Dr Tat Yan Kong

Tat Yan Kong (BA Newcastle upon Tyne, MPhil and DPhil Oxford) is Reader in Comparative Politics & Development Studies at SOAS, University of London and Co-Director of the London Asia Pacific Centre for Social Science. He is also the Co-Editor of Studies of the Contemporary Asia Pacific, a newly created series from Hong Kong University Press.

His research focuses on comparative political economy (pathways of development, socialist to market transitions, economic and social sustainability of advanced capitalism) with particular reference to East Asia. He is also interested in security and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

He is the author of The Politics of Economic Reform in South Korea: A Fragile Miracle (London and New York: Routledge, 2000).  His other publications include articles in journals such as British Journal of Political Science, Economy & Society, Political Studies, Politics & Society, Review of International Political Economy, New Political Economy, Modern Asian Studies, Government & Opposition and The Pacific Review. He has received research grants from bodies such as the Academy of Korean Studies, British Academy, ESRC, Nuffield Foundation, and Sino-British Fellowship Trust.

Dr Kong is a former Head of the Department of Politics & International Studies at SOAS. He has also given evidence on East Asian affairs to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee and provided commentary to media and other outlets. He welcomes PhD applications in the comparative politics, international politics and political economy of East Asia (especially applications with reference to the Korean Peninsula).