CSIS announces launch of Korea Chair for policy recommendations

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, May 20 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. private think tank Wednesday announced the
establishment of a Korea Chair and appointed Victor Cha, a professor at
Georgetown University, as the inaugural chair holder. He will produce policy
recommendations on Korea-U.S. relations.

"The new CSIS Korea Chair will serve as an independent platform in Washington
from which to discuss major policy issues of common importance to the people of
the Republic of Korea and the United States," said the CSIS, a bipartisan,
nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, in a statement.
"The chair will examine the ROK-U.S. relationship, conduct timely and independent
research, and highlight critical issues for the policy community and the broader
public at large," the statement said.
A former director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council under the
Bush administration, Cha also served as the deputy head of the U.S. delegation to
six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear dismantlement.
He is currently the director of Asian Studies and the D.S. Song-Korea Foundation
Chair in Asian Studies and Government at Georgetown University.
"As chair holder, he will build a broader Korea program next to CSIS's
longstanding Japan Chair and Freeman Chair in China Studies to further strengthen
CSIS's considerable expertise in East Asia," the statement said.
Sam Nunn, the chairman of the CSIS board of trustees, said "Korea is a pivotal
ally. Our alliance must focus on the future, and the establishment of a Korea
Chair at CSIS underscores the importance of the relationship at this critical
time."
Lee Chong-moon, a Korean-American businessman who heads the CSIS Korea Chair
Advisory Board, hoped that the Korea chair will "make a lasting contribution to
the ROK-U.S. relationship."
hdh@yna.co.kr
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