Korea Chair

The Korea Chair is the award-winning premier independent platform in Washington, D.C. for the advancement of major policy issues of common importance to the people of the Republic of Korea and the United States.

Through nonpartisan, expert analysis and cutting-edge, data-driven research on ongoing policy opportunities and security challenges facing the region, the Korea Chair promotes a greater understanding of relations between the United States, Korea, and the Indo-Pacific. 

The Korea Chair examines issues ranging from politics, economy, and foreign policy to economic security, geopolitics, and non-proliferation. The program runs Beyond Parallel, a microsite dedicated to Korean unification, and employs satellite imagery, AIS data, and other data analytics to monitor and track developments on and around the peninsula. Beyond Parallel also houses years of accumulated databases on nuclear diplomacy, unification, and the U.S.-Korea alliance.

New projects that look beyond the peninsula include the role of the G7 in global governance and the weaponization of economic interdependence. The program actively promotes policy discussion in Washington and Seoul through the Impossible State podcast and the Capital Cable series live on YouTube.

The CSIS Korea Chair is the recipient of the 2022 Van Fleet Award and the 2025 Korea Foundation Award for its outstanding contributions to Korea policy studies.

Dr. Victor Cha, a former White House official and Georgetown University distinguished professor, is leading the Korea program as the inaugural chairholder since 2009.

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Meet our network of experts, staff, and non-resident affiliates who contribute to the Korea Chair's analysis.

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Recent Analysis

Photo: Zhai Jianlan/Xinhua/Getty Images

Photo: Zhai Jianlan/Xinhua/Getty Images

Strategic Clarity: Reassessing the Value of China to Korea

As Xi visits North Korea, South Korea should reassess its China strategy, recognizing a shift from complementarity to competition and Beijing’s unhelpful role on North Korea, and pursue strategic clarity based on a strong U.S.-ROK alliance and trilateral ties with Japan.

Commentary by Victor Cha and Yesun Kim — June 5, 2026

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Recent Events

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Featured Podcasts

Photo: CSIS

The Impossible State

North Korea is the Impossible State. Each episode, join the people who know the most about North Korea for an insiders’ discussion with host Victor Cha about one of the United States’ top national security priorities.

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Photo: iLab/CSIS

The Capital Cable

The Capital Cable provides cutting edge expert analysis of events on the Korean peninsula and how it impacts the U.S. and Asia.

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Featured Video

The Strategic Value of Korea to China

CSIS Korea Chair is producing a three-part series on examining the Strategic Value of China to Korea, why traditional equities no longer applies, and Korea’s capabilities to fight back against China’s economic coercion.

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Featured Microsite

Beyond Parallel

Beyond Parallel

Beyond Parallel is a nonpartisan and authoritative analytic vehicle for delivering greater clarity and understanding to policymakers, strategists, and opinion leaders about Korean unification.

Learn more about Beyond Parallel

Featured Report

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The United States–Republic of Korea Alliance

The Asan Institute for Policy Studies and CSIS engaged in a joint project from late 2025 to early 2026, including a full-day workshop to assess extended nuclear deterrence cooperation within the U.S.-ROK alliance.

View the analysis

Featured Program

U.S.-Korea NextGen Scholars

U.S.-Korea NextGen Scholars Program

The U.S.-Korea NextGen Scholars Program is a unique two-year program (non-resident) that provides opportunities for mid-career Korea specialists to discuss issues of importance to U.S.-Korea relations.

Find out more

Featured Event

Photo: CSIS

ROK-U.S. Strategic Forum

Each year, this premier international forum brings together senior U.S. and ROK officials, experts, policymakers and journalists to discuss issues important to the U.S.-ROK alliance, inter-Korean relations, and U.S. policy toward North Korea.

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All Korea Chair Content

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What Xi Wants in Pyongyang: The Capital Cable #135

On The Capital Cable #135, Victor Cha, Oriana Skylar Mastro and Edgard Kagan joins Mark Lippert to assess what Xi Jinping wants in Pyongyang if he visits for the first time since June 2019. 

Event — June 5, 2026

Previewing Xi Jinping’s Visit to North Korea | State of Play

At a macro level, President Xi is likely hoping to demonstrate a dynamic leading role on the international stage—particularly within the China, Russia, Iran, North Korea (CRINK) grouping of revisionist autocracies—while portraying U.S. influence globally as in decline.

Commentary by Sydney Seiler — June 5, 2026

Strategic Clarity: Reassessing the Value of China to Korea

As Xi visits North Korea, South Korea should reassess its China strategy, recognizing a shift from complementarity to competition and Beijing’s unhelpful role on North Korea, and pursue strategic clarity based on a strong U.S.-ROK alliance and trilateral ties with Japan.

Commentary by Victor Cha and Yesun Kim — June 5, 2026

The Impossible State

Cold Peace: Engaging DPRK to Reduce Risk and Threat

In this episode, Sydney Seiler, Ambassador Joseph Yun and Mr. Adam Farrar, discussed Dr. Victor Cha’s Foreign Affairs article “North Korea as It Is,” exploring frameworks for engaging Pyongyang, recognizing its nuclear reality, reducing risks, and pursuing conditions for future denuclearization.

Podcast Episode by Sydney Seiler, Adam Farrar, and Amb. Joseph Yun — May 27, 2026

The Impossible State Podcast

Reassessing the Strategic Value of China to Korea

With new administrations in Washington and Seoul, and discussion of finding a common approach to China, it is time for a bottom-up reassessment of China's strategic value to South Korea. South Korea cannot properly respond to U.S. policies toward China without a serious and comprehensive reevaluation of its relationship with its neighbor.

Event — May 13, 2026

The Impossible State

Privileged But Powerless

In this episode, Dr. Victor Cha and Dr. Jieun Baek discussed her new book, Privileged but Powerless: How North Korean Elite Grievances Reveal the Regime’s Greatest Weakness, and examined how grievances among North Korea’s elites may shape the regime’s future stability and security, while also exploring new approaches to addressing the North Korean threat.

Podcast Episode by Victor Cha — May 12, 2026

The Impossible State Podcast