The comparison between South Korea and Israel isn't very strong. America fought the Korean War and still has 28,500 troops stationed there, along with a combin

The comparison between South Korea and Israel isn't very strong. America fought the Korean War and still has 28,500 troops stationed there, along with a combined forces command. Some US soldiers are stationed right on the border with North Korea, just so that a North Korean invasion will kill Americans and immediately trigger an American response. Secondarily, securing Korea as a trading partner for Japan was an explicit part of US post-WW2 strategy, where Japan would be rebuilt as a bastion of the western world's economy, and having local trading partners strengthened that. South Korea has always had a deeply intertwined relationship with the US. When the Moonies showed up in the 70s/80s, there was no influence to buy. South Korea was already receiving all the support it could handle, and as a cult, the Moonies showed up at the tail end of a lot of 60s/70s spirituality that had already soured the American public on alternative religions. Whatever you think of the pro-Israel lobby, drawing to the Moonies doesn't really work.