EcoS Staff

Kate Walker served as External Lecturer at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society from March 2018 to January 2024. She is currently the director of the OSCE Academy in Bishkek.

Kate’s research portfolio focuses on governments’ use of music and dance to achieve foreign policy objectives and the use of arts-based pedagogies to support the teaching and learning of diplomacy. She holds a PhD and an MA from the University of Sheffield and completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Edinburgh.

E-mail: kate.walker[at]univie.ac.at 

Steven Denney was a postdoctoral researcher, lecturer, and vice-director for the study programme in East Asian Economy and Society (EcoS) within the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna. Currently, he serves as an assistant professor at the Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Korean Studies, Asian Studies, and International Relations.

In addition to his academic roles, Steven is a senior editor at SinoNK.com and former vice-director of the European Centre for North Korean Studies (ECNK).

He holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto, an MA in Global Affairs and Policy from Yonsei University, and a BA in Political Science from Harding University.

As a political scientist, Steven specialises in East Asian affairs, particularly the Koreas. His core research interests encompass migration and governance, nations and nationalism, and international organizations. His methodological approach is diverse, primarily utilising surveys and experimental methods to gauge public opinion, while also employing mixed-method approaches for qualitative data analysis and working with administrative data. 

E-mail: s.c.denney[at]hum.leidenuniv.nl

Franziska Plümmer worked for EcoS as postdoc (Universitätsassistentin) and taught at the department from winter term 2019/20 to 2020/21. Before she joined EcoS, she worked as lecturer at the Chair of Greater China Studies at Tuebingen University. In 2019, she completed her PhD thesis on the regulation practices of the Chinese border regime. The thesis explores the legal, spatial and discursive articulations of the Chinese border regime. The thesis argues that the Chinese border regime creates zones of exception in the border area that allow selective integration of immigrants and other cross-border resources.

Generally, her research lies in the intersection of International Relations, Critical Security Studies, Border studies, and Chinese studies. She focuses on the dynamics of the Chinese border regime and mobility regulation in the context of changing conceptions of citizenship and risk. Further research interests include migration in Asia and digital infrastructures.

Since leaving EcoS, she continues her research at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law.

E-mail: franziska.pluemmer[at]mpil.de

Peter Ward was a University (prae-doc) Assistant and PhD candidate at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society (2020-2021). His thesis deals with the North Korean military’s role in the North Korean economy and its implications for civil-military relations.

His research interests include the North Korean economy and marketisation, the political economy of reform and institutional change in state socialist systems, and migration and resettlement issues in East Asia. He holds an M.A. in Sociology from Seoul National University (2018) and a BA in Korean History from Korea University (2014). His Google Scholar Profile is accessible here.

E-mail: pward89[at]hotmail.com

Diana Schüler taught the SE Economic Systems in East Asia as an external lecturer at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society, University of Vienna, during the winter term 2019/20. She is currently a research associate at the Chair of East Asian Economics/Japan and Korea, University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.

She studied Economics (B.Sc. 2010, M.Sc. 2013) at the University of Bonn and also holds a degree in Asian Studies (B.A. 2014) from the same university. She was part of the DFG Research Group 1613 “Risk and East Asia” (2015 – 2018) at IN-EAST, University of Duisburg-Essen, and successfully completed her PhD project about the emergence of young entrepreneurs in South Korea in February 2019. For her PhD thesis, she conducted extensive fieldwork in South Korea in 2016/2017.

Beside her academic endeavors, she has over two years of work experience in the public and the private sector, in Germany as well as in South Korea.

E-mail: diana.schueler[at]uni-due.de

Sung-Hoon Park earned his Ph.D. degree in Economics from Technical University of Berlin, Germany in 1993. He has been Professor of Economics and International Trade at the Graduate School of International Studies (GSIS), Korea University since 1997. Professor Park has served Dean of both GSIS and Division of International Studies (DIS) during March 2011 – February 2013. He worked in the university headquarters as Vice President for Planning and Budget in March 2007 – January 2008, as well. Sung-Hoon Park has held research fellowship at Korea Institute for International Economic Policy (KIEP) during 1993-1997, and visiting professorships at Macau Institute of European Studies (2000 – now), Ritsumeikan University (2003) and ASEF University (2000, 2004), etc. For 2003/2004 academic year, he was awarded a Fulbright Visiting Scholarship to the Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies (IR/PS) at University of California, San Diego, United States. Professor Park was awarded an Erskine Visiting Fellowship from University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand (July – September 2010), and took a Visiting Professorship at the Department of East Asian Studies at University of Vienna in Vienna, Austria (October 2010 – January 2011). He taught again at University of Vienna in Summer Semester of 2018 as a Visiting Professor.

Professor Park has been doing researches primarily but not exclusively on issues of international trade and investment policy, including WTO rules, European and Asian economic integration, and South Korea’s external economic policies. He also published two books and several academic papers on North Korean economy and unification issues. Professor Park has provided policy advisory services to the Korean government and the APEC secretariat for the past 25 years. He served President of Korea Association of Trade and Industry Studies (KATIS) in 2007, the EU Studies Association of Korea (EUSA-Korea) in 2009 and the Korean-German Academy of Economics and Management in 2013-2014.

As of September 1, 2013, Professor Park has been awarded a Jean Monnet Chair Professorship by the European Commission. During the period of January 2014 – June 2017, he was the Executive Director of the KU-KIEP-SBS EU Centre, which was financially supported by the European Commission.

E-mail: shpark[at]korea.ac.kr

Sabine Burghart, PhD, is university lecturer and academic director of the master’s programme in East Asian Studies at the University of Turku, Finland (www.utu.fi/ceas). Prior to joining the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) in Turku, she was lecturer and researcher at the Department of East Asian Studies of the University of Vienna. She holds a doctoral degree in East Asian economy and society and a M.A. in political science from the University of Leiden.

She has been awarded a number of international fellowships and scholarships; in 2018 she received the ‘CEAS Teacher of the Year” award. Her research interests focus on development aid and institutions in the context of Korea (e.g. Ownership in East-Asian Aid Discourses, Forum for Development Studies, Vol. 44, Issue 3, 2017, pp. 401 –427). She managed various capacity building projects in North Korea and participates in Engage Korea, an educational initiative that facilitates academic and non-academic exchanges on North Korea (Harvard 2018/2014, Cambridge 2015 and Oxford 2013).

E-mail: sabine.burghart[at]utu.fi

Josef Falko Loher was a Research Assistant and PhD candidate at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society. He is writing his PhD thesis on Multi-Level Climate Change Governance in East Asia. He is currently working as Political Advisor for the Austrian Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology.

His research interests include International Relations in East Asia, environmental politics and political systems in East Asia. Josef Falko Loher received a M.A. degree in East Asian Economy and Society and a B.A. degree in Sinology, both from the University of Vienna. He studied Chinese intensively at Leiden University, the Netherlands, and Fudan University, PR China. He spent over two years living and working in China.

Lukas K. Pokorny is Professor and Chair in Religious Studies at the University of Vienna’s Department of Religious Studies. He is the Vice Dean (Research and Internationalisation) of the Faculty of Catholic Theology. He holds an M.A. in Philosophy (2004) and History (2009) (magister philosophiae), Korean Studies (2006) and Religious Studies (2008) (magister), Advanced Theological Studies (2014) (Master of Arts), and a Ph.D. (doctor philosophiae) in Philosophy (2008). He was previously Senior Lecturer in Religious Studies (2013–2016) and Bruce Lecturer in East Asian Religions (2011–2013) at the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy at the University of Aberdeen, UK, From 2013 to 2015, a research grant led him to Stockholm University’s Department of Oriental Languages as a Visiting Researcher in East Asian Religions.

In addition, in summer/autumn 2014 he was Visiting Professor in Religious Studies at the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts at Chaminade University of Honolulu. From 2006 to 2010, he was a doctoral and postdoctoral research assistant at the University of Vienna’s Department of East Asian Studies. He conducted extensive field research in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam, as well as study and research stays at Yonsei University, Tokai University, Kyoto University, Peking University, and Beijing Language and Culture University. He taught at several universities, including the University of Aberdeen, Georg-August University in Göttingen, Chaminade University of Honolulu, Stockholm University, Charles University in Prague, Masaryk University in Brno, Palacký University in Olomouc, Comenius University in Bratislava, and Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca. His present research focuses on Asian diasporic, alternative, and new religion in Central Europe and Austria; ethnocentrism and millenarian beliefs in new religious movements (East Asia and beyond); and aging, death, and spirituality in Confucianism. One of his more recent book publications is the Handbook of East Asian New Religious Movements (edited with Franz Winter at Brill).

E-mail: lukas.pokorny[at]univie.ac.at

Fiona Seiger recently completed her PhD on Japanese-Filipino Children in the Philippines and their claims for paternal acknowledgment and Japanese nationality at the department of Sociology of the National University of Singapore. Her research interests lie in the area of migration studies, with particular focus on notions of belonging and identity politics. Fiona has worked in the Philippines and has spent extensive periods of study and research in both Singapore and Japan.

In the summer semester 2015, she taught the course “Migration in Asia” at the Chair of EcoS. In September 2015, Fiona commenced her Post-Doc at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University, Japan.

Jung-Ho Kim is Professor of Strategic Management and International Business at the Graduate School of International Studies at Korea University, South Korea. He holds a MA and PhD in Business Economics from Harvard University, USA, and has previously worked at prestigious institutions such as Wesleyan University, USA (Visiting Scholar, 2009-2009), Harvard University, USA (Visiting Scholar, 2001-2002), and Korea University (Assistant Professor, Associate Professor of Strategic Management, 1995-2002). Professor Kim has repeatedly won the SukTop Award for Teaching Excellence from Korea University (2011-2013), and has gained extensive teaching experience in subjects such as Strategic Management, International Business, MNE Management, Industrial Organisation of Korea, Trade and Investment of Korea, and Trust and Security in E-Commerce.

His major fields of research include Strategic Management, Industrial Organisation, and International Business, with a special emphasis on Regional Clusters and Creative Industries.

In the winter Semester 2015/16, Professor Kim was Visiting Professor at the University of Vienna through the Non-EU Teaching Mobility Programme, teaching the course "International Business in East Asia" at the Chair of EcoS.

Sang-Yeon Sung is an ethnomusicologist, currently researching and teaching at the University of Vienna with a special focus on social science-related studies of the East Asian region. She received her PhD in ethnomusicology at Indiana University, USA, with a dissertation titled "Globalization and the Regional Flow of Popular Music: The Role of the Korean Wave (Hanliu) in the Construction of Taiwanese Identities and Asian Values." She has carried out research on the popular music and culture of Korea and Taiwan, Hallyu (Korean Wave) reception and consumption in Taiwan and Austria, and the cultural policy of South Korea.

Her current research focuses on K-pop reception and participatory fan culture in Europe, mainly in Austria. She received collaborative research funding titled "K-Pop on the Global Platform: European Audience Reception and Contexts" from the Korea Organization of International Culture Exchange (KOFICE), which provided an opportunity to do comparative research in the UK, Germany, and Austria to document the increase of K-pop fandom and its participatory fan culture in Europe. Aside from the upcoming book Asian Pop Music in Cosmopolitan Europe: K-Pop Fandom in the Age of Globalization (co-authorship with Haekyung Um and Michael Fuhr), her recently published articles include "Face of the Nation: Articulating a New Image of Korea and Taiwan through Regionally Popular Celebrities", and "Asia and Beyond: The Circulation and Reception of Korean Popular Music outside of Korea." Dr Sung has gained extensive teaching experience at the University of Vienna, Austria, and Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea.

In the winter semester 2015/16, Dr. Sung was external lecturer at the Chair of EcoS, teaching the course "Mapping K-Pop around Eurasia: Transnational Cultural Flow, Promotion, and Reception".

Stephan Si-Hwan Park was Research Assistant and PhD candidate at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society at the University of Vienna. His research focuses on evaluating marketing practices that are targeted specifically to Asian communities in major European cities.

He received an M.A. in East Asian Economy and Society from the University of Vienna and an M.A. in Business Administration from the University of Applied Sciences in Kufstein, Austria. From 2006 to 2007 he worked as an Event Manager in New York and Munich. As a side project he also runs the UNCON SCHOOL- an educational online video platform for academics in which professors and experts teach skills online.

Hanna Sand was student assistant at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society in the winter term 2014. She is M.A. student of East Asian Economy and Society and holds a B.A. degree in Chinese studies and Theatre, Film and Media Science at the University of Vienna. She has spent one year at the Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China studying Chinese Language and Culture and worked as a project manager for companies in China and Germany.

Her academic interests include Cross-Strait relations between the PRC and Taiwan, concepts of mass movements and power as well as concepts of identity creation with special regard to national identities and international institutions, and development of intellectual property rights in East Asia.

Daniel Yasin was student assistant and M.A. student at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society and B.A. student in Chinese Studies at the University of Vienna, where he holds a B.A. in Japanese Studies. He studied Japanese language and society at the Tokyo Metropolitan University in Tokyo, Japan for a year, where he also acted as a lecture assistant.

His academic interests include Migration Patterns and Migrant Workers in North and South East Asia as well as current animosities between China, Japan and the Koreas based on history and current regional politics.

Anna Holzmann was Student Assistant at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society (EcoS) at the University of Vienna. She was an EcoS MA Student, and currently also employed as e-Assistant for Marketing at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien). Anna holds a BSc in International Business Administration from WU Wien, and a BA in Sinology from the University of Vienna. In the course of her studies, she spent 1 1/2 years abroad in Australia and China, and gained some work experience in the area of Human Resource Management and Marketing.

Anna's research interests include environmental issues in China, with a special focus on recycling activities and the handling of natural resources, as well as International Relations theories, dynamics of regionalism and resource security concerns in East Asia and the greater Asia-Pacific Region. She is an active member of CHESS, an international research network on China and the Environment in the Social Sciences (chess.univie.ac.at).

Teresa M. Deubelli was a student representative and student assistant at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society. Currently, she works as a Junior Policy Analyst at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in Paris. Prior to joining the OECD, she worked at the European Commission and at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), as well as at UNDP Seoul Policy Centre.

Having studied Political Science, East Asian Economy and Society and Development Studies at the University of Vienna, Sciences Po. Paris, Renmin University of China and at Seoul National University Teresa has a transdisciplinary background in public policy and comparative governance analysis. She is particularly interested in climate change adaptation pathways and disaster risk governance in the context of sustainable development, as well as in integrity and accountability in policy-making.

E-mail: tmdeubelli[at]gmail.com

Philipp Olbrich was chairman of the student representatives and former Student Assistant at the Chair of East Asian Economy and Society. In addition to his bachelor studies in Social Sciences (B.Sc.) at the University of Cologne, he spent one semester at Ewha University in Seoul, South Korea.

His academic interest includes theories of International Relations, hierarchy in international politics as well as security affairs in East Asia. Among others he worked for the GIGA Institute of Asian Studies, the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies and at the Austrian Institute for International Affairs.