Participant Biographies

Victor Cha

Victor Cha

Advisor and Korea Chair, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
American Foreign Policy towards the Korean Peninsula; Leadership Transitions in the Two Koreas

Dr. Cha is Director of Asian Studies and holds the D.S. Song Chair in the Department of Government and School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. In 2009, he was named as Senior Adviser and inaugural holder of the Korea Chair at CSIS. He left the White House in May 2007 after serving since 2004 as Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council (NSC). At the White House, he was responsible primarily for Japan, the Korean peninsula, Australia/New Zealand and Pacific Island nation affairs. Dr. Cha was also Deputy Head of Delegation for the United States at the Six Party Talks in Beijing, and received two Outstanding Service commendations during his tenure at the NSC. His newest book, The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future will be published by Ecco in April 2012. Dr. Cha received his B.A. and a Ph.D. from Columbia University, and an M.A. from the University of Oxford.