Nuclear Issues

In this episode of the ChinaPower Podcast, we are joined by Dr. Victor Cha to discuss the changing dynamics on the Korean Peninsula and the relationship between China and North Korea. He explains that despite outward appearances, the China-DPRK relationship is deeply fraught and not as close as it may seem. Dr. Cha reveals that between a strict Covid-19 lockdown and the sanctions imposed between 2016-2017, North Korea's dependence on China has fallen and Beijing may now lack adequate tools to place pressure on Pyongyang. Lastly, Dr. Cha challenges the notion that the United States and China share goals for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula. Rather, he contends, the two share common ground in wanting to prevent conflict on the peninsula.

Dr. Victor Cha is a Senior Vice President for Asia and holds the CSIS Korea Chair. He is professor of government and holds the D.S. Song-KF Chair in the Department of Government and the School of Foreign Service (SFS) at Georgetown University. In July 2019, he was appointed vice dean for faculty and graduate affairs in SFS. While working for the White House between 2004-2007, Dr. Cha was the director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council. 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. He is the author of five books, including the award-winning Alignment Despite Antagonism: The United States-Korea-Japan Security Triangle.

In this episode, Dr. Victor Cha and Andrew Schwartz are joined by Professor Yasuyo Sakata to discuss bilateral Korea-Japan relations, trilateral U.S.-Korea-Japan cooperation and the North Korean growing threat.

CSIS’s Tom Karako joins the podcast to discuss Russia’s missile arsenal, what they are prepared to do with it, and the implications of Iran’s role.

CSIS’s Victor Cha joins this episode to talk about what is expected to be North Korea’s seventh nuclear test and its repercussions.

CSIS experts Victor Cha and Tom Karako discuss the implications of the current conflict in Ukraine on North Korea's missile threat

Navin is joined by Matt Pottinger, former deputy national security advisor. They discuss Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, implications for China and Taiwan, and the West’s positioning in a new cold war.

CSIS International Security Program director Dr. Seth Jones joins the podcast to discuss Putin’s battlefield missteps, Russia’s path going forward, how Ukraine can continue to defend itself, and what the US can do to support Ukraine.

Dr. Victor Cha is joined by Dr. Toby Dalton and Dr. Sue Mi Terry to discuss the U.S.-South Korea alliance and what that could mean for South Korean nuclear proliferation.

On the final episode of the PONI Pathbreakers series, host Beverly Kirk talks with Ambassador Susan Burk and Dr. Rebecca Davis Gibbons about the future of the Treaty on Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons and their trailblazing careers in the nuclear community.

On the third episode of the PONI Pathbreakers series, former Sandia National Laboratories Director Jill Hruby and Dr. Mareena Robinson Snowden, Senior Engineer in the National Security Analysis Department at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab talk about being pioneers in their careers, nuclear proliferation, and great power competition.