Professor Ko Yoo-hwan of Dongguk University Appointed as President of the Institute for Unification Studies

Goh Woo-hwan, Director of the Institute for Unification Studies

Ko Yoo-hwan (63), a professor in the Department of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, has been appointed as the new president of the Korea Institute for National Unification, a government-funded research institute dealing with unification and North Korean issues.

The Korea Institute for National Unification announced on the 29th that the Economic and Social Research Council under the Prime Minister's Office appointed Professor Ko as the 18th president of the institute.

President Ko earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from Dongguk University and, while serving as a professor in the Department of North Korean Studies at Dongguk University, authored several works including Hamheung and Pyongsong: Urban History of Everyday Politics in Space (2014, co-author), Power and Everyday Life in North Korea (2013, co-author), The Everyday Life World of North Korea (2010, co-author), and Changes in North Korea Seen Through Rodong Sinmun (2006, co-author).

Having served as president of the North Korean Studies Association, President Ko has been active since 2017 as the chair of the Planning and Coordination Subcommittee of the National Unification Advisory Council and as a policy advisor to the National Security Office of the Blue House. He has also been serving as a policy committee member of the National Council for Reconciliation and Cooperation since 2009.

President Ko, who will take office on the 30th, will serve a three-year term until April 2023.