KORE Members

Sonny Cho is Senior Fellow at Global Public Affairs and President and CEO of the Canada Korea Business Council. At Global, he advises international clients on how to incorporate a winning public affairs strategy when expanding their business, including the important step of achieving broader engagement with community and public-sector stakeholders. At CKBC, he promotes Canada’s business, trade, and investment attraction with South Korea.

Michelle Cho is a Korea Foundation Assistant Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies at University of Toronto. She is completing a book entitled The Disenchantment of the Global: Post-millennial South Korean Cinema, which analyzes the form and function of South Korean genre cinemas in the "Sunshine Policy" decade to ask what the anachronism of cold war signifiers amidst post-cold war migrant flows and political realignments can tell us about media, history and geopolitics. Her current research pursues the relationship between popular culture and populism in South Korea as well as the construction of identity in South Korean media’s popular representation of diasporic subject.

Yujeong Choi is Assistant Professor of East Asian Studies at the University of Toronto. In 2012, she received her PhD degree in Linguistics from the University of Texas at Arlington. Her research interests include applied linguistics, Korean pedagogy and Korean linguistics. She currently teaches Korean language courses. Her research interest is literacy education.

Hae Yeon Choo is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Affiliated Faculty of the Asian Institute and the Women and Gender Studies Institute at the University of Toronto. Choo’s research centres on gender, transnational migration and citizenship to examine global social inequality. Her first book, Decentering Citizenship: Gender, Labor, and Migrant Rights in South Korea (Stanford University Press 2016) reveals citizenship as a language of social and personal transformation within the pursuit of dignity, security and mobility. She was a member of the Institute for Advanced Study, School of Social Science, in Princeton in 2018–2019, working on her project on the politics of land ownership in South Korea.

Angie Y. Chung is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the State University of New York at Albany. She is author of Saving Face: The Emotional Costs of the Asian Immigrant Family Myth (Rutgers University Press 2016) and Legacies of Struggle: Conflict and Cooperation in Korean American Politics (Stanford University Press 2007). She was lead on a National Science Foundation-funded project on immigrant redevelopment politics in Koreatown and Monterey Park and a preliminary study on East Asian international students. She has published on the topics of ethnic politics, interethnic coalitions, immigrant families, ethnic enclaves and second generation.

Laam Hae is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at York University. She studies and teaches subjects regarding urban political economy and social movements with the framework of socialist feminism and decolonial epistemologies. Laam has written about popular struggles over gentrification, city marketing, zoning regulations, the militarization of urban space, and “the right to the city,” both in North America and South Korea. Her work is concerned about developing decolonial knowledge about Korea and its relevance to the transnational social justice solidarity.

Theresa Hyun is Full Professor of Korean Studies in the Department of Humanities at York University. She held a tenured faculty position with the College of Foreign Languages of Kyunghee University for ten years. She came to York University in the early 1990s where she taught the first courses on Korean culture and literature and was instrumental in establishing Korean studies. Her undergraduate and graduate teaching covers a variety of topics and approach Korean studies from historical and feminist perspectives. Her scholarly publications examine Korean culture and literature from the point of view of Translation and Comparative Studies. Her current research involves an exploration of literary translation in North Korea focusing on the agency and the role of individual translators in the establishment of the socialist society.

Mihyon Jeon is Associate Professor and teaches Korean language and culture at York University. She joined York University in 2005 after receiving her PhD in Education Linguistics from the University of Pennsylvania. She has developed the Korean section within the Department of Languages, Literatures and Linguistics by designing and offering a variety of courses including advance-level Korean language, Korean Popular Culture, Korean Cinema, Korean Linguistics, etc. She has received grants from York University (Teaching-Learning Development Grant) and the Ontario government (Ontario Online Initiative Fund) for developing online and blended courses. Her research interests include Korean language education as a heritage language in North America and English as second language education in Asia. She focuses on language ideologies and maintenance issues among Korean immigrants in North America as well as native-speaking English teachers’ transnational experiences and identities who teach English in Asia.

Hong Kal teaches visual art and culture of East Asia. She has written about expositions and museums in relation to the formation of national identity. Her current research focuses on trauma art, socially engaged art, and artistic intervention in urban development in Korea. Her research was supported by Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Stanford University (2003-2005), Advanced Research Grant from Korea Foundation (2007-2008) and SSHRC Standard Grant (2010-2013). She is the author of Aesthetic Constructions of Korean Nationalism: Spectacle, Politics and History (Routledge, 2011) and published articles in journals of Comparative Studies in Society and History, Inter Asia Cultural Studies, Korean Studies, and The Asia Pacific Journal: Japan Focus. She is currently a core member of Korea in the World, the World in the Korean Studies, the project at York that received the grant ($ 1 million over 5 years, 2018-2022) from the Academy of Korean Studies. Her most recent publication is “The Art of Witnessing: The Sewol Ferry Disaster in Hong Sung-dam’s Paintings,” Korean Studies, 43, 2019, pp. 96-119.

Milan Kang (she/her) believes the truth is often behind what appears and tries to read between the lines. Milan graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Gender and Women’s Studies from York University in 2021 and began her MA in Sociology the following year. Before moving to Canada, Milan worked in TV and film production for over a decade in Seoul, South Korea, where she earned a BA in Creative Writing. While adjusting to her new environment in Toronto, she actively engaged in queer Korean organizing and non-profits supporting marginalized groups, mainly working with LGBTQ+ youth, refugees, and seniors. Recently, she has been researching Korean feminist and queer movements to support the establishment of Anti-Discrimination Laws in South Korea.

https://www.yorku.ca/gradstudies/sociology/

Daehee Kim is Associate Professor in Korean Language Education at Wonkwang University, South Korea. His research interests include media literacy, Korean heritage language education, Korean language education pedagogy, and language ideologies. He has published a wide range of journal articles and published translated books from English to Korea.

Janice C. H. Kim is a historian of modern Korea, specializing in gender, labour, war and migration in the twentieth century. She is author of several articles including: “Pusan at War: Refuge, Relief and Resettlement in the Temporary Capital, 1950–1953,” JAEAR (2017), “The Pacific War and Working Women in Late-Colonial Korea,” Signs (2007). She is author of To Live to Work: Factory Women in Colonial Korea, 1910–1945 (Stanford University Press 2009). She is Associate Professor of History at York University.

Ann H. Kim is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at York University. Her research interests include three main areas: migration studies, race and ethnicity, and urban sociology, and she has a long-standing interest in the Korean diaspora. She is a co-editor of Korean Immigrants in Canada: Perspectives on Migration, Integration and the Family (2012), and Outward and Upward Mobilities: International Students in Canada, Their Families, and Structuring Institutions (2019), both from the University of Toronto Press, and International Students from Asia in Canadian Universities: Institutional Challenges at the Intersection of Internationalization, Inclusion, and Racialization (2024 Routledge). She was also a guest editor of the special issue, “International Students From Asia in Canada’s Postsecondary Institutions: Disconnections and Connections,” published in the Comparative and International Education Journal (November 2022).

Thomas Klassen is Professor in the School of Public Policy and Administration at York University. He was a Visiting Professor for several years at Yonsei University. His recent publications include the edited volume, Policy Analysis in South Korea (2023). He is the co-author of The Essential Guide to Studying Abroad: From Success in the Classroom to a Fulfilling Career (2020). His co-edited book Korea's Retirement Predicament: The Ageing Tiger was translated and published in China in 2024. He regularly teaches a York University summer study abroad course in South Korea.

Kyoungrok Ko is Associate Professor at the University of Toronto. He teaches Korean language courses in the Department of East Asian Studies. He is a former board member of the American Association of Teachers of Korean and a recipient of the 2016 University of Toronto Faculty of Arts and Science Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award. His scholarly interests include: Korean pedagogy, foreign/second language writing pedagogy, and integration of technology in language education.

Sunho Ko is a cultural historian of modern Korean history with expertise in food and agriculture. He received a PhD degree from the University of Toronto with a dissertation on the cultural history of food in wartime colonial Korea under Japanese rule. He is revising his dissertation into a book, entitled Food for Empire: Wartime Food Politics on the Korean Homefront, 1937–1945, pays special attention to the operation of colonial power in daily food production and consumption during the years of total war. As part of the book project, his article, “Managing Colonial Diets: Wartime Nutritional Science on the Korean Population, 1937–1945” was published in the Journal of Social History of Medicine. He is also expanding his research period from colonial Korea to postcolonial Korea, in particular, North Korea to explore new topics of socialism, the Cold War, animal studies and environmental history. Research aside, I have also become active in the discussion of the recent historiography on North Korea through translation and review articles in Korean. At York University, he has offered a diverse array of courses encompassing Korean cultural and historical topics including food, film, literature, visual culture and the immigrant experience.

Min-Jung Kwak is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. She is an economic and social geographer with broad research interests in immigration and settlement studies. Focusing on Korean-Canadian experiences in major Canadian cities, she has conducted research in international education industry, immigrant entrepreneurship, and transnational migrant family experiences. More recently, her research focuses on accessibility and transnational dimension of immigrant healthcare services.

Regina Lee, PhD, PEng is Professor at the Department of Earth and Space Science and Engineering, York University, Toronto, Canada. Professor Lee received her PhD from the University of Toronto in 2000. It has been a focus of her research to develop a series of satellite technologies that will lead to scientific nanosatellite missions. Currently, she’s investigating several areas including MEMS based attitude sensors and actuators to incorporate their low-grade characteristics; and optical payloads including a star tracker for Resident Space Object (RSO) detection, identification, and characterization with light curve analysis. In recent years, Lee’s research has expanded to develop synergistic strategies across space engineering, community practice, and visual arts to catalyze a collective imagination. Building on this recent experience, Lee is interested in understanding (and potentially developing) strategies to bridge between Korean studies and science & engineering (STEM) practice

Min-Jung Kwak is Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax. She is an economic and social geographer with broad research interests in immigration and settlement studies. Focusing on Korean-Canadian experiences in major Canadian cities, she has conducted research in international education industry, immigrant entrepreneurship, and transnational migrant family experiences. More recently, her research focuses on accessibility and transnational dimension of immigrant healthcare services.

Seulsam Lee (이슬샘) is a doctoral student in Sociology at York University. She earned a Specialized Honours B.A. degree in Sociology from Chung-Ang University in Seoul, South Korea, and a Master’s degree in Sociology from York University. Her previous research focused on migrant women’s experiences of precarious work and precarious immigration status in both South Korea and Canada, particularly in the context of the #MeToo Movement. Her current research examines the dynamics of temporary labour migration programs in Canada, specifically the “Working Holiday” program. She explores how the experiences of South Korean and Japanese youths relate to conventional notions of mobility/migration, freedom/precarity, and work/travel, and how these experiences are shaped by global capitalism and social inequalities. She primarily draws from the political economy of international migration, feminist theories, and qualitative methods. Beyond academia, she has participated in various labour, feminist, and im/migrant rights movements in South Korea and Canada. Currently, she is a member of the Women Migrants Human Rights Center of Korea (한국이주여성인권센터) and the Toronto Korean Feminist Collective WIND.

Dr. Ahrong Lee received the M.A. degree (2004) in Foreign Language and Literature, and the Ph.D. degree in English (2009), from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, concentrating in Linguistics. Her research areas of interest include Korean linguistics, second language acquisition, foreign language pedagogy, curriculum development, and integration of technology in foreign language education. She has published and presented a number of papers on the sound structures of Korean and English and language acquisition/pedagogy since 2004. She has taught a wide range of courses at York University since 2011, including Korean linguistics, Korean sociolinguistics, Korean contemporary culture, and Korean language courses from elementary through advanced levels. She is also one of the faculty members who has taught a certificate course for training Korean language teachers at the Ontario Institute in the School of Education at the University of Toronto. She received grants from York University (Teaching-Learning Development Grant) and the Ontario government (Ontario Online Initiative Fund), with Professor Mihyon Jeon at York University, for developing online and blended courses in the Korean program. She has been involved in a number of community activities with the Korean Education Centre at the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto. With four colleagues, since 2019 she has published three textbooks and three workbooks for the Korean language, titled New Generation Korean.

Adrienne Lo is a linguistic anthropologist. She is Associate Professor at the University of Waterloo and the co-editor of Beyond Yellow English: Toward a Linguistic Anthropology of Asian Pacific America (Oxford 2009) and South Korea’s Education Exodus: The Life and Times of Study Abroad. (Center for Korean Studies, University of Washington 2014). She worked on a collaborative research project (funded by the Spencer Foundation) investigating the internationalization of the undergraduate student body at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her current research examines ideologies of multilingualism in the South Korean popular media and the history of the racialization of Asian American linguistic competencies.

Hyun Ok Park is a Professor of Sociology at York University. Before joining York in 2007, she taught at the University of Michigan and New York University. With archival and ethnographic research, her research investigates global capitalism in colonial, industrial, and financial forms, democracy, socialism, and post-socialist transition, especially in terms of the experience of laborers, ethnic and diasporic minorities, and refugees. She engages with the critical theory of modernity and otherness, postcolonialism, and transnational and global history, to which she contributes with her anchored sociological inquiry of capitalism and social change.

She is the Project Director of “Korea in the World, the World in Korean Studies,” a collaborative project of Korean studies scholars at York, eastern Canada, and the US, which is funded by the Core University Program for Korean Studies grant (1.1M, 2018-2023) from the Academy of Korean Studies. She is the Director of the Korean Office for Research and Education at York set up by the grant.

She was a Member of the School of Historical Studies (Elizabeth and J. Richardson Dilworth fellow, 2005-2006) and a Visitor in the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies at the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton, NJ). Her research has been also supported by other fellowships, including the John. D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship, American Council of Learned Societies fellowship, and Academy of Korean Studies' senior research grant. She sits on the editorial boards of Economy and Society (Seoul, Korea) and Global Perspectives (University of California Press). She also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Association of Members of the Institute for Advanced Study (AMIAS).

Daniel Pieper received his PhD in Asian Studies in 2017 from the University of British Columbia, and an MA in East Asian studies from Washington University. His PhD examined the emergence of language education as a discrete element in the modern school, the textual differentiation process of cosmopolitan Hanmun and vernacular Korean, and the role of language ideology in directing language standardization and informing the larger paradigm of linguistic modernity in pre-colonial and colonial-era Korea.

Camilo Rodriguez is a Colombian-Canadian filmmaker with over 12 years of experience in video editing, directing,
and writing. His work often explores the lives of ill-fated characters typically overlooked in mainstream narratives,
seeking to find the extraordinary in unusual places. This approach frequently leads him into the realm of magical
realism.

Camilo earned his bachelor's degree in Cinema and TV in Bogota, Colombia, where he quickly established himself
as a director on a variety of projects. His natural aptitude for listening and his keen ability to read people proved
invaluable in leading creative teams, allowing him to harness and amplify each member's unique potential in
service of the project.

After graduating, Camilo worked as a 1st Assistant Editor for a major production company in Colombia,
contributing to TV series for Netflix and Caracol TV, one of the country's largest networks. Working on projects
with 60-80 one-hour episodes, he gained a comprehensive understanding of the filmmaking process. His role
involved reading scripts, watching dailies, analyzing directors' work, dissecting actors' performances, and piecing
together the final product. Insights from showrunners also gave him a deep understanding of the business side of
the creative industry.

In 2017, Camilo migrated to Canada, where he further honed his skills as a photographer, production coordinator,
and video editor. These roles helped him settle and provided the professional experience needed to become a
Permanent Resident and, later, a Canadian citizen. In 2023, Camilo began an MFA in Film Production at York University. He is currently developing The Haenyeo Project, a proof-of-concept for a grounded sci-fi TV series that reflects his experiences as an immigrant, human being, and artist. Through this project, Camilo continues to explore the extraordinary within the ordinary, blending his rich cultural heritage with his passion for storytelling.

The Haenyo Project - Thesis Film Synopsis:
In 1996, 16-year-old Jane, a second-generation Korean Canadian, lives under the strict control of her mother, Dr. Hana Kim, in a small town in Northern Ontario. Bullied at school as the only Asian student, Jane's life changes when her mother brings home a mysterious old woman, her estranged grandmother, Kim Young-Sook. Neither knew of the other's existence. Jane soon discovers that her grandmother is a Haenyeo, a female free diver from Jeju Island that can transform into a sea creature when she's in the water. Despite her mother's efforts to keep this secret, Jane forms a strong bond with her grandmother and secretly helps her embrace her true nature, while Dr. Kim tries to protect the family by keeping the transformation hidden. What Jane doesn't know is that this curse – or gift – runs in her blood, too.

Hyunjung Shin is Assistant Professor in the Department of Curriculum Studies at the University of Saskatchewan. She received her PhD in Second Language Education from the University of Toronto. She has been a visiting scholar at the Institute of Cross-Cultural Studies, Department of Anthropology at Seoul National University. Her research interests include globalization, transnationalism and language education focusing on Korean diaspora in Canada, and identity and English language education for Korean/Korean-Canadian students and families in Canada.

Rachel Thorn is a master's student in Social Anthropology at York University. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts in Women and Gender Studies and Diaspora and Transnational Studies from the University of Toronto. Her research investigates the significance of the parasocial relationship between K-pop idols and fans, focusing on the implication of Korean social forms of care within and beyond Korea in global spaces related to the fan-idol bond. Her work also focuses on K-pop's shift from a local to global object as a product of globalization. Her research interests include fandom communication through live and online mediums, parasocial interactions, and the creation and maintenance of communities that centre around interests that society broadly deems 'weird' or 'non-conventional.'