The evolution of the regional security environment poses particular changes for the US alliance system in Northeast Asia. North Korean provocations in 2010 raised concerns about the viability and credibility of the US commitment to the defense of its allies in general and its extended deterrent in particular. This panel explores US and South Korean perspectives on what occurred in 2010 and its implications for the alliance. How does each country characterize those events and the responses to them? What does South Korea want or expect from the US and does the US understand those expectations? These presentations will also draw on a recent Pacific Forum CSIS tour of the ROK that canvassed public and elite opinion about the alliance.