Contemporary Japanese politics is an original area of research since graduate years. Japanese domestic politics and foreign relations remain as a primary research topic. Korea-Japan relations constitutes another area of major research interest. Diplomatic and security ties between the two countries are never-ending topic of research interest. Furthermore, as an extension of the previous two research areas, international relations in East Asia stand as a focal point of research. In particular, conflicts and cooperation among East Asian countries as well as trilateral ties between the U.S., Japan, and South Korea occupy the center of research topics.
Born in 1963
1998 Ph.D., Columbia University
1999-2002 assistant professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) in Japan
2002-2004 assistant professor at the Institute for Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS).
2004 Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Seoul National University
2006 Associate professor at the GSIS at Seoul National University
2011 Professor at the GSIS at Seoul National University
2012- Columnist at Tokyo Shimbun
2012-2016 Director of Institute for Japanese Studies (IJS)
2016 Initiated the formation of the East Asian Consortium for Japanese Studies (EACJS)
2016- Board member of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies
2016-2018 Dean of the GSIS
2017 President of the Korean Association of Contemporary Japanese Studies
2019- regular writer at Korean Peninsula Peace Watch at Joongang Ilbo, member of Munhwa Knowledge Forum at Munhwa Ilbo (He wrote columns regularly at Chosun Ilbo, Donga Ilbo and Munhwa Ilbo)
2019- Director of Institute of International Affairs (IIA) at Seoul National University.
2019 Vice president of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs
2019- Non-resident senior fellow at Atlantic Council.
【Books】
“Daigishi no Tsukurare Kata” (How Japan’s Dietman Is Made), Bungeishunjyu, 2000
“Jamindang Jongkwon gwa Jonhu Cheje eui Byunyong” (LDP Politics and the Transformation of Postwar System in Japan), SNU Press, 2011.
“Higashi Ajia no seiryokuteni to nihon no taigai senryaku no henka” (Power Transition in East Asia and Japan’s International Strategy) Higashi ajia zaidan, 2014
“Nihon minshuto no Seiko to shippai” (The success and failure of Japanese Democratic Party), SNU Press, 2014
“Nikkan kankei 50nen: hikakushiteki rikai” (50 years of Japan-Korea Relations: a Comparative-Historical Understanding), Korean Historical Museum, 2016.
“Abe jidai, nihon no kokka senryaku” (Abe Era, Japan’s National Strategy), SNU Press, 2018.
【Co-Authored Books】
“Japan’s Strategic Thought toward Asia,” Palgrave, 2007
“East Asia’s Haunted Present,” Praeger International Security, 2008
“U.S. Leadership, History, and Bilateral Relations in Northeast Asia,” Cambridge University Press, 2011.
“Changing Power Relations in Northeast Asia,” Routledge, 2011
“National Identities and Bilateral Relations,” Stanford, 2013
Nakasone Yasuhiro Award, 2005.
