Two Koreas and the US: Current Situation, Realistic Interests, Policy Options

The Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs’ East Asia Program presents Stephen Costello.

Does the basket of pending issues that surround Korea amount to a crisis? If so, what is the nature of that crisis? If not, how should those overlapping issues be understood? Beyond public rhetoric, what are the realistic interests of the parties? In coming years, what are the power and policy options that impact stability, security and development?

Stephen Costello has worked on South Korean politics and policy for over 30 years from Washington and Seoul. He has been political advisor to Korean democrats, a Director of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Foundation/US, head of the Atlantic Council NGO’s Korea Program in Washington, head of the AsiaEast.Org NGO, Visiting Researcher at the Korean NGO Gyeonggi Research Institute, and consultant to Korean businesses.

In the 1990s, he helped establish the KDJ Peace Foundation in Seoul and the Forum of Democratic Leaders in the Asia Pacific, including Oscar Arias, Corazon Aquino, and Kim Dae-jung. He has written articles and made presentations at the US State Department, Korean National Assembly, Foreign and Unification Ministries, US CIA and Korean NIS intelligence agencies, as well as universities and NGOs in both countries. His specialties include US policy toward Korea and Northeast Asia and South Korean politics and policy.