Georgetown government professor Victor Cha will assume the post of Director for Asian Affairs at the National Security Council during President George W. Bush’s second term.
Cha, associate professor of government and D.S. Song-Korea Foundation chair in the School of Foreign Service, has served as a consultant for the U.S. government.
He will succeed Michael Green as Director for Asian Affairs on the NSC, taking responsibility for Japanese and Korean affairs.
Cha is said to be the first Korean-American to assume a high government position that directly involves Korean-American relations. He said, however, that his work at Georgetown and his research on international relations and Asian affairs qualify him for the position, not his background as a Korean-American.
Many Korean newspapers have reported the fact that Cha is the first Korean-American to hold a position with the power to affect Korean-American relations, but he said he does not think his Korean-American background will significantly influence his work with the NSC.
Cha said he anticipates many Koreans and Korean-Americans will have expectations of him as a Korean-American, but his primary responsibility is to use his expertise in order to advise the president.
“I am a staff [member] to the president,” he said. “I am an academic that is considered an expert on certain issues with regard to Asia.”
At Georgetown, Cha teaches courses on East Asian security and international relations. He has been at GU since 1995 and is currently awaiting approval from the university to take a public service leave of absence during his time with the NSC.
Robert Lieber, professor of government and international relations, said that Cha’s appointment to the NSC is important because of his exemplary ability to “bridge the world of affairs and the world of ideas.”
“Victor has played a terrific role in the School of Foreign Service and the government department,” he said. “He’s been a fine teacher, a superb scholar and an admirable and engaged colleague.”
Cha has conducted research and written extensively on international relations, primarily on East Asian affairs.
He was awarded the 2000 Ohira Book Prize for his book, Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle. He is also the coauthor of Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Strategies of Engagement.
Cha has published numerous articles in journals such as Foreign Affairs and International Security. In addition, he has been a guest analyst for various media outlets including CNN, BBC, the New York Times and The Washington Post.
Cha received degrees from Columbia University and Oxford University. He has also received numerous academic honors, including two Fulbright Scholarships and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
