Minju “Demi” Kim is a Visiting Scholar from the Korea Foundation Global Challengers Program. She graduated from Korea University’s Graduate School of International Studies with a Master of Arts in International Studies (Peace and Security), with special certificates in Global Risk Management and human rights. She worked in various international organizations including UNDP Seoul Policy Centre, Human Asia and the United Nations ESCAP in Bangkok, Thailand.

A series of study-abroad and overseas work experience served as a catalyst for her interest in researching the effects of public diplomacy. Consequently, her Master’s thesis was a sequential mixed-method examination of educational public diplomacy in South Korea, focused on government-funded scholarship program recipients. Her position at the United Nations ESCAP’s ICT and Development Section was a critical turning point in her research on public diplomacy effects in the international development cooperation industry.

As a Visiting Fellow, she is continuing to develop a framework for effective monitoring and evaluation of educational public diplomacy in higher education institutions. She is also examining public diplomacy as it relates to international development cooperation, with a focus on ICT digital transformation and artificial intelligence.