The article argues that recent executive overreach and politicization have severely undermined established norms of U.S. civil-military relations. To restore professional standards, the incoming Congress must actively exercise its oversight powers, moving beyond mere criticism to demanding transparency in defense policy and personnel decisions. Key reforms include enforcing meritocratic promotion processes, requiring documented justification for senior officer removals, and preventing the partisan use of the military. These actions are crucial for bolstering public trust and ensuring the military remains a nonpartisan instrument of civilian control.
Report to Congress on U.S.-South Korea Alliance
English Summary
The U.S.-South Korea alliance, anchored in the Korean War (1950-1953) and formalized through the 1953 Mutual Defense Treaty, remains a cornerstone of regional security with over 28,500 U.S. troops permanently stationed in the ROK. Facing escalating threats from China, Russia, and North Korea, both nations are prepared to expand South Korea's operational role and broaden the alliance's strategic mission beyond traditional deterrence. Congress holds key levers to modernize the partnership through strategic flexibility, wartime operational control realignment, burden-sharing arrangements, extended deterrence guarantees, and defense industrial cooperation—signaling recognition that evolving Indo-Pacific threats demand enhanced coordinated military and strategic capabilities.
中文摘要
美韓同盟的基礎源於韓戰（1950-1953），並透過1953年《共同防禦條約》正式確立，至今仍是區域安全的核心支柱，美軍超過28,500名人員常駐韓國。面對來自中國、俄羅斯和朝鮮半島的威脅日益升級，兩國正準備擴大韓國的戰略作戰角色，並將同盟的戰略使命拓展至傳統威懾範疇之外。國會掌握著關鍵的推動槓桿，可透過戰略彈性、戰時作戰指揮重組、分擔責任機制、延伸威懾保證以及國防工業合作等方式，來現代化這段夥伴關係，這表明雙方已認知到不斷演變的印太威脅，要求提升協調的軍事和戰略能力。
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