John H. Cha

John Cha lives and writes in Oakland, California. He has written several volumes of biographies about Korean and American leaders and is an award-winning translator of Korean literature into English.

His book titles include Willow Tree Shade: The Susan Ahn Cuddy Story; The Do or Die Entrepreneur: A Korean American Businessman’s Journey; Exit Emperor Kim Jong-il: Notes from His Former Mentor. Currently, he is working on The Rite of Truth: telling/retelling, a book about his sister Theresa Cha.

Translated works include daytime moon/Song Kijo Poetry Collection; Love Yourself, Love Others: Dosan’s Way to Leadership; Mother’s Song: Park Young-ja Essay Collection.

In his own words: “Welcome to my world. I love Korean language, food, and literature. Ever since I came to America at age fifteen, I spent most of my life telling people about Korea, her pains and triumphs. At age sixty something, you’d think that you heard them all. Yet, I am constantly amazed and pleased that there are so many more stories out there waiting to be told, waiting to be heard.”

His coauthor, K.J. Sohn, is a senior fellow at Gyeonggido Development Institute. Sohn is a former newspaper reporter; and senior research fellow at National Intelligence Service of Korea.