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Kim, Joon-Kyung Dean
Professor
Finance, Money and Banking
Dr. Joon-Kyung Kim is currently the Dean of the KDI School of Public Policy and Management in Korea. From 2013 to 2017, he served as the President of the Korea Development Institute (KDI). He was also Secretary to the President for Financial Policy during the Lee Myung-bak administration and previously advised the Kim Dae-jung administration as a member of the Economic Policy Advisory Council.
Dr. Kim served on the advisory board of the World Bank's Global Delivery Initiative and led the establishment of the Development Research and Learning Network at the KDI School. Under his leadership, the School systematically compiled 100 case studies documenting Korea’s development experience during its period of rapid economic and social transformation. These cases serve as a valuable reference for the Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP), an international development cooperation initiative grounded in Korea’s policy experiences.
Earlier in his academic career, Dr. Kim was an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at Virginia Tech (1988–1990). He has also taught courses on Korean economic development at Columbia University, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Al Yamamah University in Saudi Arabia, and Freie Universität Berlin in Germany. Additionally, he worked as a consultant for the World Bank, where he contributed to the "East Asian Miracle" project by documenting Korea’s experience in industrial financing (1992–1993).
His research interests include crisis management and reform in Korea’s financial and corporate sectors. He has written extensively on topics such as tax administration reform, anti-corruption, reforestation, community-driven development (e.g., the Saemaul Movement), and health financing in response to COVID-19—exploring the multifaceted dynamics behind Korea’s transformation from an aid recipient to a self-reliant economy. Most recently, he published a book titled Financial Liberalization and Economic Development in Korea: 1980–2020 with Harvard University.
Dr. Kim holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.S. in Computer Science and Statistics from Seoul National University. He is an alumnus of Kyunggi High School.
Dr. Kim served on the advisory board of the World Bank's Global Delivery Initiative and led the establishment of the Development Research and Learning Network at the KDI School. Under his leadership, the School systematically compiled 100 case studies documenting Korea’s development experience during its period of rapid economic and social transformation. These cases serve as a valuable reference for the Knowledge Sharing Program (KSP), an international development cooperation initiative grounded in Korea’s policy experiences.
Earlier in his academic career, Dr. Kim was an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at Virginia Tech (1988–1990). He has also taught courses on Korean economic development at Columbia University, the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, Al Yamamah University in Saudi Arabia, and Freie Universität Berlin in Germany. Additionally, he worked as a consultant for the World Bank, where he contributed to the "East Asian Miracle" project by documenting Korea’s experience in industrial financing (1992–1993).
His research interests include crisis management and reform in Korea’s financial and corporate sectors. He has written extensively on topics such as tax administration reform, anti-corruption, reforestation, community-driven development (e.g., the Saemaul Movement), and health financing in response to COVID-19—exploring the multifaceted dynamics behind Korea’s transformation from an aid recipient to a self-reliant economy. Most recently, he published a book titled Financial Liberalization and Economic Development in Korea: 1980–2020 with Harvard University.
Dr. Kim holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.S. in Computer Science and Statistics from Seoul National University. He is an alumnus of Kyunggi High School.