selected writings
DMZ Changes Put Birds on a Trip Wire
The Interpreter, Lowy Institute, July 2026
South Korea plans to shrink its DMZ buffer zone again. The ecological and security consequences could extend far beyond the peninsula.
Strategic Heritage Engagement: Bridging Hard Power and Public Diplomacy
USC Center on Public Diplomacy, June 2026
I discuss how the destruction of cultural heritage sites creates post-war strategic liabilities.
Japan and Korea's Energy Hedge
The Diplomat, March 2026
The Strait of Hormuz blockade is triggering strategic bilateral cooperation that prioritizes systemic energy security over domestic sentiments.
More-Than-Human Soft Power: Exploring Futures in Public Diplomacy
USC Center on Public Diplomacy, September 2025
With "more-than-human soft power," I expand on Joseph Nye's theory of soft power to include nonhuman actors, ecologies, and multispecies relationships as structural agents of cultural and diplomatic influence.
The Bodhisattva and the Shrine: Cultural Repatriation and Diplomacy in Japan-South Korea Relations
The Diplomat, July 2025
Recent cultural repatriation reveals how unresolved colonial histories and collective traumas continue to shape relations in East Asia through significant cultural artifacts.