It doesn't appear that Rumsfeld visited the Zayitun Unit without reason. This is because at this juncture, when you look at the uncomfortable Korea-U.S. alliance, you get the feeling that there is some sort of hole being dug in bilateral cooperation over the North Korean nuclear issue. It must have given each and every Korean and U.S. citizen a different feeling to see Rumsfeld visiting and mixing with Korean troops in a war zone.

Whether its anti-Americanism in Korea or anti-Korean sentiment in the United States, the factors are more emotional than logical. In that regard, one of the major factors behind why the Korea-U.S. relationship is so shaky now is that the man-made relationship of alliance has been taken for granted, and both sides have become insensitive in their consideration for the other. Accordingly, in order to rebuild the Korea-U.S. relationship, we mustn't worsen those emotional wounds, while both sides must take the lead in showing consideration and respect for one another. Rumsfeld's visit to the Zayitun Unit and statement thanking the troops for carrying out their important mission made us feel an emotional exchange between Korea and the U.S. that we hadn't felt in a long time.

In international relations, countries get together and form alliance in accordance with their needs. While an alliance may be formed because of needs, however, in keeping and developing that alliance, one mustn't do so solely by calculating needs. If one ends every sentence with "because we need you," the alliance will be quite shallow. In order to deepen an alliance, it's necessary to broaden and deepen commonly held values and treat your partner with the grace of a nation.

The Korea-U.S. alliance is on a very steep precipice. In this situation, it was quite fortunate that an agreement was reached to spread USFK reductions over a three-year period. The deployment of the Zayitun Unit to Iraq could be seen as having provided a good opportunity for the Korea-U.S. relationship. Korea's ruling forces, opposition party and citizens need to equip themselves with an attitude to maintain the Korea-U.S. relationship -- seeing things in a broader perspective -- and mature words and actions to express that attitude. One mustn't let the meaning of Rumsfeld's visit to the Zayitun or the opportunity created by it simply slip away.