Anar Shaikenova

Director / Assistant-Professor

Ms. Anar Shaikenova is a well-established professional in public administration and public policy. She defended her doctoral thesis in regulation and governance, focusing on policy learning and policy capacities in Kazakhstan, Georgia, and Russia. Her other research areas include strategic trade controls (STCs), economic sanctions, compliance, and the role of Central Asian states in nuclear non-proliferation and international security, given her nine years of work experience with the US Department of State Export Control and Border Security Program. She also possesses a wide network of professional and personal contacts due to her outstanding communication and relationship management skills.

Education:

• – Ph.D. in Public Policy, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan
• – M.A. in Public Administration, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
• – B.A. in International Relations and Economics, University of Minnesota, MN, USA.

Gerald Pech

Gerald Pech is a researcher at the DPRK Strategic Research Center at KIMEP University and associate professor of economics at KIMEP University. He received his PhD from Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany in 1995 and held teaching and research positions at the Graduate School Bochum and Dortmund, the University of St Andrews, the National University of Ireland in Galway, the American University in Bulgaria and the University of Mainz. His fields of specialization are game theory and the economic analysis of institutions.

James De-La-Haye

Research Assistant

James De-La-Haye is a Research Assistant at KIMEP University’s DPRK Strategic Research Center. His work focuses on international relations, economic and social development, public policy, and project governance, shaped by his experience in academia, NGOs, and EU-funded projects.

Education:

• – Bachelor of Arts in History and Political Science, Northumbria University, U.K.

Jenny Hunken

Communications & Research Assistant, Office of the President

Jenny Hunken is a Communications & Research Assistant at KIMEP University’s Office of the President and works closely with the DPRK Strategic Research Center. Her professional interests include education, youth development, and communications which she has developed through work in universities, NGOs, and government.

Education:

• – Masters of Public Diplomacy, University of Southern California, California, USA
• – Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, Macalester College, Minnesota, USA

Jeremy Lonjon

Communications & Research Director

Jeremy Lonjon is the Communications & Research Director at the Office of the President and contributes to the work of the DPRK Strategic Research Center at KIMEP University. He holds a BBA in Marketing from the ICN Business School in Nancy, France, and from the Russian Academy of Economics named after Plekhanov in Moscow, Russia. He also holds an M.A. in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Strasbourg in France. His research interests include the post-Soviet space with a focus on Central Asia.

Sungju Park-Kang

Research Fellow / Assistant Professor

Dr Sungju Park-Kang is Research Fellow at the DPRK Strategic Research Center and Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at KIMEP University, Kazakhstan. Park-Kang is also Adjunct Professor at the Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku, Finland. He was formerly Assistant Professor of International Relations and Korean Studies at Leiden University, the Netherlands and at the University of Central Lancashire, UK.

His work has appeared in Review of International Studies, Millennium: Journal of International Studies, Polity and Asia Europe Journal, among others. Park-Kang is the author of Tears of Theory: International Relations as Storytelling and Fictional International Relations: Gender, Pain and Truth.

Dr. Jungho Baek

Non-Resident Research Fellow

Ph.D. in Sociology (Stanford University, USA)

Bio:
Dr. Jungho Baek is a Ladessa Hall Nordale Professor of Economics in the College of Business and Security Management (CBSM) at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a non-resident research fellow at the DPRK Strategic Research Center at KIMEP University. His primary research areas include international trade, energy economics, resource economics, environmental economics, and econometric modeling. He has published extensively in these fields, with over 130 articles in international refereed journals. His current research on North Korea examines economic development strategies and the optimal allocation of development funds to support sustainable growth. He previously served as the inaugural endowed chair in Korea Economic Studies at the East-West Center and is the founding Editor-in-Chief of Commodities.

Summary:
My current research explores how North Korea can lay the foundation for sustained economic modernization by optimizing development fund allocation over the next decade. Despite abundant natural resources and a relatively skilled workforce, North Korea’s rigid centrally planned economy, limited trade, and chronic inefficiencies have hindered growth. The study integrates two methodologies: (1) a cross-country econometric analysis to assess the roles of trade openness, FDI, and institutional quality in driving medium-term growth under different reform scenarios; and (2) a comparative modeling framework to estimate sector-specific capital needs for infrastructure, human capital, and industrial modernization, drawing lessons from South Korea, China, Vietnam, and Germany. By focusing on long-term structural transformation rather than short-term GDP gains, this research offers a strategic, evidence-based roadmap for achieving a resilient, self-sustaining economy in North Korea.

Dr. Jacob Reidhead

Visiting Research Fellow

Ph.D. in Resource Economics (Michigan State University, USA)

Jacob Reidhead is a social scientist and an East and Central Asian area expert. His theoretical agenda, broadly speaking, is to develop the field of political organization. His empirical cases range from political parties to public administrations in South Korea and Taiwan, Kazakhstan and North Korea. Jacob is currently an assistant professor at National Chengchi University in Taiwan where he manages the Organization of Power Lab. Prior to entering academia, he worked as a program officer for Mercy Corps, administering a USAID food aid program in the DPRK. Jacob holds a PhD in sociology from Stanford University, an MS in statistics from the Ohio State University, an MSE in Information Security from Korea University, and a BS in mathematics from Arizona State University.