Professor at Georgetown University in the US
Director Victor D. Cha of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in the United States may be appointed new American ambassador to the Republic of Korea in Seoul. Concurrently a professor at the Georgetown University, Dr. Cha is reported to be currently undergoing a pre-appointment checkup and inspection.
According to mass-circulated Korean-language daily, Chosun Ilbo, this morning (June 24), Prof. Cha currently is on the top on the list of candidates for the next American ambassador to Seoul.
Professor Victor D. Cha, according to George Town University, 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 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC
He left the White House in May 2007 after serving since 2004 as Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council. 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 the 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.
He is the author of five books: 1) Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle (Stanford University Press) (winner of the 2000 Ohira Book Prize), 2) Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies (Columbia University Press, 2004 with Dave Kang), 3) Beyond the Final Score: The Politics of Sport in Asia (Columbia, 2009); 4) The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (HarperCollins, 2012); and 5) Powerplay: Origins of the American Alliance System in Asia (Princeton University Press,2016). He has written articles on international relations and East Asia in journals including Foreign Affairs, International Security, Political Science Quarterly, Survival, International Studies Quarterly, and Asian Survey. Professor Cha is a former John M. Olin National Security Fellow at Harvard University, two-time Fulbright Scholar, and Hoover National Fellow, CISAC Fellow, and William J. Perry Fellow at Stanford University. He is a Fellow (non-resident) in Human Freedom at the George W. Bush Institute in Dallas, Texas. He holds Georgetown’s Dean’s Award for teaching in 2010, the Distinguished Research Award for 2011, and the Distinguished Principal Investigator Award for 2016.
He serves as an independent consultant, and has testified before Congress on Asian security issues. He has been a guest analyst for various media including CNN, ABC Nightline, NBC Today Show, CBS Morning Show, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, BBC, ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and National Public Radio. He has a cameo role (as himself) in the upcoming action film “Red Dawn” (Contrafilm, MGM, Vincent Newman Entertainment) scheduled for release in November 2012.
His book, The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future (released April 2012 by HarperCollins Ecco), was selected by Foreign Affairs as a best book of 2012 on the Asia-Pacific.
Dr. Cha is the proud parent of a 2015 White House presidential scholar and 2014 Wendy's High School Heisman award winner.