South Korea has been less of an ally than it has been a client state of the U.S. "Ally" implies some degree of autonomy for both parties. South Korea has never

South Korea has been less of an ally than it has been a client state of the U.S. "Ally" implies some degree of autonomy for both parties. South Korea has never really had the opportunity to act for itself, and when it has, it has received cold and rather tonedeaf responses from the U.S. (just look at the recent visit by Moon to the U.S.). That's not at all to say that the SK-US relation is inauthentic; there's definitely something genuine there. But that authenticity doesn't to seem recognized by the current administration. Biden seems to want to keep South Korea as the client state that it has always been despite (what seems to me) to be reasonable demands of sovereignty.