Dr. HAHM Chaibong is the president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Previously, he was a senior political scientist at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, California, professor in the School of International Relations and the Department of Political Science as well as the director of the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California, Director (D-1) of the Division of Social Sciences Research & Policy at UNESCO in Paris, and a professor in the Department of Political Science at Yonsei University. Dr. Hahm is the author of numerous books and articles, including “China’s Future is South Korea’s Present,” Foreign Affairs, (Sep/Oct 2018), Hanguk Saram Mandeulgi (Becoming Korean), Vols. I, II, (Asan Academy, 2017), “Keeping Northeast Asia ‘Abnormal’: Origins of the Liberal International Order in Northeast Asia and the New Cold War,” Asan Forum (Sep., 2017), “South Korea’s Miraculous Democracy,” Journal of Democracy (Jul., 2008), “The Two South Koreas: A House Divided,” The Washington Quarterly (Jun., 2005), and Confucianism for the Modern World (co-edited with Daniel A. Bell, Cambridge University Press, 2003).

Dr. CHOI Kang is the President at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Previously, he was the dean of Planning and Assessment at the Korean National Diplomatic Academy. In 2012, Dr. Choi served as the president at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS). He was also a professor and director general for American Studies at IFANS, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, and senior director for Policy Planning and Coordination on the National Security Council Secretariat. He holds several advisory board memberships including: the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Unification of the National Assembly; Ministry of National Defense; Ministry of Unification; Air Force Development Committee; and the National Unification Advisory Council. Dr. Choi was also a South Korean delegate to the Four-Party Talks. He writes extensively on the ROK-US alliance, North Korean military affairs, inter-Korean relations, crisis management, and multilateral security cooperation. Dr. Choi received his B.A. from Kyunghee University, M.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his Ph.D. in political science from Ohio State University.

Dr. KIM Hankwon is a research fellow in the China Policy Program and the director of the Center for Regional Studies at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Previously, Dr. Kim was a visiting professor in the Center for Chinese Studies at the Korean National Diplomatic Academy, a research fellow at the Institute of International Strategy and Development at Tsinghua University, and a research scholar at the School of International Studies at Peking University. Dr. Kim’s research focuses on Chinese foreign policy and nationalism as well as Sino-North Korean economic relations. His recent publications include “The Multilateral Economic Cooperation for Tumen River Area and China’s Leadership,” The Korean Journal of International Relations (2010) and “China’s Strategic Response to the Kim Jong-un Regime,” IFANS Focus (2012). Dr. Kim received a B.A. and M.P.A. (Master of Public Affairs) from the University of Connecticut at Storrs, and his Ph.D. in international relations from American University. Dr. Kim also completed a post-doctoral program at Tsinghua University.

Dr. Woo Jung-Yeop is a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Previously, Dr. Woo was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Korean Studies Institute at the University of Southern California and also an Associate Analyst for Gallup Korea and the Korea Research Company. Dr. Woo’s research focuses on foreign military intervention in civil wars and the relationship between foreign policy-making and public opinion. Dr. Woo received a B.A. from Seoul National University, M.P.P. from Georgetown University, and his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.