Ralph Cossa - The Japan Times

Today's print edition

Subscribe for more access

Meta

Ralph Cossa

For Ralph Cossa's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

COMMENTARY

Sep 29, 2004

Offer Pyongyang transparency challenge

HONOLULU -- "It's all South Korea's fault!" In a refreshing change from its natural tendency to blame Washington for all the world's troubles, Pyongyang has recently announced that it cannot proceed with the six-party talks over its clandestine nuclear-weapons programs since "the foundation for talks has been destroyed" as a result of Seoul's secret nuclear experiments.

COMMENTARY

Sep 16, 2004

Pyongyang deal still possible

SEOUL -- "The odds of any progress regarding the North Korean nuclear issue appear slim to nonexistent between now and the U.S. November presidential elections." This is the conventional wisdom, as publicly proclaimed by South Korean officials. I have also heard this view echoed in Washington and Beijing in recent weeks.

COMMENTARY

Jun 30, 2004

A Pyongyang that can recant, again

WASHINGTON -- "Some good, some bad, some ugly!" That was the way a senior Bush administration official summed up the just-completed third plenary session of the six-party talks in Beijing, aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons programs. While other participants were reporting "substantial progress" -- and it was clear that Pyongyang (like Washington) had come to the meeting with a more cooperative attitude -- the two sides "remained far from an agreement."

COMMENTARY

Jun 16, 2004

What fruit has Korean summit born?

HONOLULU -- This week marks the fourth anniversary of the historic June 13-15, 2000, Pyongyang meeting between then-South Korean President Kim Dae Jung and North Korea's current "Dear Leader," Kim Jong Il. It was a meeting that forever changed the geopolitics of the Korean Peninsula. It made the impossible -- peaceful reunification -- suddenly seem possible. It did not -- as history has now shown -- guarantee peace on the Peninsula.

COMMENTARY

Jun 5, 2004

Badawi: A kinder Mahathir?

KUALA LUMPUR -- Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi is proving to be a kinder, gentler, but no less candid, thoughtful and thought-provoking version of his mercurial predecessor.

COMMENTARY

May 27, 2004

China can narrow the divide

TAIPEI -- Chen Shui-bian clearly heard the warnings issued by Washington and, less subtly, by Beijing before his inauguration for a second term as the democratically elected president of Taiwan. Beijing warned that it would "crush their schemes thoroughly at any cost" if Taiwan's leaders continued their "dangerous lurch toward independence." Washington advised Chen to take Beijing's concerns seriously.

COMMENTARY

May 10, 2004

Do all parties agree on CVID?

HONOLULU -- North Korea has agreed to participate in a six-party working group meeting Wednesday in Beijing to help lay the groundwork for the third session of the more senior-level Six-Party Talks (North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia, and the United States) expected before the end of June. The six had agreed "in principle" at the second plenary session in Beijing in late February to establish a working group to help with preparations for future plenary meetings, although no terms of reference were established and it remains unclear just what the working group will actually work on.

COMMENTARY

Apr 28, 2004

Polls to change face of Asia

HONOLULU -- Winston Churchill once said "democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried." Recent elections in South Korea and Taiwan have already demonstrated that irony. This year contains a number of presidential and parliamentary elections that promise to change the political face of Asia.

COMMENTARY

Apr 21, 2004

U.S., North Korea await change from a reinvigorated Roh

HONOLULU -- South Korea's political landscape has changed dramatically, and one must assume irreversibly, as a result of the April 15 National Assembly elections. It is clear that the torch has indeed been passed to a new generation. What is less clear is what this means, both in the near and long term, for South Korean-U.S. and South-North relations.

COMMENTARY

Mar 24, 2004

Advice for presidential candidate Kerry

TOKYO -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, is wise to ignore the tempest in the teapot caused by his revelation (gasp! surprise! surprise!) that there are leaders who would prefer that President George W. Bush not be re-elected. However, he needs to forcefully respond to the one foreign leader who seems willing to publicly endorse his campaign: North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. It is in Kerry's interest -- and in America's national security interest -- that Kim be promptly and convincingly disabused of the notion that waiting until November in hopes of a Kerry victory will somehow get North Korea a better deal from Washington.

COMMENTARY

Mar 17, 2004

A wise China would offer an olive branch

KYOTO -- The outcome of the March 20 presidential election in Taiwan will have a profound impact on cross-strait relations. Much will depend, of course, on who wins. But equally important will be how Beijing responds. Will Beijing let the next Taiwan leader -- be it incumbent President Chen Shui-bian or challenger (and former Vice President) Lien Chan -- set the tone? Or will it be more pro-active and help set a positive agenda?

COMMENTARY

Feb 25, 2004

Six-party talks: prospects for success

HONOLULU -- The second round of six-party talks on North Korea's suspected nuclear-weapons program is scheduled to begin Wednesday. Expectations are currently running so low that many will call the meeting a success if the North Koreans merely show up, or if they don't walk out once the United States begins speaking. Others are defining success as the parties agreeing, during the course of this meeting, to meet again, even if nothing else is accomplished beyond a further vetting of positions and grievances.

COMMENTARY

Jan 21, 2004

Washington-Seoul: tough times ahead?

HONOLULU -- Is the U.S.-South Korea relationship in for some tough times? The answer is "yes," but not because of the recent forced resignation of "pro-American" Foreign Minister Yoon Young Kwan (whose wise council and steady, mature leadership will be sorely missed).

COMMENTARY

Jan 6, 2004

Delegation: good intentions, bad idea

HONOLULU -- Some unsolicited advice to professors, congressmen, former ambassadors and other ex-diplomats, and anyone seeking a Nobel Peace Prize nomination: if you really want to help resolve the nuclear standoff on the Korean Peninsula, stay home!

COMMENTARY

Dec 19, 2003

Bush rightly responded to Chen's tactics

SINGAPORE -- U.S. President George W. Bush got it just about right last week when he publicly criticized Taiwan's leader during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to Washington. Accusations from "friends of Taiwan's democracy" notwithstanding, Bush was not kowtowing to China; he was merely expressing U.S. policy in clear and plain language. My only complaint about Bush's comments is that they may have been too little, too late.

COMMENTARY

Dec 6, 2003

Chen plays a dangerous game

HONOLULU -- Is President Chen Shui-bian trying to provoke a crisis with China in the runup to Taiwan's March 2004 presidential elections?

COMMENTARY

Nov 15, 2003

Prospects for six-party talks

HONOLULU -- U.S. President George W. Bush's recent offer to provide Pyongyang with written assurances that the United States does not intend to attack North Korea and the North's willingness "to consider" this offer provide the basis, however tentative and contentious, for a negotiated solution to the nuclear standoff that is taking place on the Korean Peninsula.

COMMENTARY

Sep 5, 2003

N. Korea digs a deeper hole

HONOLULU -- Someone needs to remind North Korea about the "first rule of holes" -- namely, when you find yourself in one, stop digging!

COMMENTARY

Aug 28, 2003

Brinkmanship in Beijing

HONOLULU -- "Surrender means death!" This pretty much sums up North Korea's opening position at the six-nation talks in Beijing this week. U.S. insistence that North Korea dismantle its nuclear program "fully, verifiably, and irreversibly" in advance of dialogue (or rewards) "is little short of demanding that the DPRK (North Korea) surrender to it," proclaims Pyongyang, which demands, as a precondition to progress, "confirmation that the U.S. has dropped its hostile policy."

COMMENTARY

Aug 23, 2003

U.S. a misunderstood giant

HONOLULU -- "Once the Bush administration is done attacking North Korea, will Vietnam be next?" This seemed to be the burning question in the back of many people's minds as I visited Vietnam for a series of lectures on U.S. foreign policy.

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.

[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

Prize winner Maki Imoto catches light with glass

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER

international-reports