With Europe and NATO’s uncertain future under a new American regime headed by Donald Trump, the majority of the world’s eyes are fixed on the White House, morbidly curious to see which soon-to-be former US ally is next on the chopping block. Trump’s wave of tariffs on his allies and China have been the largest shakeup in American foreign policy since Pearl Harbour. No longer will the United States fund other nations to act as simultaneous buffer states and sources of external revenue. The American maritime empire that was constructed over several decades is being redrawn as we speak. Yet, whilst people are fixated on Trump’s betrayal of Europe and the upcoming crisis with Taiwan and China, few have seldom thought to address the ally most reliant on the American empire: South Korea, aka, the Hermit Nation that rides the waves of US warships.