Paul S. Cha

Assistant Professor

Modern Korean History; Korean Christianity; Religious nationalism; Religious Cold War; Humanitarianism

I am a Korea Foundation Assistant Professor of Korean Studies and a historian of modern Korea and global Christianity. My research examines how Protestant Christianity has shaped social, political, and cultural life in Korea, how religion has informed the construction of national identities, and how the Korean Peninsula became a front line in the global religious Cold War.

I have published widely on the history of Korean Protestantism, with articles appearing in Church History, Journal of Korean Studies, Korea Journal, Journal of Korean Religions, and Journal of Religious History.

My first monograph, Balancing Communities: Nation, State, and Protestant Christianity in Korea, 1884–1942 (University of Hawai'i Press, 2022), explores how competing communal identities shaped the early history of Protestantism in Korea. I am currently completing my second monograph, Forging Protestant Allies (under contract with Oxford University Press), which reveals how South Korea's reputation as a Christian stronghold was strategically constructed in the aftermath of the Korean War.

Selected Publications

Balancing Communities: Nation, State, and Protestant Christianity in Korea, 1884-1942. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2022.

“The ~~Murder~~ Death of Pang Hwa-il: Erasing American Violence, Producing Christian Allies During the Korean War.” Church History 92, no. 3 (Sept. 2023): 626-642. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0009640723002111

“‘People Like You and Me’: The Korean War, Humanitarian Aid, and Creating Compassion.” Journal of Korean Studies 26, no. 1 (Spring 2021): 95-116. https://doi.org/10.1215/07311613-8747733

Education

Ph.D. in Asian Languages and Cultures, UCLA

M.A. in Social Sciences, The University of Chicago

B.A. in History and Asian Studies, Colgate University