Cheol Liu
January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024
Cheol Liu, Ph.D., is a tenured professor at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management in the Republic of Korea, specializing in public finance, policy analysis, and management. His academic journey includes a Ph.D. from Indiana University, Bloomington, and an MSc from the London School of Economics and Political Science. His career includes roles as an Assistant Professor at the City University of Hong Kong and a Visiting Assistant Professor at Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis. At KDI, he not only teaches but also leads the Experiment Lab for Public Management Research and serves as the Field Chair of the Master of Public Management program.
Dr. Liu is a respected figure in his field, with a focus on corruption, public finance, e-leadership, and performance management. His contributions to academia and public policy are reflected in his numerous publications in prestigious journals and his involvement in policy advisory roles. He has received accolades such as the Best Research Performance Awards from KDI School and has served in significant capacities, including as a member of the Fiscal Performance Evaluation Team at Korea’s Ministry of Economy and Finance and as Chairman of the Committee on International Cooperation at the Korean Association for Public Administration. His work has had a considerable impact on both national and international public administration and policy.
Ho Kyeong Jeong
December 30, 2023 – December 30, 2024
Ho Kyeong Jeong is a “rechtspfleger” in South Korea. A rechtspfleger refers to a judicial specialist who decides certain non-contentious trial tasks of the judge’s duties. The rechtspfleger conducts trials related to orders to render executory notices, registration of debt nonfeasance persons, property inquiry, compulsory sale by auction for real estates, compulsory sale by auction for automobiles and construction machinery, compulsory sale by auction for movables, etc.
Before being promoted to rechtspfleger, he had worked at the Judicial Policy Research Institute (JPRI). At JPRI, he wrote “Study on the Commercial Registration Systems of Vietnam⋅Cambodia⋅Laos (2020),” “Research on Ways to Improve Objection Procedure against a Registrar’s Disposition (2021),” and “Study on the Real Estate Registration Systems of VietnamㆍLaosㆍMongolia (2022).” Ho Kyeong Jeong will study the Corporate Registration System in the United States at GWIKS, focusing on a comparative study with Korea’s Corporate Registration System.
Kibong You
July 29, 2024 – July 28, 2025
Kibong-You is a South Korean government official working for the Ministry of Unification. Prior to coming to The George Washington University, he was the director of the message planning team at the Ministry of Unification. For 15 years, he was responsible for unification and North Korea policy, planning the minister’s speeches and political activities, analyzing North Korea’s political, military, social, and cultural sectors, and inter-Korean humanitarian issues and exchange cooperation.
Mr. You graduated from the Department of Political Science and Economics at Seoul National University and received a Master of Public Administration from Seoul National University. He is currently a PhD candidate at Seoul National University, specializing in policy studies.
Mr. You’s main areas of interest are Korean unification, North Korean issues, and inter-Korean relations. He wrote his master’s thesis on whether North Korea’s nuclear tests affect changes in South Korea’s North Korea policy. He is also interested in the impact of science and technology on policy. Therefore, he plans to conduct research on how to link science and technology, access to information, and North Korea policy.
Kyoung Suk Kang
August 05, 2024 – June 04, 2025
Kyoung Suk Kang is an experienced journalist and columnist who has worked for 15 years at Dong-A ILBO, one of the most influential newspapers in South Korea since its founding in 1920. For nearly half of his career, he covered various administrative bodies, including the Police, Supreme Court, prosecutors’ offices, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government. In the second half of his career, he worked in the political desk, covering major political parties and reporting on two presidential elections, local elections, and parliamentary elections. In 2020, during the newspaper’s 100th anniversary, he was part of the Corporate Strategy Division, where he contributed to producing and preparing internal and external content related to the centennial celebration. Based on these contributions, he has received various
awards, demonstrating his capability as a journalist.
Leveraging his experience in the political desk, in 2021, he earned a master’s degree in policy studies from Seoul National University. His thesis, titled “Effects of Policy Pledge Fulfillment on National Assembly Elections: Focus on the 20th and 21st National Assembly,” explored the impact of fulfilling policy pledges on election outcomes. In November 2024, he plans to conduct research on how the fulfillment of campaign promises by U.S. presidential candidates influences their electoral success.
Park Jeong-Mi
January 22, 2024 – January 21, 2025
Park Jeong-Mi is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Chungbuk National University. After earning her B.A., M.A., and PhD at Seoul National University, she served as a Research Professor at the Research Institute of Comparative History and Culture, Hanyang University, and a Kluge Fellow at the John W Kluge Center, the Library of Congress. As a historical sociologist, she has analyzed the historical transformations of state policies, citizenship, and social movements in South Korea from a feminist perspective. She is the author of a forthcoming book The State’s Sexuality: Prostitution and Postcolonial Nation Building in South Korea (University of California Press, August 2024). She has now embarked on her new book project on social policies and the making of ‘society’ in South Korea as a Fulbright Scholar at George Washington University.
Hoongil Choi
August 30, 2024 – August 30, 2025
Mr. Hoongil Choi has worked as a journalist for 17 years at Korean media companies, including EDAILY. From 2014 to the present, Mr. Choi has covered government ministries and reported on policies, and earned a master’s degree at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. In addition to this, Hoongil has lived with his family for 9 years in Sejong City and learned various aspects of the administrative city.
“I’m going to study policies that help Korea in Washington, D.C., the future of Sejong City. In particular, 2025 is a really important time with three changes. First of all, depending on the results of the U.S. presidential election, there may be a big change in the U.S. and Korea. And it is a time when there is an economic change as interest rates are cut. Also, as the coin market grows, the asset market is expected to change.
I will study the changes and repercussions of various policies during this period of change. I would like to compare the policies of Korea and the United States, and find the policies of the United States that can be benchmarked in Korea. For example, I would like to examine what policies are being pursued in the United States to prevent unfair trade in the capital market, and compare the policies of Korea and the United States. I will study what policies are being pursued to protect investors and increase market trust.
I have two sons in the 2nd and 5th grades of elementary school. I go to school with my children in the United States every morning, and I go to church every Sunday and make this pledge. I pray that my children will live in a better future than they do now. I am going to do policy research to create a world where future generations can live well.”
Seung Wook Kim
December 16, 2024 – December 15, 2025
Seung Wook Kim has been a reporter at Yonhap News, South Korea’s leading global news agency, since 2008. He has worked in the social, political, and economic departments for the past 16 years, striving to deliver fact-based articles to readers. He also produced exciting sports news while covering the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics on-site. Before coming to the GWIKS as a visiting scholar in December 2024, he led junior reporters as the head of the police team.
He plans to study AI utilization methods to reduce industrial accidents in Korea. While working as a reporter, he learned that countless accidents occur in industrial sites, causing precious lives to be lost. Most accidents can be prevented with just a little bit of caution. He believes that AI, which is a global topic, can greatly contribute to reducing industrial accidents. Based on the research results, he hopes to raise safety awareness in the Korean industrial sector and help save the precious lives of workers.
