Greetings!

I am a Lecturer of Political Science at the University of Tennessee. I am also Senior Fellow of the Center for National Security and Foreign Affairs at the Baker School of Public Policy and Public Affairs at the University of Tennessee. I received my Ph.D. in Political Science at the University of Iowa in 2018 and my B.S degree in Political Science at Seoul National University in 2007.

My main research and teaching interests are at the intersection of international relations and comparative politics, with a focus on international conflict and security, water and natural resources, territorial/maritime/river disputes, and South Korea's foreign policy and regional security in the Indo-Pacific. My work has appeared or is forthcoming in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Peace Research and Journal of East Asian Studies. My research has been supported by multiple grants, including the Korea Foundation.
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I was selected as one of the 2022-2023 U.S. Korea NextGen Scholars from the Center for Strategic and International Studies Korea Chair and the University of Southern California Dornsife Korean Studies Institute. I served as Managing Editor of International Studies Quarterly, the flagship journal of the International Studies Association, in 2018-2023.