This paper examines international causes of South Korean dramatic political
changes and the accompanying shift in national policy priorities during the
early 1960s. Based on declassified U.S. government documents and other primary
materials, this paper aims to narrate the interactions between Korean
domestic politics and U.S. policy. By doing so, this paper demonstrates that
U.S. policy functioned as a structural cause for the change of South Korea’s
national policy priorities from unification to economic development.