Our foreign and defense ministries on Wednesday, as if by appointment, presented expanding the Korea-U.S. alliance as one of their major tasks. Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan told a press briefing his ministry will endeavor "to expand and deepen Korea-U.S. relations to the dimension of not only the Korean Peninsula but also of Northeast Asia and the entire world." The Defense Ministry, in a business report to President Lee Myung- bak, promised to “map out a vision for a future Korea-U.S. alliance and its implementation that will contribute to Northeast Asia security and world peace beyond the Korean question."

On Monday, immediately before those remarks were made, U.S. Korea Forces Commander Burwell Bell attended a hearing of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington. There, he frankly called for expansion of the alliance saying, "It is time for Washington to reexamine the Defense Treaty with Seoul and look beyond the narrow scope of the DMZ threat, and solidify the alliance as a pillar of stability and cooperation that will be an example for all the nations of Northeast Asia and the world."

Bell recalled the success story of NATO in some detail to back his demand: that members of NATO, a product of the Cold War, increased from 16 to 20 countries since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and that NATO has been elevated to a multilateral alliance sharing market principles.

Debate that an alliance based on a geographical concept should be developed into an inclusive relationship based on shared values has already been conducted among academics. But it was the first time that senior officials of the two governments simultaneously mentioned the idea.

The American position is particularly interesting. Even before President Roh Moo-hyun, with whom Washington had an awkward relationship, left office last month, the U.S. told president-elect Lee's camp directly and indirectly that it wants changes. The Korea-U.S. Security Policy Initiative in Washington on March. 1 was one such channel. Now Bell has touched on the need to revise the treaty signed on Oct.1, 1953 in the wake of the Korean War.

Since the Kim Dae-jung administration took office 10 years ago, Korea-U.S. relations have deteriorated to the extent that the Foreign Ministry is obliged to mention the “restoration” of the alliance. The public evidently supports an upgrade of our alliance with America. Few would oppose transforming the 55-year-old Korea-U.S. pact into a “global alliance."

But it is a double-edged sword. It's not irrelevant that U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow asked for an increase in our share of U.S. troops upkeep costs, and that Bell stressed the need for us to take part in our missile defense. Such a situation, if mishandled, could offer an excellent point of attack for pro-North Korean and anti-American activists in the country who have been quiet since the change of government.

Both countries must therefore tackle the substance of such an expanded and deepened alliance instead of shouting the slogans. At the same time, the U.S. should give the just-inaugurated Lee administration some time to present a specific future for the alliance, and refrain from putting it under pressure.

The column was contributed by Lee Ha-won, the Chosun Ilbo's correspondent in Washington.