The Korea Times - Home

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

Wed, July 18, 2018 | 19:59

Opinion > Columnists > Stephen Costello >

Pompeo can practice diplomacy or fantasy - but not both

The fundamental concepts at the heart of U.S. policy toward North Korea have been wrong for 17 years, and clearly so. Now President Trump will either make new U.S.-DPRK agreements using older, more realistic concepts or he will surrender to the Bush/Obama failed playbook. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's talks in Pyongyang last week suggest the choice between these two is becoming more urgent.

Stephen Costello | 2018-07-11 17:21

Will US get out of the way?

The unlikely spectacle unfolding in Singapore this month, with the leaders of North Korea and the U.S. meeting in an attempt to bridge differences that have persisted for over 60 years, provokes great confusion.

Stephen Costello | 2018-06-12 09:42

Moon and Kim: So far, so good

Friday's inter-Korean summit was a very big deal. It has already changed the security, political and economic dynamics surrounding the Korean Peninsula. The prospect of unprovoked U.S. military attacks on North Korea, which was always a bluff, is now even more remote.

Stephen Costello | 2018-04-29 16:33

Moon takes the driver's seat

“You must satisfy the Japanese about their abducted people, and you must satisfy the Americans about your nuclear weapons program. If you can't do those things, we can't help you. No one can.”

Stephen Costello | 2018-03-06 16:03

Dangers to avoid amid Olympic thaw

There are dangers to beware of as President Moon Jae-in tries to incorporate the North Korean initiative into his partly-formed structure for a new engagement, tension-reduction and development strategy.

Stephen Costello | 2018-02-11 17:07

Two sticking points in inter-Korean ties

The key to any progress on Korea has always been to first address sanctions and military exercises. Now that Kim Jung-un has begun to talk with his South Korean counterpart, President Moon Jae-in must decide how much he wants to impact South-North relations.

Stephen Costello | 2018-02-07 17:52

Hwasong 15 impacts Washington

The launch of the Hwasong 15 by North Korea on 19 November has provoked the usual reactions among government officials and outside specialists. This time however, the flood of reactions allows a particularly useful up-to-date review of where mainstream and more experienced views now are on the two central questions: what is the true situation; and how can it be addressed.

Stephen Costello | 2017-12-03 13:56

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

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8