Sung-Yoon Lee
Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor in Korean Studies and Assistant
Professor at The Fletcher School
Sung-Yoon Lee, Kim Koo-Korea Foundation Professor of Korean Studies, and
Assistant Professor, teaches courses on Korea and U.S.-East Asia relations. He
is a former Research Fellow with the National Asia Research Program, a joint
initiative by the National Bureau of Asia Research and the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars, and Associate in Research at the Korea
Institute, Harvard University. In 2005, he launched at Harvard’s Korea
Institute a new seminar series, the “Kim Koo Forum on U.S.–Korea Relations.” He has taught courses on
Korean political history at Bowdoin College (2000), Sogang University (2007), and Seoul National
University (2012, 2013). Recent publications include “North Korean Exceptionalism and South Korean
Conventionalism: Prospects for a Reverse Formulation?” Asia Policy 15, “The Pyongyang Playbook,”
Foreign Affairs, “Engaging North Korea: The Clouded Legacy of South Korea’s Sunshine Policy,” AEI Asian
Outlook, and “Life After Kim: Preparing for a Post-Kim Jong Il Korea,” Foreign Policy. His essays have
been published in the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Asia
Times, The Weekly Standard, Christian Science Monitor, Far Eastern Economic Review, and Imprimus. A
frequent commentator on Korean affairs, Lee has appeared on BBC, NPR, PBS, PRI, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBC,
NECN, Al Jazeera, among others, and has testified as an expert witness at the U.S. House of
Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing on North Korea policy.
Education
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BA, New College
MALD, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
PhD, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University
Professional Activities
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Adjunct Assistant Professor of International Politics, The Fletcher School (1998-2005)
Visiting Assistant Professor of History, Tufts University (2000-2005)
Kim Koo Research Associate (2005-2006), and Associate in Research (1999-present), Korea
Institute, Harvard University
Visiting Professor of Korean Studies, Sogang University (Summer, 2007)
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Asian Studies, Bowdoin College (Spring, 2000)
Research Interests
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political philosophy
democracy
Confucianism