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Sat, September 22, 2018 | 10:57

Opinion > Columnists > Stephen Costello >

Could Seoul be putting on pants?

The South Korean administration made some progress this week in crafting a foreign policy that recognizes the nation’s middle power realities, starts to engage in the “big game” in the region, and begins to build an alliance with its U.S. ally that is modern, forward-looking, and effective. President Moon Jae-in’s “Five Principals” are an excellent beginning, even if he still needs to reconcile the basic contradiction in No. 4, the “sanctions and pressure” White House fantasy. Moon’s points were one, establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula. Two, the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsul...

Stephen Costello | 2017-11-19 16:49

Chung Dong-young in Washington

Economic development remains the key to resolution of ongoing crises surrounding the Korean Peninsula. This was a central insight for Kim Dae Jung and other proponents of realistic and mutually beneficial agreements over the years. When the issues surrounding Pyongyang’s dilemma were reduced to denuclearization without that key ingredient, they have failed, and will continue to do so. When they incorporated it, as they did in the 1994 Agreed Framework and South-North engagement, they have led to progress. The sad spectacle of the third US administration in a row - 16 years now, and possibly ...

Stephen Costello | 2017-10-22 17:38

Donald Trump is new Park Geun-hye

President Trump was headed in this direction from the beginning. The only questions were when he would get here, and how bad it would be. Well, here we are, and it is pretty bad. As was the case with former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, impeached five months ago and imprisoned, Trump has now made getting him out of office the most important goal for the U.S. political/social system. The best case for this can be found in today’s Washington Post, by one of America’s best public intellectuals and foreign policy thinkers, David Rothkopf. His article, “Trump Must Go” makes explicit what ...

Stephen Costello | 2017-08-27 17:46

Donald Trump is the new Park Geun-hye

President Trump was headed in this direction from the beginning. The only questions were when he would get here, and how bad it would be. Well, here we are, and it is pretty bad. As was the case with former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, impeached five months ago and imprisoned, Trump has now made getting him out of office the most important goal for the U.S. political/social system. The best case for this can be found in today’s Washington Post, by one of America’s best public intellectuals and foreign policy thinkers, David Rothkopf. His article, “Trump Must Go” makes explicit what ...

Stephen Costello | 2017-08-24 15:53

Rare opportunity for South Korea in dealing with Pyongyang

It now seems clear that the White House, having provoked the current crisis with North Korea, is unable to diffuse it for very long. Some hope for a clever and surprising twist to US tactics that would achieve the North’s backing down and the US victorious. Yet not one official in the current US administration has said anything to indicate that planning is underway to return to a deal, trading DPRK weapons capabilities for diplomatic ties, credible security, and access to economic development. That is the only deal that would attract North Korea, since it has pursued these goals for 20 years...

Stephen Costello | 2017-08-18 17:09

It is now Seoul's move

U.S. President Trump has now attempted to take on the North Koreans in the game of colorful and exaggerated rhetoric. As expected, this is not going well for him. After his latest statement, hardened specialists have turned to dark humor. A contest is underway to choose the right ingredients for a new “fire and fury martini.” Making dinner, some are promising to create a dish “the likes of which the world has never seen.” And so on. It’s one thing when a paranoid and isolated regime uses extreme rhetoric; quite another when the most powerful commander-in-chief does. The more serious reasons ...

Stephen Costello | 2017-08-13 17:22

With Pyongyang, UN role is critical

Lima - Two mornings ago, my daughter and I climed Huayna Picchu in the Peruvian Andes. This is the steep mountain often pictured behind Machu Picchu. I feel lucky to have survived. The trail is unforgiving, and there are no guardrails. Now safely in Lima, we’ve been talking with our hosts about political legitimacy, tragic histories, and the responsibility of governments. The American president is a laughingstock here. The only story from Asia in the local paper is about China’s refusal to follow US demands regarding Corea Del Norte.

Stephen Costello | 2017-07-30 17:22

Why not tell Trump the truth?

It is easy to see why many policymakers in Korea think the regional and global environments are not supportive of President Moon Jae-in’s increasingly detailed engagement overtures to DPRK leader Kim Jong-un. US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in particular seem dead-set against tension reduction and diplomatic initiatives. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who could be helpful, is instead committed to using economic warfare against Seoul over the THAAD deployment.

Stephen Costello | 2017-07-16 16:20

Moon survives Trump treatment

We should probably give President Moon Jae-in the benefit of the doubt. No amount of preparation can ensure that a foreign leader will escape the random and unpredictable urges of President Donald Trump. Just ask Angela Merkel, Malcolm Turnbull, or Xi Jinping, to name a few. The treatment of Moon by the US president and his advisors on trade issues, as well as on military burden-sharing and policy toward North Korea, should be a scandal. But we have lowered the bar for behavior by Trump and his team, so such disrespect and tone-deafness are pretty much to be expected. The South Korean Presid...

Stephen Costello | 2017-07-03 17:17

In defense of Moon Chung-in

Professor Moon Chung-in has been at this a long time. I met him in Washington at the beginning of the Kim Dae Jung administration almost 20 years ago. We know each other, but have rarely met. I’ve been expecting him to bring a muddled message to Washington, trying to please everyone, but I have been surprised. Moon is making several key points to his US counterparts and audiences. And he is providing a valuable service to his US hosts, helping them to see how South Korea’s new government views it’s and the US’s interests right now. Just as important, he is exposing views among US policy spec...

Stephen Costello | 2017-06-20 17:31

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Inter-Korean Summit in Pyongyang