Participants

Ambassador of the Republic of Korea

Dr. Kyudok HONG served as the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Hungary since January 16 2023. He began his public service in 1980 under Brigadier General Robert W. Pointer Jr. at the ROK-US Combined Forces Command. After culminating years of experience as professor and researcher, he was appointed the Advisor of the National Security and Unification Subcommittee of the Commission on Presidential Transition for President Myung-bak Lee in December 2007. Upon recognition of his expertise in foreign and defense policy, Dr. Hong was chosen to serve as the Deputy Minister for Defense Reform at the Ministry of National Defense between 2009 and 2013. From 2015 to 2017, he was selected as the Advisor to the Diplomacy and National Security Subcommittee of the National Peaceful Unification Advisory Council. Recently, he visited the European Union as the President’s Special Envoy.

Dr. Hong became an emeritus professor of political science and international relations at Sookmyung Women’s University after 29 years. During his tenure, his lectures enjoyed popularity among students and served as the bread-and-butter for students who aspired to become academics and public servants. While he was popular to his students and awarded the “Best Professor” for nine consecutive years, he held various academic positions, including the Dean of Social Sciences, Dean of External Relations and Dean of Academic Affairs, to serve the university as a capable administrator. Dr. Hong introduced a reserve officer training corps and provided leadership opportunities for young women in the Army and Air Force.

His career as a researcher began as a research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. After over 30 years of research on digital transformation and innovation, deterrence, defense posture, multi-domain warfare, peacekeeping, gender mainstreaming, and alliance management, he led the Korea Academic Council on the UN System and advised the Korea-US Alliance Foundation. Dr. Hong is also actively leading the academic research as the President of the International Policy Studies Institute, President of the Korean Academic Association of Homeland Security, and Chairperson of the Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia-Pacific Korea. Recently, he successfully advised the 2021 Seoul UN Peacekeeping Ministerial Conference and presented at the U.S.-Rwanda Preparatory Meeting for the meeting.

He recently spent his efforts building a Security Sector Governance network with regional partners as a regional associate of the Geneva-based think tank DCAF in East Asia. With this forum, Dr. Hong invites scholars from home and abroad to enhance regional cooperation for the challenges of cyber threats, global health crises, maritime security threats, climate and energy crises, and North Korean human rights issues. He recently participated in a series of the conference with CSIS and Chey institutes for Advanced Studies to contribute to a joint publication of the Geopolitical Implications of Scientific Innovations Trends in Northeast Asia in 2020. He also wrote a book chapter with Ambassador Michael Reiterer on “The Republic of Korea’s Cyber Defence and Digital Cooperation Between South Korea and EU,” Cybersecurity Policy in the EU and South Korea from Consultation to Action: Theoretical and Comparative Perspectives”.

In commemoration of 29 years of service, he received the Medal of Service of the Republic of Korea and the Ministry of Education’s Commendation in 2022.