Dr. Victor Cha is a Senior Advisor to Teneo.
In addition to his role at Teneo, Dr. Cha (Ph.D. Columbia, M.A. Oxford, B.A. Columbia) holds the D.S. Song-KF Chaired Professorship in Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University, where he is also Director of the National Resource Center for Asian Studies in the Walsh School of Foreign Service.… Read the rest
After months of denying that it had any cases of Covid-19 in the country, the North Korean government convened an emergency meeting on Saturday, 28 July to announce that it would introduce an elevated state of emergency, claiming that a former defector to South Korea had returned and was infected.… Read the rest
South Korean President Moon Jae-in marked the seventieth anniversary of the start of the Korean War on Thursday, 25 June, by calling for peace with North Korea but warning that the South Korean military would respond firmly to threats from the North.… Read the rest
● North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s health remains the subject of rumor and speculation after not being seen in public since 11 April.
● North Korea’s neighbors claim that they have not seen anything unusual, but this is no guarantee of Kim’s health.… Read the rest
● Rumors of Kim Jong Un’s incapacitation are unlikely to be true, but a succession crisis would be a major security risk in Northeast Asia.
● The risk is heightened by ongoing tensions between the US and South Korea, which have been unable to agree on hostnation support for US forces, and broader concerns about US military readiness.… Read the rest
● South Korea has contained its outbreak and is implementing extensive social distancing policies to prevent the emergence of new clusters.
● Moon Jae-in’s government has also rolled out new restrictions on international travel to prevent the import of new cases from overseas.… Read the rest
Below is the first edition of our weekly Asia coronavirus update. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you want to discuss any of the countries mentioned in more detail.… Read the rest
● On 15 April, South Koreans will vote in quadrennial elections for the National Assembly, the unicameral legislature.
● President Moon Jae-in’s deft leadership in response to the Covid-19 outbreak has boosted his Democratic Party of Korea (DPK)’s chances of retaining its plurality, but probably not an outright majority.… Read the rest
Despite responding to the widening COVID-19 outbreak with an efficient and large-scale testing program and effective containment measures, South Korean President Moon Jae-in still faces public criticism for his handling of the outbreak.… Read the rest
