Biography
Dr. Soon-Ok Shin is a visiting fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy and non-resident research fellow at Simyeon Institute for North Korean Studies, Seoul. She is currently leading a KF-funded project ‘Liberal Resilience and Minilateralism’.
Her research explores the intersections of East Asian international relations, North Korea’s Cold War nuclear strategy, and contemporary geopolitical dynamics, with a particular focus on the Korean Peninsula. She is widely recognized for her work on South Korea’s middle power diplomacy, North Korea’s nuclear paradox, and the rise of right-wing populism in East Asia.
Dr. Shin holds a Ph.D. in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick, UK, where she examined the role of identity in Northeast Asian security culture. She also earned her M.A. and B.A. from Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea.
Her academic career spans several continents, having held teaching and research positions in Hong Kong, Colombia, South Korea, and Tunisia. She was Assistant Professor at the Université de Tunis El Manar (2016-22), Lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2012-16) and Research Professor at Universidad de los Andes, Bogota (2010-2012).
Dr. Shin’s scholarship has been published in leading journals such as The Pacific Review, International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, and North Korean Review. Her recent publications address South Korea’s strategic positioning amid Sino-US rivalry, the paradoxes of North Korea’s nuclear policy, and the mobilisation of gendered political anger in South Korean populism.
She is a member of the British International Studies Association and the Korean Political Science Association. Her research has been supported by grants from the Korean Foundation, the Academy of Korean Studies, the Korean Political Science Association, and she was the recipient of a Chevening scholarship.
Dr. Shin regularly contributes to international conferences and policy forums, and she is actively involved in collaborative research projects on middle power diplomacy and global order transformation.