Paik Hak-soon

Paik Haksoon is the Founding President of the Academy of Kim Dae-jung Studies established by the Kim Dae-jung Foundation in Seoul, Korea. Kim Dae-jung was the 15th President of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) and the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2000.

Paik is also a member of boards of directors of three Kim Dae-jung-related institutions: the Kim Dae-jung Foundation, the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, and the Kim Dae-jung Nobel Peace Prize Memorial. He is also Executive Director of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Forum, an international forum to promote Kim Dae-jung's ideas and legacy.

Paik was formerly the President (2018-2021) of the Sejong Institute, a leading independent think tank in South Korea. He was an advisor in various capacities to South Korea’s Ministry of Unification, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Security Council, and National Assembly.

Paik was also the executive director of the Seoul-Washington Forum, the chairman of the policy committee of the Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, a news commentator for the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), and a columnist for major Korean national newspapers. He was a vice president of the Korean Political Science Association and also a vice president of the Korean Association of North Korean Studies.

Paik has written extensively on North Korean politics, inter-Korean relations, North Korea-U.S./U.S.-North Korea relations, North Korean nuclear and missile issues, and East Asian international relations. He is author of 14 books and monographs and co-author, editor, and co-editor of 9 books written in Korean and English, including: Kim Dae-jung's Thought and Politics (Co-Author, 2023), The Korean Peninsula Peace Strategy (Co-Author, 2022), Park Geun-hye Administration’s Policy on North Korea and Unification: Comparison with Previous Administrations (2018), North Korean Politics in the Kim Jong Un Era, 2012-2014: Ideas, Identities, and Structures (2015), The U.S.-North Korea Relations during President Obama's Second Term, 2013-2014: Threat of the Use of Nuclear Weapons and the Collapse of Relationship (2014), and The History of Power in North Korea: Ideas, Identities, and Structures (2010).

Paik earned his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Pennsylvania and was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University.