This report is designed to assist Members of the 111th Congress as they consider the costs and benefits of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). It examines the provisions of the KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives. The report will be updated as events warrant.

The United States military has been building up forces on the U.S. territory of Guam to increase deterrence and power projection for possible responses to crises and disasters, counter-terrorism, and contingencies in support of South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Taiwan, or elsewhere in Asia. But the defense buildup on Guam is moderate. China has concerns about the defense buildup. Guam's role has increased with plans to withdraw some U.S. forces from Japan and South Korea. This report describes in brief detail the various cooperative efforts, including financial efforts, undertaken by the U.S. and the above nations.

The 111th Congress in coming months might take up free trade agreements (FTAs) signed by the Bush Administration with Colombia, Panama, and South Korea under trade promotion authority, or fast-track rules, designed to expedite congressional consideration of these agreements. Accordingly, agriculture as covered in each pending trade agreement is examined in this report in the order that Congress likely will take up these agreements, based upon statements made to date by Obama Administration officials and Members of Congress.

This report analyzes how China, Japan, and South Korea's pursuits to bolster their energy security impacts U.S. interests. It also examines decisions being made by Asian states now that will significantly shape global affairs in the future, how these decisions might play out, and how Congress and the executive branch might play a role in those decisions.

Interview with Aletha Barsanti regarding her experiences as the wife of U. S. Army General Olinto Barsanti. They married in 1942. She remembers their courtship in San Antonio; their assignments in Europe, Japan, and Washington, D.C.; raising their children; his activities in the Korean War; his promotion to general; military protocol for the wives of general officers; and his one-year tour in the Vietnam War as the commander of the 101st Airborne Division. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer and died in May 1973.

This report summarizes the main issues in U.S.-South Korean economic relations, including South Korea’s economic prospects and economic reforms, major bilateral economic disputes, and prospects for a U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The report will be updated periodically.

This report outlines the shifts in the South Korean polity since the election of 2002 which exposed the generational divide in South Korea with younger people more apt to criticize the United States, particularly on matters pertaining to North Korea and US military presence on the Korean Peninsula. The report also discusses these developments, particularly the rise in anti-Americanism and how it impacts American policy towards North Korea.

This report provides information on reported instances of North Korean provocations against South Korea, the United States, and Japan between June 1950 and 2007 and related actions. Reports of North Korean involvement in drug trafficking and "political and other extrajudicial killing" are outside the purview of this report.

The usefulness of vitrification technology for low-and intermediate-level radioactive wastes was demonstrated with high volume reduction capability and good mechanical and chemical stability of final waste forms, and commercial vitrification facility is expected to be constructed at Ulchin site of Korean Nuclear Power Plant Ulchin Unit 5 and 6. Hence, overall economic assessment was necessary to find out the economic advantage of the vitrification facility and to predict the construction and operation costs of the facility on the preliminary bases. Additionally, the generation characteristics of radioactive wastes were investigated. The results of the cost analysis showed that the disposal cost of radioactive wastes treated by vitrification facility reduced to 85 percent compared with that by current waste treatment system. And the present worth analysis was performed through the cost-benefit analysis method for the commercial vitrification facility. The results showed that the vitrification facility combining cold crucible melter (CCM) for treatment of combustible DAW, spent resin, and borated liquid waste concentrate and plasma torch melter (PTM) for non-combustible DAW and spent filter is more economical than current waste treatment system when the escalation rate of disposal cost of more than 10 percent per year was applied.

This report discusses the agreement regarding the beef imports from the United States to South Korea.

Interview with Earl E. Ambrose, Korean War veteran, as part of the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. The interview includes Ambrose's personal experiences of childhood, basic training, volunteering for service in Korea, and attending Arlington State College using GI Bill benefits. Additionally, Ambrose discusses family experiences in military service, the decision to join the Marines, assignments to Quantico and Yorktown, Virginia, his brief combat experience and assignment to the Main Line of Resistance near the Imjin River, his discharge from the Marines, and his career with Bell Helicopter.

Interview with Ealy Boyd, Korean War veteran, as part of the Tarrant County War Veterans Oral History Project. The interview includes Boyd's personal experiences about childhood and education, enlisting in the U.S. Air Force, basic training in San Antonio and his assignment to Laredo Air Base, Texas, and encounters with North Korean POWs. Additionally, Boyd discusses his deployment to Korea as a vehicle operator with the Fifth Motor Transport Squadron, assignments at various bases, his shift into vehicle maintenance MOS, then into maintenance and storage of nuclear warheads, and finally into aircraft maintenance, his civilian career with Lockheed Martin, political work for Reps. Martin Frost, Preston Geren, and Jim Wright, as well as with State Senator Mike Moncrief. The interview includes an appendix with a photograph.

This report analyzes how China, Japan, and South Korea's pursuits to bolster their energy security impacts U.S. interests. It also examines decisions being made by Asian states now that will significantly shape global affairs in the future, how these decisions might play out, and how Congress and the executive branch might play a role in those decisions.

This report is designed to assist Members of the 110th Congress as they consider the costs and benefits of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). It examines the provisions KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.

This report is designed to assist Members of Congress as they consider the costs and benefits of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA.) It examines the provisions of the KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.

This report outlines the various elements of the bilateral relations between both the U.S. and North Korea and the U.S. and South Korea, especially nuclear nonproliferation agreements, nuclear dismantlement policies, and U.S. military troop withdrawals from South Korea.

This report discusses the international beef market and U.S. efforts to regain foreign markets that banned U.S. beef when a Canadian-born cow in Washington state tested positive for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in December 2003.

This report is designed to assist Members of the 110th Congress as they consider the costs and benefits of the U.S.-South Korean Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA). It examines the provisions KORUS FTA in the context of the overall U.S.-South Korean economic relationship, U.S. objectives, and South Korean objectives.

Interview with Hazael R. Olivares, a serviceman in the U. S. Navy during World War II. Olivares dropped out of high school and decided to join the U. S. Navy after hearing about the attack on Pearl Harbor. He took his 16-week basic training course at Great Lakes in Illinois where he learned how to fire various guns and recognize aircraft. After basic training, he was assigned to Algiers, Louisiana where he learned how to weld. Aboard the USS Bordelon (DD-881), he served as a Ship Fitter in the damage control department. After WWII, he remained in the reserves and was called up for duty in Korea. He served aboard the USS Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86). After Korea, he worked as a civilian for the Army Corps of Engineers as an oiler on a dredge. He then served in the Merchant Marines, hauling refined petroleum products from South America to North America. He also discusses going to French Indochina (Vietnam) and traveling up the Saigon River in a merchant vessel.

Interview with Jeffrey Gill, a veteran of the U.S. Air Force who served as a staff sergeant from 1995-2002 in Korea and Saudi Arabia. Gill describes his time as a hazmat technician, as well as the most and least memorable moments of his military career.

Interview with B. L. Henderson, a United States Marine veteran of the Korean War. Henderson answers questions concerning his service time as well as recounts certain operations and movements of he and his fellow Marines during his time in Korea. He tells about their rations, retreating procedures, and weaponry used.

Interview with Charles Albright, a U.S. veteran who served as part of the 69th Engineering Topographical Company during the Korean War. The transcript includes a brief list of questions with Albright's answers about his impressions while serving.

Interview with Harold Aiken, a veteran of the Korean War from Highlands, Texas. The transcript includes a list of questions and Aiken's responses about his service in the U.S. Army (1946-1949) and impressions while stationed in Korea. While in the service, Aiken served as a truck mechanic for the 7th Division.

Interview with Lynn E. Rowe, Jr., a Sergeant in the US Army during the Korean War and the Cold War. He answers questions about enlisting and his experiences during the war.