Vasily V. Mikheev is the Vice President of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO), Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS). Previously, he was first secretary of the Russian Embassy to North Korea (1981-1984), a researcher for the Institute for the Economy of the World Socialist System (IEWSS), RAS (1984-1993), councilor and head of the Political Section at the Russian Embassy in Lithuania (1993-1996), deputy director of the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, RAS (1999-2005), and director of the Asia Security Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center (2003-2005). Mr. Mikheev is also the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) coordinator for Russia (1998), member of the RAS (2003), director of the China & Japan Studies Center, IMEMO, RAS (2005), member of the Directors’ Board, IMEMO, RAS (2007), and a member of the Russian Council for Defense and Foreign Policy (2006). He graduated from the Moscow State Institute for International Relations, Russian Foreign Ministry (MGIMO) and he holds a Doctor of Economic Science degree (1992) and a Candidate of Economic Science degree (1978). Mr. Mikheev is the author numerous monographs, journals, and newspaper articles published worldwide, including, “East Asia and Russian Strategy” (Moscow, 2008) and “On the problem of diplomatic relations between South and North Korea” (Newsweek Korea).