Professor Tat Yan Kong

Tat Yan Kong (BA Newcastle upon Tyne, MPhil and DPhil Oxford, FHEA) is Professor of 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 recently 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 reference to East Asia. He is also interested in security and peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Prof. Kong 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, Government & Opposition, Journal of Contemporary Asia, Modern Asian Studies, New Political Economy, Pacific Review, Political Studies, Politics & Society, and Review of International Political Economy. He is currently completing a monograph on North Korea’s political and economic development in the 21st century (Singapore: World Scientific Press, forthcoming).

As a postgraduate, Prof. Kong was the recipient of an ESRC Studentship. He has received research and conference grants from bodies such as the Academy of Korean Studies, British Academy, Economic & Social Research Council, Nuffield Foundation, and the Sino-British Fellowship Trust. He is currently a co-investigator on a joint project entitled Globalization, Economic Institutions and Power Relations: Inclusive Growth in East Asia (supported by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong).

Prof. 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 relating to East Asia in the sub-fields of comparative politics, international politics, and political economy.