The Impossible State

On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi Terry with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment alleges activities that took place, in part, during a period in which Ms. Terry was employed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS is not a party to this litigation and takes the allegations seriously. CSIS mainta...

In this episode, Victor Cha and Joseph Bermudez discuss the reappearance of Kim Jong Un and the breaking news surrounding satellite images CSIS released this week of a previously undisclosed North Korean missile facility.

On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi Terry with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment alleges activities that took place, in part, during a period in which Ms. Terry was employed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS is not a party to this litigation and takes the allegations seriously. CSIS mainta...

In this hybrid episode of Truth of the Matter and the Impossible State, CSIS’ Victor Cha and Steve Morrison join Andrew Schwartz to discuss South Korea’s innovative systems for tracking Covid-19 and whether they can work for the United States.

In this episode, Andrew and CSIS's Victor Cha discuss how South Korea is battling COVID-19 and the innovative strategies they took to prevent a wider spread of the virus. Victor also gives insight into what is and isn't known on how North Korea is responding to the global pandemic, noting their recent missile tests. This is a crossover episode with The Truth of The Matter.

On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi Terry with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment alleges activities that took place, in part, during a period in which Ms. Terry was employed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS is not a party to this litigation and takes the allegations seriously. CSIS mainta...

In this episode, H. Andrew Schwartz and CSIS Korea Chair Victor Cha talk with Seth Berkman, contributing editor at The New York Times. They discuss Berkman’s new book “A Team of Their Own,” which tells the story of the Unified Korean women’s hockey team from the 2018 PyeongChang Games.

This bonus episode comes from CSIS's Beyond Parallel Living History video series. We invite former South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Song Min-soon to discuss global efforts to denuclearize North Korea during the six-party talks. Minister Song was the director general for North American affairs and chief delegate during the six-party talks in 2005. He played a key role in the Septe...

In this episode, Andrew talks with resident North Korea expert Victor Cha, and Dr. Kang Choi, acting president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. They discuss North Korea’s recent missile launch, South Korea-Japan relations, and more.

On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi Terry with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment alleges activities that took place, in part, during a period in which Ms. Terry was employed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS is not a party to this litigation and takes the allegations seriously. CSIS mainta...

In this episode, Andrew and Dr. Victor Cha welcome a special guest. Dr. Katrin Katz is the Adjunct Fellow in the Office of the Korea Chair at CSIS. From 2007 to 2008, Dr. Katz served as director for Japan, Korea and Oceanic Affairs on the U.S. National Security Council. They discuss various factors of the on-going South Korea-Japan trade dispute, which direction it might go, and what role the U.S....

In this episode, Andrew and CSIS’s Victor Cha welcome Anna Fifield, Beijing Bureau Chief of the Washington Post. Fifield is the author of the recent biography, The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un. They discuss the challenges of reporting on a reclusive state, the recent Trump-Xi summit, and the future of the relationship between the U.S. and North Kor...

In this second-ever live episode, students of CSIS Korea Chair Victor Cha’s “Modern Asia” class join host Andrew Schwartz and guests for a lively discussion about the upcoming meeting between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and President Trump. Guests include Victor Cha, CSIS Korea Chair Senior Fellow Sue Mi Terry, and Kelly Magsamen, the vice president for National Security and International P...

In this first live episode of The Impossible State, four esteemed guests join host H. Andrew Schwartz to discuss the latest Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi. Panelists included former US Ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow, CSIS Korea experts Victor Cha and Sue Mi Terry, and Washington Post White House reporter David Nakamura.

Dr. Michael Green, Senior Vice President for Asia at CSIS, joins host Andrew Schwartz to discuss the aftermath of the latest Trump-Kim summit, and reactions from U.S. allies in the region. Download transcript here.

In this episode, host H. Andrew Schwartz and CSIS Korea Chair Victor Cha invite Dr. Stephen Noerper to preview the second Trump-Kim summit. Stephen Noerper is the Korea Society senior director for policy and education, a Columbia University adjunct professor, and senior advisor to the United Nations programme in support of cooperation in Northeast Asia.  Download transcript here.

In this episode, experts discuss the upcoming Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi. CSIS's Korea Chair, Victor Cha, and host H. Andrew Schwartz welcome Dr. Ramon Pacheco Pardo, KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Institute for European Studies and Reader in International Relations at King's College London. Pardo offers the view from Europe.  Download transcript here.

Tom Karako, senior fellow with the International Security Program and director of the Missile Defense Project at CSIS, joins resident Korea expert Victor Cha and host Andrew Schwartz to discuss the 2019 Missile Defense Review. They also discuss the annual Worldwide Threat Assessment and how North Korea’s threat will play out as President Trump is expected to meet with Kim Jong-un next month. Downl...

David Sanger of the New York Times and resident Korea expert Victor Cha weigh in on the recent CSIS findings of 16 hidden missile bases in North Korea. They discuss David Sanger’s article on the matter, and how the Trump administration has responded to these findings. Download transcript here.

Stephen Morrison, the director of CSIS’ Global Health Policy Center and resident Korea expert Victor Cha, discuss Morrison’s documentary about the health crisis in North Korea. The Gathering Health Storm Inside North Korea was presented by CSIS’ Commission on Strengthening America’s Health Security. You can watch the documentary and find out more at https://healthsecurity.csis.org/articles/the-gat...

On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi Terry with violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The indictment alleges activities that took place, in part, during a period in which Ms. Terry was employed by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. CSIS is not a party to this litigation and takes the allegations seriously. CSIS mainta...

David Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California, joins CSIS’s Victor Cha again by phone to discuss the latest Inter-Korean summit, what this means for denuclearization, and what to expect from a potential 2nd Trump-Kim summit. Download full transcript here.

David Kang, director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California, joins guest host Victor Cha of CSIS to discuss the second edition of their book, Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies from the studio. Originally published in 2003, the new edition—out today—includes updated insights on recent developments.

Dr. Jennie Jin, an anthropologist with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and the lead researcher tasked to identify the recent American POW/MIA remains from North Korea, joins resident expert Victor Cha and host H. Andrew Schwartz by phone from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Download transcript here. 

Motoko Rich, the Tokyo bureau chief for The New York Times, joins CSIS's Victor Cha by phone to discuss the view from Japan. Download transcript here.