More than 56 years after the end of the Korean War ushered in a long period of relative military isolation, South Korea is finally taking steps towards a regional security role commensurate with the country's advanced economy. But South Korea's rise as a military power is complicated by its domestic politics -- and a belligerent North Korea.
Despite a technologically advanced military and a Gross Domestic Product that, at just shy of $1 trillion, makes it the world's 15th-wealthiest country, the Republic of Korea has rarely deployed troops outside its borders. In 1999, Seoul sent 400 soldiers to boost a U.N. force trying to stabilize East Timor when that country broke away from neighboring Indonesia. The Timor deployment was South Korea's first overseas military operation. South Korean troops had fought alongside the U.S. in Vietnam. ...