Participant Biographies

John Park

John Park

Director, Korea Project, Harvard Kennedy School
Night Sessions - "North Korea’s Choice: Economic Reform"

Dr. John Park is a senior Asia researcher at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he serves as director of the Korea Project and adjunct lecturer in public policy. He was the 2012–2013 Stanton Nuclear Security Junior Faculty Fellow at MIT’s Security Studies Program. He previously directed Northeast Asia Track 1.5 projects at the U.S. Institute of Peace. Prior to that he worked at Goldman Sachs and The Boston Consulting Group. He completed his pre-doctoral and post-doctoral training at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. His core research projects focus on the political economy of the Korean Peninsula, nuclear proliferation, economic statecraft, Asian trade negotiations, and cyber security. Dr. Park has testified on North Korea before the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. His recent publication is a co-authored study titled Stopping North Korea, Inc.: Sanctions Effectiveness and Unintended Consequences. He received his M.Phil. and Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.