Ellen Kim is a PhD candidate in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Southern
California. Previously, she was Associate Director of the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and
International Relations (CSIS), where she was also a Fellow. Her research interests are East Asian
security, US grand strategy in Asia, and international political economy. Her latest publication Between a
Rock and a Hard Place: South Korea’s Strategic Dilemmas with China and the United State,coauthored
with Victor Cha, was published in the Asia Policy Journal. She also coauthored a quarterly review of US-
Korea relations in Comparative Connections, an electronic journal on East Asian bilateral relations, with
Victor Cha. Ms. Kim holds a BA in international relations and Japanese studies from Wellesley College
and an MPP from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She speaks fluent Korean
and moderate Japanese.
