The Korea Times - Home

Site Map PDF Subscription Register LogIn
Site Map PDF Subscription Register LogIn

Fri, August 17, 2018 | 11:18

Opinion > Columnists > Stephen Costello >

Trump's Northeast Asia deal II

The kind of thinking that dominates discussions today in Washington is very much zero-sum.

Stephen Costello | 2016-12-23 15:20

Trump's only deal in Northeast Asia

The Donald Trump administration will probably be as chaotic as his transition has been during the past 25 days. No president or candidate in memory has had less preparation, less experience, less intellectual and managerial capability, and less emotional maturity for the job. Electing Trump president is like giving a five-year-old a knife, a box of matches and a loaded gun, and then waiting. We are about to find out how strong our broken policy and legal systems are at keeping the worst from happening. Won’t it be ironic if the final bulwark against unjust, illegal or potentially catastrophi...

Stephen Costello | 2016-12-04 12:18

Korea is now on its own

I was wrong about the U.S. election. Hillary Clinton won only 1.5 million more votes than Donald Trump, when she needed to win more.

Stephen Costello | 2016-11-20 15:54

Clinton, Park - coming and going

You really can’t make this stuff up. Who could have predicted that the political systems in the U.S. and Korea would face near-implosion at almost exactly the same moment?

Stephen Costello | 2016-11-07 16:18

Who will lead NK in from cold?

The U.S. and South Korean presidents seem to be trying to topple the DPRK government through sanctions. This may work, but it probably won't. It will certainly provoke strong retaliatory actions from the North Koreans. There are new reports of activity at three nuclear test sites there. Despite these alarming signals, and the greater threat of mistakes leading to violent clashes, little will likely change for the next two months.

Stephen Costello | 2016-10-09 17:17

5 myths confront 2 new presidents

Several historians and political observers here have claimed that the US presidential election on Nov. 8 is the most important in a generation. They may have a point in that the election of Donald Trump would be a multi-level disaster for the US and many other countries. However, two points should be noted that will determine the election's importance in northeast Asia.

Stephen Costello | 2016-09-25 16:48

Rethinking Obama pivot to Asia

North Korea's fifth nuclear test on Friday can be understood as a celebration of sorts on the state's national day. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was founded on 9 September 1948. It also may be push-back against what they see as continued US and South Korean preparation for ending the Kim Jung Un regime. But it can also be read as a parting shot for President Obama as he prepares to leave office in 5 months. Assessments of his policies toward this region are emerging, and will inevitably have to deal with the contradictions and erroneous assessments that underpin the past ...

Stephen Costello | 2016-09-12 16:54

US still paralyzed on Korean Peninsula

Koreans pay special attention to views in the US about them. They also pay attention to American policy directed at the Korean Peninsula. In this election year in the US, the prospect that a Republican administration could return to office and continue the approaches and mindsets from the Bush years has real consequences. But the prospect that a new Democratic administration could also fail to remember past successes and make the security situation even worse is even more likely.

Stephen Costello | 2016-08-28 15:57

Korea-Japan intelligence sharing

Three months ago a policy specialist here in Washington asked for my responses to his questions about Japan-Korea-US cooperation with Aegis platforms, and intelligence sharing about North Korea. Today these issues have come up again due to statements about how the ROK government would use THAAD radar information gathered about North Korea and possibly shared with Japan. The North Korean missile launch of 3 August landed within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, and prompted Japan's Self Defense Forces to be prepared to shoot the next one down.

Stephen Costello | 2016-08-14 16:12

THAAD, Trump and China

I would rather not write about THAAD, Trump and China. In all three cases, immediate issues are a diversion from the real, central questions. The media is not often good at remembering how we got here. These cases provoke so much confusion that clear thinking is hard. So sometimes we old-timers need to bring up recent history, hoping that the larger picture will become clearer.

Stephen Costello | 2016-07-31 17:05

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

California wildfires