KOREA ON THE BRINK: GENERAL JOHN WICKHAM AND POLITICO-MILITARY CRISIS MANAGEMENT
(DUSTY SHELVES)
Frank Jones February 27, 2025
In telling this tale, Wickham provides a master class on politico-military crisis management, but not one without controversy.
The South Korean people’s reaction to President Yoon Suk Yeol’s emergency declaration of martial law on December 3, 2024, was immediate, visible, and vocal. Thousands took to the streets to express anger with the decree and the National Assembly swiftly voted to overturn the order. Yoon’s brief edict ignited not only protests, but painful memories of the last time the imposition of martial law occurred—1980. The events leading to that action decades ago are not just part of South Korea’s history; they haunt U.S. relations with the country to this day. Some South Koreans and others accuse the United States of tacitly supporting a South Korean military dictatorship over democracy. This charge led retired U.S. Army General John A. Wickham, who served as commander of the newly-formed Combined Forces Command (CFC) from 1979 to 1982, to write Korea on the Brink: From the “12/12 Incident” to the Kwangju Uprising, 1970-1980, published in 1999.
As the senior U.S. commander in country, Wickham became embroiled in three tumultuous episodes that altered the course of the Republic of Korea’s (ROK) history. The book, a memoir, recounts his role in these affairs to furnish a more complete picture of U.S. actions behind the scenes and repair the reputational damage the United States suffered. To that end, the text includes excerpts from messages Wickham sent his superiors in Washington, D.C. to keep them informed, but also to offer policy advice. In telling this tale, Wickham provides a master class in politico-military crisis management, but not one without controversy.
https://warroom.armywarcollege.edu/articles/on-the-brink/
