Professor Kyung-Ae Park is Professor in the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs (SPPGA) and holds the Korea Foundation Chair at the Institute of Asian Research, the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is a former President of the Association of Korean Political Studies in North America.

Professor Park is the author, co-author, and editor of many scholarly publications on issues ranging from North and South Korean politics and foreign relations to gender and development, including North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economics, and Society, Non-Traditional Security Issues in North Korea, New Challenges of North Korean Foreign Policy, Korean Security Dynamics in Transition, and China and North Korea: Politics of Integration and Modernization. She has also authored articles in a number of journals, including Comparative Politics, Journal of Asian Studies, Pacific Affairs, Asian Survey, and Pacific Review.

Since the mid-1990s, she has made several trips to Pyongyang and hosted North Korean delegation visits to Canada, playing a key role in promoting Track-II exchanges and diplomacy between Canada and North Korea. She established the Canada-DPRK Knowledge Partnership Program at UBC, which has been hosting North Korean professors as part of a long-term knowledge exchange and thus represents an unprecedented, ground-breaking program in North America.

Research interests
North and South Korean Politics
US-Korea Relations
Gender and Development

Centre for Korean Research Faculty in the Media

In Canada, U.S., U.K., China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Indonesia, and Russia:

• The New York Times
• The Wall Street Journal
• Financial Times
• U.S. News and World Report
• The Associated Press
• UPI
• The Guardian
• The Globe and Mail
• CTV News
• National Post
• Voice of America
• Radio Free Asia
• Kyodo News
• Xinhua News Agency
• CCTV
• China Daily
• People’s Daily
• China News Service
• Beijing TV
• Voice of Russia
• Korean Central News Agency
• Rodong Sinmun
• Korean Central TV
• The Pyongyang Times
• DPRK Today
• Yonhap News Agency
• KBS TV
• Weekly Chosun
• JoongAng Ilbo
• The Dong-A Ilbo
• The Chosun Ilbo
• The HanKook Ilbo
• The Korea Times
• Maeil Business Newspaper
• The Hankyoreh
• News1
• The Zum
• MBC News
• KBS News
• NK News
• North Korea: Witness to Transformation
• Maclean’s Magazine
• Le Devoir
• UNDPI.org
• Mi’raj News, Indonesia
• Jaring News, Indonesia
• Pagi, Indonesia
• Southeast TV
• Phoenix New Media
• China.org.cn
• China Radio International
• Huanqiu.com
• China Youth Daily
• NetEase
• Dzwww.com
• 21CN
• hdzc.net
• Chongqing Broadcasting Group
• iqilu.com
• Shangluo Ribao
• Wujing Ribao
• Luoyang Daily
• JSChina.com.cn
• Gywb.cn
• Xianning Daily
• Sputnik
• TongIl SinBo
• Uriminzokkiri
• TongIl Whabo
• Segye Ilbo
• The Naeil News
• Pressian
• Jajuminbo
• No Cut News
• Joongboo Ilbo
• Korean Headline News
• The Financial News
• NK Today
• Today Economy
• Asia News Agency
• Simin Ilbo
• Aju News
• One Korean News
• North Korean News.net
• Big News Network
• The AsiaN
• TongIl News
• News Watch
• OPNews
• TopDaily
• IBS TV
• BHI News
• Global News Agency Korea
• The Joongang Daily
• Vanchosun
• TV Korea
• All TV
• Radio Seoul

-Numerous presentations at the invitation of various universities, research institutes, academic associations and government agencies:

• Harvard University
• Johns Hopkins University
• University of California, Berkeley
• Stanford University
• University of Southern California
• University of California, San Diego
• University of California, Los Angeles
• George Washington University
• University of Washington
• Pennsylvania State University
• Michigan State University
• University of South Carolina
• University of Georgia
• Claremont McKenna College
• Georgia State University
• Western Washington University
• TransPacific Hawaii College
• University of Toronto
• Canadian Forces College
• Peking University
• Seoul National University, Korea
• Seoul National University, Korea
• Yonsei University, Korea
• Korea University
• Ewha Womans University
• Sookmyung University, Korea
• Korea National Defense University, Korea
• University of North Korean Studies, Korea
• Chongju University, Korea
• Kangnam University, Korea
• Kyungnam University
• Academy of Korean Studies, Korea
• Ritsumeikan University, Japan
• Council on Foreign Relations, Washington, D.C.
• Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.
• Heritage Foundation
• Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
• The Carter Center
• Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies
• The Southern Center for International Studies
• Pacific Century Institute
• Korea Economic Institute of America
• Pacific Council on International Policy
• International Council on Korean Studies
• Asia Foundation
• National Committee on North Korea
• Canadian Consortium on Asia Pacific Security
• The Canada-Korea Forum
• The North- South Institute
• The Canadian Centre for Foreign Policy Development
• Canada-DPRK Association
• The Korean American University Professors Association
• The Canada-Korea Foundation
• Seoul Forum for International Affairs, Korea
• Korea Foundation
• World Korean Forum
• The Korean Political Science Association
• The Korean Association of International Studies
• The Korean Association for Canadian Studies
• The Sejong Institute, Korea
• Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, Korea
• Korea Institute for National Reunification, Korea
• The Advisory Council on Democratic and Peaceful Unification of Korea
• The Presidential Committee for Unification Preparation, Korea
• The Korean Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation, Korea
• Korean Sharing Movement, Korea
• Korea Eximbank, Korea
• The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
• The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada
• Privy Council Office, Canada
• The Central Intelligence Agency of the U.S.A
• U.S. Department of State
• National Assembly, Korea
• Ministry of Unification of the Republic of Korea
• Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Korea
• Embassy of the Republic of Korea, Washington, DC.

Selected Publications

North Korea’s Foreign Policy: Kim Jong Un Regime in a Hostile World, eds. with S. Snyder (Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers), Forthcoming, 2023.

Non-Traditional Security Issues in North Korea, ed. (Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2013).

North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2013), co-ed. with S. Snyder.

New Challenges of North Korean Foreign Policy, ed. (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010).

Korean Security Dynamics in Transition (New York, N.Y.: Palgrave-Global Publishing at St. Martin’s Press, 2001), co-ed. with D. Kim.

China and North Korea: Politics of Integration and Modernization (Hong Kong: Asian Research Service), co-authored with H. Park.

“North Korea’s Track-II Knowledge Diplomacy,” in Scott Snyder and Kyung-Ae Park, eds., North Korea’s Foreign Policy: Kim Jong Un Regime in a Hostile World (Boulder, CO: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers), Forthcoming, 2023.

“Beyond Kim Jong-un: Understanding the North Korean Mind,” in a report on What to Expect from the North Korean Puzzle (Ottawa, ON: Canadian Security Intelligence Service, May 2018), pp. 21-24.

“Can We Engage North Korea with Soft Power?” NK News, September, 17, 2014, pp. 1-5

“Engaging North Korea with High-culture Soft Power: Knowledge Sharing with Pyongyang,” co-authored with M. Bennett, Pacific Affairs, Vol. 87, No.1 (March 2014), pp. 29-41.

“North Korea in Transition: Evolution or Revolution?” in Kyung-Ae Park and Scott Snyder, eds., North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2013), pp. 275-293, co-authored with S. Snyder.

“North Korea in Transition: Introduction,” in Kyung-Ae Park and Scott Snyder, eds., North Korea in Transition: Politics, Economy, and Society (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 2013), pp. vii-xvi, co-authored with S. Snyder.

“The Canada-DPRK Knowledge Partnership Program,” 38 North, US-Korea Institute at SAIS, November 19, 2012, pp. 1-4.

“Lessons from North Korea’s Previous Exchange Programs,” in Gi-Wook Shin and Karin J. Lee, eds., U.S.-DPRK Educational Exchanges: Assessment and Future Strategy (The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center, Stanford University, 2011), pp. 153-160.

“Economic Crisis, Women’s Changing Economic Roles, and their Implications for Women’s Status in North Korea,” Pacific Review, Vol. 24, No. 2 (May 2011), pp. 159-177. A different version was published as “Gender Security in North Korea,” in Kyung-Ae Park, ed., Non-Traditional Security Issues in North Korea (Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2013), pp. 51-74.

“People’s Exit in North Korea: New Threat to Regime Stability?” Pacific Focus, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Summer 2010), pp. 257-275.  A different version was published as “People’s Exit, Regime Stability, and North Korean Diplomacy,” in Kyung-Ae Park, ed., New Challenges of North Korean Foreign Policy (New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), pp. 53-79.

“North Korean Strategies in the Asymmetric Nuclear Conflict with the U.S.,” Asian Perspective, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Spring 2010), pp. 11-47.

“Regime Change in North Korea?: Economic Reform and Political Opportunity Structures,” in U. Heo, T. Roehrig, and J. Seo eds., Korean Security in a Changing East Asia (New York, NY: Praeger, 2007).  A revised version appeared in North Korean Review, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring 2009), pp. 23-45.

“South Korean Women in Politics,” Korean Journal of Public Policy, Vol. 22 (Winter 2006), pp. 64-75.  Also appeared in Michael Kugelman, ed., Edging Toward Full Empowerment?: South Korean Women in the Workplace and the Political Arena, Asian Program Special Report, No. 132, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, September 2006, pp. 20-26.

“Democratic Consolidation in the ROK and Political Perspectives on the 2002 Presidential Election,” with H. Lee, in Alexandre Mansourov, ed., A Turning Point: Democratic Consolidation in the Republic of Korea and Strategic Readjustment in the U.S.-ROK Alliance, (Honolulu, HI: Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies, 2005), pp. 47-62.

“North Korea: From Brisk Diplomacy to Impasse,” Asian Survey, Vol. XLV, No. 1 (January/February, 2005), pp. 14-20.

“North Korean Nuclear Crisis and Human Security,” Korean Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 10, 2004, pp. 17-35.

“North Korea: Pendulum Swing between Crisis and Diplomacy,” Asian Survey, Vol. XLIV, No. 1 (January/February, 2004), pp. 139-146.

“USA Lacks Options in Crisis with Pyongyang,” Jane’s Intelligence Review, Vol. 15, No. 4 (April 2003), pp. 38-39, with H. Park.

“The Status of Civil Society in North Korea and Its Ramifications for Inter-Korean Integration,” in James Lister, ed., The Challenges of Reconciliation and Reform in Korea(Washington, D.C.: Korea Economic Institute of America, Joint U.S. – Korea Academic Studies, 2002), pp. 195-211.

“Sources of North Korea’s Foreign Policy Leverage toward the U.S.: The Case of the Nuclear Deal,” in B. C. Koh, ed., Korea: Dynamics of Diplomacy and Unification (Claremont, CA: The Keck Center, Claremont McKenna College, 2001), pp. 35-67.

“North Korea’s Defensive Power and U.S.-North Korea Relations,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 73, No. 4 (Winter 2000-2001), pp. 535-553. A revised version appeared in Kyung-Ae Park and D. Kim, eds., Korean Security Dynamics in Transition (New York, N.Y.: Palgrave-Global Publishing at St. Martin’s Press, 2001), pp. 83-104.

“Introduction: The Korean Peninsula in Flux,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 73, No. 4 (Winter 2000-2001), pp. 499-501.

“North Korea’s Nongovernmental Foreign Contacts,” Korean Journal of Defense Analysis, Vol. 12, No. 2 (Winter 2000), pp. 33-51. A full version was published as The Pattern of North Korea’s Track-Two Foreign Contacts, North Pacific Policy Papers #5 (Vancouver: Program on Canada-Asia Policy Studies, Institute of Asian Research, University of British Columbia, 2000).

“Political Representation and South Korean Women,” Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 58, No. 2 (May 1999), pp. 432-448.  Reprinted in Louise Edwards and Mina Roces, eds., Women in Asia: Women and Political Power (London and NY: Routledge, 2009), pp. 271-191.

“Explaining North Korea’s Negotiated Cooperation with the U.S.,” Asian Survey, Vol. XXXVII, No. 7 (July 1997), pp. 623-636.

“Women Workers in South Korea: The Impact of Export-led Industrialization,” Asian Survey, Vol. XXXV, No. 8 (August 1995), pp. 740-756.

“Women and Revolution in South and North Korea,” in Mary Ann Tetreault, ed., Women and Revolution in Africa, Asia, and the New World (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1994), pp. 161-191. A different version was published as Women and Social Change in South and North Korea: Marxist and Liberal Perspectives, Women in International Development # 231 (East Lansing, MI: Office of Women in International Development, Michigan State University, 1992).

“Women and Revolution in China,” in Mary Ann Tetreault, ed., Women and Revolution in Africa, Asia, and the New World (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1994), pp. 137-160.  An earlier version of the article appeared in Korea and World Affairs, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Winter 1990), pp. 747-774.  A different version was published as Women and Revolution in China: The Sources of Constraints on Women’s Emancipation, Women in International Development # 230 (East Lansing, MI: Office of Women in International Development, Michigan State University, 1992).

“T’ongilui Chongch’ijok Changae Yoin [Political Obstacles to Korean Unification],” in T’ongbuka Anbo Chongseiwa Nambukhan T’ongil Chonmang [Security of Northeast Asia and the Prospects for Korean Unification] (Seoul, Korea: Asiatic Research Center, Korea University, 1994), pp. 93-104.

“Women and Development: The Case of South Korea,” Comparative Politics, Vol. 25, No. 2 (January 1993), pp. 127-145.

“Women and Revolution in North Korea,” Pacific Affairs, Vol. 65, No. 4 (Winter 1992-1993), pp. 527-545.  A different version was published as “Ideology and Women in North Korea,” in Han S. Park, ed., North Korea: Ideology, Politics, Economy (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), pp. 71- 85.

“Inter-Korean Relations: Changes and Prospects,” Asian Survey, Vol. XXXII, No. 5 (May 1992), pp. 429-447, co-authored with S. Lee.

“Social Reform in North Korea: Prospects for Liberalization and Democratization,” Korea Observer, Vol. XXII, No. 4 (Winter 1991), pp. 499-517.

“Pukhan Sahoeui Pyonhwa Chonmang [Prospects for Changes in North Korean Society],” in ’90nyondae Pukhanui Pyonhwawa Nambukhan Kwan’gye [Domestic Changes in North Korea and Inter-Korean Relations for the 1990s] (Seoul, Korea: National Unification Board of the Republic of Korea, 1991), pp. 83-106.

“China’s Korean Policy and the Role of the Korean-Chinese in Inter-Korean Relations,” Korea Observer, Vol. XXII, No. 2 (Summer 1991), pp. 207-228.

“Political Implications of U.S.-South Korea Trade Frictions,” in Tae Hwan Kwak and Seong Hyong Lee, eds., Forty Years of Korea-U.S. Relations, 1948-1988 (Seoul, Korea: Kyung Hee University Press, 1990), pp. 17-33.

“Ideology and Security: Self-Reliance in China and North Korea,” in Edward Azar and C. I. Moon eds., National Security in the Third World: The Management of Internal and External Threats (England: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1988), pp. 102-135, co-authored with Han Park.

“Bases of Regime Legitimacy in South and North Korea,” Korea Observer, Vol. XVIII, No. 3 (Autumn 1987), pp. 221-243, co-authored with Han Park.

“China and Inter-Korean Relations,” The Korean Journal of International Studies, Vol. 17, No. 3 (Summer 1986), pp. 23-49, co-authored with Han Park.

“Strategies for Modernization in the People’s Republic of China and North Korea,” Asian Perspective, Vol. 9, No. 1 (Spring-Summer 1985), pp. 24-45. A revised Korean version appeared in “Hyondaehwa Chonryak: Chunggonggwaui Pikyo [Strategies for Modernization: Comparison with the PRC],” in Kyung-Ae Park, et al., Pukhan Sahoeui Kujowa Pyonhwa [Social Structure and Change in North Korea] (Seoul, Korea: Kyungnam University Press, 1987), pp. 161-186.

“Political Development in the People’s Republic of China and North Korea: A Comparative Assessment,” in Korean Democracy in a Time of Turbulence (Seoul, Korea: The Korean Political Science Association, 1983), pp. 131-156.

Courses Taught 

Politics of Development, Department of Political Science
Contemporary Politics of Korea, Department of Political Science
Issues in Gender and Politics, Department of Political Science
East Asian Diplomacy, MAPPS, Institute of Asian Research
Security Module, MAPPS, Institute of Asian Research
Gender and Development, MAPPS, Institute of Asian Research
Asia Diplomacy and International RelationsCentre Directors