BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 METHOD:PUBLISH PRODID:-//Telerik Inc.//Sitefinity CMS 15.4//EN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:Eastern Standard Time BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20251102T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=11 TZNAME:Eastern Standard Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20250301T020000 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYHOUR=2;BYMINUTE=0;BYMONTH=3 TZNAME:Eastern Daylight Time TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:The Moynihan Institute's East Asia Program presents George Wash ington University Fellow Stephen Costello.The new South Korean government elected four months ago is unusual and can have major impacts on East Asia n regional diplomacy and the Korea-US alliance. Domestically\, democrats h ave wrested political control from the persistent remnants of previous dic tatorial and authoritarian regimes. That struggle is not over. Internation ally\, the country will resume its project to take a central place in dipl omatic and strategic leadership in the region\, and with its U.S. ally. Th at project began in earnest more than 25 years ago\, and it remains centra l to Seoul’s security and prosperity.Costello argues that the geopolitical landscape for South Korea is propitious\, despite ongoing turmoil in Ukra ine\, the Middle East and elsewhere. This is partly the result of Japan an d Australia having competent non-ideologues in leadership\, and partly bec ause China and North Korea do not have pressing reasons to pursue military adventurism. But it is also because the U.S. influence and impact on the region has been declining for years and that decline is now accelerating. The specific nature of this Korean government\, together with a fluid and less US-centric environment\, may open doors to positive dealmaking and re cognition of shared interests surrounding the Korean Peninsula.Stephen Cos tello is a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute and a non-resident scholar at the Institute for Korean Studies at George Washington Universit y. Since 1990\, he has been a political consultant\, policy analyst\, colu mnist and facilitator of U..S-Korea dialogue. Working mainly in Washington and Seoul\, Costello has run think tank programs and consulted with compa nies\, embassies\, government officials and former officials\, academics a nd scholars in both capitals. In these three decades\, he has maintained r egular contact with civic groups\, politicians and journalists focusing on the urgent pending issues in Korea\, on the Peninsula and in the East Asi a region. He has also chronicled the shifting U.S. policies toward the reg ion. \; Some of Costello’s writings can be found on the East Asia Foru m (Australia National University)\, the Korea Times\, and through the Quin cy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. \; DTEND:20251003T173000Z DTSTAMP:20260916T213107Z DTSTART:20251003T160000Z LOCATION: SEQUENCE:0 SUMMARY:The New South Korean Government: Impact on the Region and on the US -Korea Alliance UID:RFCALITEM639251766670584961 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

The Moynihan Institute's East Asia Program presents George Washington University Fellow Stephen Costello.

The n ew South Korean government elected four months ago is unusual and can have major impacts on East Asian regional diplomacy and the Korea-US alliance. Domestically\, democrats have wrested political control from the persiste nt remnants of previous dictatorial and authoritarian regimes. That strugg le is not over. Internationally\, the country will resume its project to t ake a central place in diplomatic and strategic leadership in the region\, and with its U.S. ally. That project began in earnest more than 25 years ago\, and it remains central to Seoul’s security and prosperity.

Cos tello argues that the geopolitical landscape for South Korea is propitious \, despite ongoing turmoil in Ukraine\, the Middle East and elsewhere. Thi s is partly the result of Japan and Australia having competent non-ideolog ues in leadership\, and partly because China and North Korea do not have p ressing reasons to pursue military adventurism. But it is also because the U.S. influence and impact on the region has been declining for years and that decline is now accelerating. The specific nature of this Korean gover nment\, together with a fluid and less US-centric environment\, may open d oors to positive dealmaking and recognition of shared interests surroundin g the Korean Peninsula.

Stephen Costello is a non-resident fello w at the Quincy Institute and a non-resident scholar at the Institute for Korean Studies at George Washington University. Since 1990\, he has been a political consultant\, policy analyst\, columnist and facilitator of U..S -Korea dialogue.

Working mainly in Washington and Seoul\, Costello has run think tank programs and consulted with companies\, embassies\, gov ernment officials and former officials\, academics and scholars in both ca pitals. In these three decades\, he has maintained regular contact with ci vic groups\, politicians and journalists focusing on the urgent pending is sues in Korea\, on the Peninsula and in the East Asia region. He has also chronicled the shifting U.S. policies toward the region. \; Some of Co stello’s writings can be found on the East Asia Forum (Australia National University)\, the Korea Times\, and through the Quincy Institute for Respo nsible Statecraft. \;

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