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Sun, January 20, 2019 | 01:48

Opinion > Columnists > Stephen Costello >

NSC adviser: 'Mr. Invisible' no more

National security adviser Chung Eui-yong has emerged from obscurity, and he has offered three ideas for us to think about as we review developments on Korea during this past year. Of course, Chung has not been completely obscure during the 19 months of the Moon Jae-in presidency.

Stephen Costello | 2018-12-30 17:33

Moon and Trump at the UN

In Seoul this month I talked with government officials, politicians, civic leaders, journalists and infrastructure professionals. My main impression is that the policy environment in the Korean capital feels different from that of previous years. I've been coming here since 1990, so my contacts form a broad cast of characters. With all that is going on, it's a good time to ask: What's the same; what's different?

Stephen Costello | 2018-09-26 17:16

Two Koreas on their own

There is no reason why the two Koreas should have to push ahead with an end to the Korean War and the beginnings of a peace regime on the peninsula all by themselves. North Korea's phased abandonment of nuclear capabilities would have to proceed in parallel with those projects, and such a scenario seems within reach.

Stephen Costello | 2018-09-04 16:56

'The Spy Gone North'

“The Spy Gone North,” the new movie by director Yoon Jong-bin, is slow-moving and lacks the shock and awe of almost any other film of this type. It is absolutely riveting, however, if one lived through the 1990s connected in any way to the politics and policies of South Korea.

Stephen Costello | 2018-08-17 17:09

Moon's gamble on Trump

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley spoke with Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha and with reporters at the U.N. this week. As a result, we now know much more about the U.S. position on North Korea, seven weeks after the Singapore summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un.

Stephen Costello | 2018-08-02 16:49

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

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