Byung Ki Kim

Dr. Byungki Kim, ICAS Fellow, Professor of Politics and International Relations, is Founder/Directing Head of International Security Policy Forum at The Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS), Senior Fellow of The Institute for Sustainable Development at Korea University, and Visiting Fellow at The Global Economic and Financial Research Institute in Seoul in whose capacity Byungki brings together makers of foreign policy, public opinion, national security, finance, trade, development and global governance policy at the highest level from around the globe, including the most gifted fellows from Korea and abroad as part of its global leader fellowship program and conducts advanced policy research, fora and training in the relevant field.

He has authored and co-authored over 60 articles, 2 monographs and 1 edited volume in the field of international security, lectured extensively in Europe, Asia, Americas, Oceania, the Middle East, Africa and the states of the former Soviet Union.

Byungki has held visiting (and senior) fellowships, memberships, appointments (including as well in external capacity) and major research grants from numerous public policy institutions, universities and corporations around the world.

In addition to the research and administrative portfolios, Prof. Kim is widely active as a Member of High Level Advisers to The United Nations Global Alliance for Information and Communication Technologies and Development (UN GAID), Executive Board Member of Friends of UN GAID Foundation (NY), a Steering Committee Member of The Far Eastern Broadcasting Corporation (Seoul), Executive Committee Member of Luxembourg Convention on Prevention of Nuclear Catastrophe (Luxembourg), Advisory Council Member of Asia Society Korea Center, Board Member of Korean Association of Political and Diplomatic History, Board Executive Vice Chair of Korean Academic Council of Global Affairs as well as other public policy research organizations and NGOs dealing with history, political science, defense, foreign policy, trade, finance, cyber-warfare, Eurasia, Germany and Northeast Asia.

In his continuing role as a major force behind the Korean government and its partners around the globe, Byungki is serving as a Honorary Member of the Senior Advisory Council to The Commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea (U.S.F.K.)/Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC)/United Nations Command (UNC) in Korea, Board Member of Korea Network-Centric Warfare Forum, Board Member of Defense Modernization Study Group and Board Member of Korea National Defense and Security Forum, the premier NGO representing the most recognized defense, security, intelligence and foreign policy community in Korea.

Since the beginning of his academic career, he has been sought by chiefs of defense, security, foreign affairs and the related think-tank communities in, but not necessarily limited to, Seoul and Washington, including the respective committees in the National Assembly and Congress, whose service included drafting of a more intensified, centralized training program for The United States Forces in Korea (U.S.F.K.) as well as government reports on Northeast Asia multilateralism and ground-to-ground missile system, for, respectively, The Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense (MND) and The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF).

Byungki has also advised The Salzburg Global Seminar, The Lech Walensa Foundation, Free University of Berlin, Ateneo de Manila University, South Korean National Assembly Social and Labour Committee, International Parliamentary Union for Social Services (Seoul), The International Institute for Strategic Studies (London), Korea Foundation, Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, U.S. Department of State, U.S. National Intelligence Council, U.S. Department of Defense, The Center for a New American Security (Washington, D.C.), Asahi Newspaper as well as governments of Japan, Uganda, The United Kingdom, Germany, Mongolia, Columbia, Ecuardo and the Russian Federation.

Prior to his current position, he served as Acting Dean, Vice Dean of The Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS)/Division of International Studies, Directing Head of The Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Korea International Cooperation Agency—Korea University GSIS Masters Program in International Development Studies, Directing Head of The Advanced Management Program (AMP) on Green Growth, Climate Change and Energy at The GSIS, Founder/Directing Head of AMP on Global Transparency at The GSIS, Executive Director of Global Leadership Development Center, Executive Director for Planning at The International Social Service Corps, Vice Director of The Institute for Sustainable Development, Member of University Committee for External Cooperation and Development and on Housing. During 1999-2002, Korea University restructured 300 members of the labor union and fund-raised 1.5 billion USD in enabling the University to enter in its centennial the ranks of world’s 150 most competitive universities (The Times of London, 2007), with an annualized budget of USD 1.5 billion.

In the past Byungki has also served as Member of Policy Expert Council of the South Korean National Security Council, a Member of the Policy Planning Advisory Council of the South Korean Ministry of National Defense, a Member of the Policy Advisory Council of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, a Member of the Senior Advisory Council to The Commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea (U.S.F.K.)/Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC)/United Nations Command (UNC) in Korea, a Member of the Advisory Council to the Republic of Korea Commander of the Special Warfare Command, a Member of The Presidential Advisory Council on Peaceful and Democratic Reunification, a Member of The Emergency Planning Commission in the Office of the Prime Minister, a Member of the Policy Advisory Council in the Ministry of National Re-unification, a Member of the Visiting Board of Evaluation for the Korea Institute of Defense Analysis, the main analytical arm of the Ministry of National Defense (MND), a Member of Board of Trustee for the The Societas Koreana (Globalization of Korean Studies Project) for the The Academy of Korean Studies, the Mecca of Korean Studies attached to the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy in Seoul.

He is also widely quoted by and writes for the major domestic and international wire services and news agencies.

A graduate of The Phillips Andover Academy and Lewis and Clark College of Portland, Oregon (B.A. in History and International Relations), Byungki received an A.M. in Russian, and East European Studies from Harvard, a M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown and a Ph.D. in Political Science from The Institute of USA and Canada Studies of The Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow. Before joining the current position, he was reading for his second D.Phil. in International Relations at The University of Oxford.

Byungki’s hobbies are strolling, biking and movie-going. He is fluent in Korean, English, and Russian and enjoys visiting foreign countries. Byungki has also been the only Korean delegate to the Shangri- La Dialogue in Singapore for five consecutive years (2002-6), which brings together all defense ministers, CEOs of the defense-industrial complex and most recognized defense intellectuals from the European Union, Northeast Asia, Oceania and the Americas. He is also the Founding Chair of the ministerial-level First and Second High-Level Korea-Central America Strategic Dialogue as well as Member of International Board of Governors of the high-level Group of the Honorables for Atom for Peace and Sustainable Development (Seoul).

Links for Byung Ki Kim
2013 Delegation to Korea
2007 Winter Symposium
2006 Spring Symposium


This page last updated September 25, 2013 jdb