David Boggett The policy requirements of the US in Asia have changed with the rapprochement with Chim initiated by the Nixon/Kissinger team. In the changed situation, it is only on the Korean peninsula that the US (and Japan) are in confrontation with China. So, to consolidate the rapprochement with China, the anomaly of confrontation on the Korean peninsula needs to be resolved. The murder of Park Chimg-hee in October 1979 and the developments since then in South Korea, it is suggested in this note, have to be understood against this background.