LISTEN: Strategic Pathways for South Korea in Taiwan Contingency Scenarios

Strategic Pathways for South Korea in Taiwan Contingency Scenarios

With Yerin Yoon
In conversation with Susan A. Thornton
November 2024

Susan Thornton, Director of the NCAFP’s program on Asia-Pacific security, sits down with Yerin Yoon to discuss her research into the impact of a Taiwan contingency on the security architecture of the Korean Peninsula.

Read more about our Next-Generation Korean Peninsula Specialists Program here.

Yerin YOON is currently a graduate student at Fletcher School, Tufts University. Previously, she served as a surface warfare officer in the Republic of Korea Navy after graduating from the Republic of Korea Naval Academy with dual bachelor’s degrees in International Relations and Military Science. Through her military service, she acquired extensive expertise in naval operations, communications, combat and weapon systems, logistics, and military training, and participated in a naval engagement against a North Korean warship in 2014.

Following her service, Ms. Yoon worked as a U.S. Foreign policy researcher at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS) of the Korea National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focusing on the Indo-Pacific strategies and the U.S.-ROK alliance. Before this, she also gained valuable experience in North Korean research during her Internship at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies (IFES), where she analyzed materials from North Korea and researched issues related to Korean Peninsula security.

Building on these experiences, she completed her research fellowship at Pacific Forum in Hawaii, where her work centered on security issues surrounding the Korean Peninsula, with particular emphasis on the U.S.-ROK alliance and the ROK military affairs.