The ROK's managed to claw enough back enough national clout that they can steer their destiny without being dictated what to do by the U.S.
For example if - Allah forbid it - the U.S decides to declare war upon the PRC, then the ROK would most likely adopt a policy of neutrality as it's best course of action as they would literally be THE FRONTLINE of any land invasion attempted against the PRC. The Indochinese countries that border the PRC may have varying degrees of agreement or hostility to the PRC, but they wouldn't want American invaders on their soils again. The last possible avenue of land invasion for the U.S would be via the Indian subcontinent through the Himalayas, and those are near-impossible for us to move an adequate invasion force through. Now one might reason that the ROK could be pushed to capitulate to U.S demands through economic threats, but if you should understand one thing about Korea as a whole peninsula, it's that the scars inflicted by the Korean war are still there and the genocidal extermination of Koreans from American brutality are still in the collective subconscious the the people of The Land of the Morning Calm.
The ROK's managed to claw enough back enough national clout that they can steer their destiny without being dictated what to do by the U.S.
For example if - Allah forbid it - the U.S decides to declare war upon the PRC, then the ROK would most likely adopt a policy of neutrality as it's best course of action as they would literally be THE FRONTLINE of any land invasion attempted against the PRC. The Indochinese countries that border the PRC may have varying degrees of agreement or hostility to the PRC, but they wouldn't want American invaders on their soils again. The last possible avenue of land invasion for the U.S would be via the Indian subcontinent through the Himalayas, and those are near-impossible for us to move an adequate invasion force through. Now one might reason that the ROK could be pushed to capitulate to U.S demands through economic threats, but if you should understand one thing about Korea as a whole peninsula, it's that the scars inflicted by the Korean war are still there and the genocidal extermination of Koreans from American brutality are still in the collective subconscious the the people of The Land of the Morning Calm.