Research Interests
My research studies the North Korean economy in comparative and regional perspective — alongside China, Russia, and transition economies — across four interrelated themes: the domestic economy, foreign economic relations with China and Russia, unification and economic integration, and the adaptation of North Korean refugees. I combine area-studies depth with empirical economic methods.
Marketization, price formation, border-closure effects, and the evolution of economic strategy under successive Party Congresses.
North Korea’s trade with China (firm- and aggregate-level) and the economic implications of strengthened North Korea–Russia ties amid the Russia–Ukraine war.
Inter-Korean geopolitical risk and its transmission to financial markets; historical and institutional perspectives on Korean economic integration.
Labor-market assimilation, health status, and subjective well-being among North Korean defectors resettled in South Korea.