korea's economy and political system, and the coming to power of a new generation have shifted the center of gravity in that bilateral relationship. Both sides are working to find a new balance; it has been a sometimes messy process but dire predictions of the end of the alliance are not destined to come true.

Both Washington and Seoul realize that the mutual interests that provided a foundation for their alliance a half century ago remain. They both desire security and stability on the Korean Peninsula; they worry about the North Korean threat and South Korea's room for maneuver as "a shrimp among whales." And, perhaps most significant, they recognize that the U.S. is an honest broker -- and the government best suited to that role among all the contenders. But changes in both countries and in the region require a modernization of their alliance. At their summit last week, U.S. President George W. Bush met South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and proved that predictions of the death of the alliance were exaggerated. Yet it is also important that the two governments acknowledge the problems that they confront and deal with them honestly: Papering over the cracks in the U.S.-ROK alliance will provide only the briefest of respites.

Mr. Roh was elected president in 2002, seizing upon anti-American sentiment to storm to victory. Fears of a rupture in the alliance with the U.S. have since not abated, even though Mr. Roh has reiterated his commitment to the alliance and backed the U.S. on key foreign-policy issues, even dispatching troops to Iraq.