Welcome! I am an Assistant Professor in the Truman School of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Missouri, Columbia. 

Focusing on Korea and the Asia-Pacific, I study the long-term trajectories of opposition groups before and after democratization, as well as the effects of past authoritarian rule in young democracies. My book project draws on an original dataset to examine why and how, after a country transitions to democracy, some former pro-democracy opposition movements, leaders, or groups develop into durable political parties and achieve electoral success, while others quickly dissolve or decline. In a related project, I explore when and how these surviving opposition successor parties (OSPs) contribute to variation in democratic resilience and erosion, as well as patterns of political polarization. In other research, I use survey and micro-level data to analyze trends ​in polarization over time and to examine the factors that shape various forms of political opposition under autocracy.

I received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego (2025), an M.A. in Political Science & International Relations from Korea University (2019), and a B.A. in Political Science & International Relations and Economics from Korea University (2017). In my free time, I enjoy swimming as well as exploring new music and surrealist artwork.