May 14, 2020, by Sue Mi Terry—
After having gone missing for twenty days, Kim Jong-un reappeared on May 1, 2020 at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at a new fertilizer production facility in Sunchon. What fueled much speculation about Kim’s ill-health, and rumors of his death, for the past three weeks was the fact that he has missed several important public events, including his grandfather’s birthday commemoration on April 15th, which was highly unusual and unprecedented for Kim.
May 8, 2020—
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... In this episode, Victor Cha and Joseph Bermudez discuss the reappearance of Kim Jong Un…
April 24, 2020—
In this episode, Andrew is joined by CSIS Korea Chair Victor Cha, Senior Fellow Sue Mi Terry to discuss the latest news surrounding Kim Jong Un's health. This episode was recorded on Friday, April 24, 2020... On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi…
April 15, 2020—
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 hybrid episode of Truth of the Matter and the Impossible State, CSIS’ Victor…
April 1, 2020—
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.
January 31, 2020—
This bonus episode comes from CSIS’s Beyond Parallel Living History video series. In this episode, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Alexander Vershbow reflects on his work to bolster the U.S.-ROK alliance during his post in South Korea. He shares personal accounts of his experience negotiating key policies like the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and goes on to reveal his “diplomatic secret weapon” to establish rapport with South Korean citizens. Ambassador Vershbow served as U.S. ambassador to South Korea from 2005–2008.
January 27, 2020—
In this episode, Andrew talks with resident North Korea experts Victor Cha and Sue Mi Terry about Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite.” The Oscar-nominated film offers a candid commentary on income inequality within South Korean society... On July 16, 2024, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment charging Sue Mi…
December 27, 2019, by Victor Cha—
Christmas passed without the threatened “Christmas gift” from North Korea. President Trump quipped while on holiday in Mar-a-Lago that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un might send him a “beautiful vase” rather than a missile as a gift. In either event, the two years of summit diplomacy and Trump-Kim “bromance” appears to have reached a turning point with no progress on denuclearization since the failed Hanoi summit and a series of North Korean missile tests in the past two months.
December 19, 2019—
This bonus episode comes from CSIS’s Beyond Parallel Living History video series. We invite Shin Kak-soo, former South Korean ambassador to Japan, to share his thoughts on the complexities of South Korea’s relations with Japan. Ambassador Shin served as the South Korean ambassador to Japan from 2011–2013.
December 16, 2019—
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.
