 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
| Paik Hak-soon | |
 | |
| Korean name | |
|---|---|
| Hangul | 백학순 |
| Hanja | 白鶴淳 |
| RR | Baek Haksun |
| MR | Paek Haksun |
Dr. 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. In 2024,the International Political Science Association (IPSA) established the Kim Dae-jung Award,presenting its inaugural honor at the 2025 IPSA World Congress in Seoul. The award will be conferred biennially at subsequent IPSA World Congresses.
Paik serves on the Boards of Directors for 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 the Executive Director of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Forum,an international forum dedicated to promoting Kim Dae-jung’s ideas and legacy.
Previously,Paik was the President (2018-2021) of the Sejong Institute,a leading think tank in South Korea. He has advised South Korea’s Ministry of Unification,Ministry of Foreign Affairs,National Security Council,and National Assembly in various capacities. Additionally,he has served as the Executive Director of the Seoul-Washington Forum,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 also held the positions of Vice President and Chairman of the Special Committee on South Korea-U.S. Relations for the Korean Political Science Association,and Vice President of the Korean Association of North Korean Studies. In 2024,he received the Global Korea Award,presented by the Council on Korean Studies at Michigan State University in the United States.
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 the author of 14 books and monographs,and co-author,editor,or co-editor of 9 books written in Korean or English. His works include: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 the Korea Center,Harvard University.