1. Publishes Research in the Journal of Public Relations Research

Professor Taejun Lee has published the research article “Korea’s Government Communication Model: A Grounded Theory Perspective” in the Journal of Public Relations Research, an international journal specializing in public relations theory, communication, and organizational–public relationships. The article was published online on August 24, 2026.

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 government officials, communication practitioners, academic experts, and civil society leaders in South Korea, the study develops a grounded theoretical model of government communication. Its central finding is the existence of a persistent “trust gap” between government communication and public expectations. The study shows that this gap is shaped by information disorder and institutional fragmentation and is further intensified by rapidly changing digital communication environments, public sentiment, and increasingly segmented audiences.

The research argues that effective government communication should move beyond information dissemination and policy promotion to become an integral part of governance itself. It identifies three complementary strategic orientations—mission-oriented communication, anticipatory communication, and data-driven communication—through which governments can better align communication with public value, anticipate emerging issues, respond to changing public expectations, and strengthen trust and collaborative governance. The study thus offers a governance-oriented framework that connects communication, institutional performance, public expectations, and trust formation.

Journal of Public Relations Research (2026): https://doi.org/10.1080/1062726X.2026.2722935

2. Publishes Research on Regional Innovation in the AI Era

Professor Taejun Lee has published the research article “From Ecosystem to Operating System: Developing an Integrative Analytical Framework of the Adaptive and Recursive Operating System for Regional Innovation in the AI Era” in the Korean Governance Review (한국거버넌스학회보), together with co-authors Mungu Park and Guinam Choi.

The study introduces the Regional Innovation Operating System (RIOS), a new integrative analytical framework for understanding how regional innovation operates in the era of AI, data platforms, and digital twins. Moving beyond the conventional focus on who participates in an innovation ecosystem and how actors are connected, the research asks how innovation systems are continuously synchronized, made interoperable, orchestrated, learned from, and adaptively recalibrated. It conceptualizes RIOS through five core functions, a three-layer architecture of infrastructure, operation, and recursion, and a recursive operating cycle linking data, analysis, experimentation, orchestration, feedback, and calibration.

Drawing on illustrative cases from Singapore, Estonia, Amsterdam, Finland, and Barcelona, the study shows how different forms of digital governance embody distinct elements of the framework—from strategic orchestration and interoperability to policy intelligence, recursive learning, and democratic adaptation. The research argues that regional innovation in the AI era should be understood not only as an ecosystem of connected actors, but also as an adaptive and recursive operating system in which data, platforms, governance, experimentation, intelligence, and feedback continuously interact.

By extending regional innovation research from institutional foundations and relational structures toward operational dynamics, the study offers a new conceptual perspective for understanding how governments and regions can build more adaptive, interoperable, and learning-oriented innovation systems in the age of AI.

Korean Governance Review, Vol. 33, No. 2 (2026), pp. 31–76.