Dr. Shin Beomchul is the former Vice Minister of National Defense (2022-2023). Previously, he served as a senior fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies and a tenured professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy. He was the Director-General for Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013-2016). Before he joined the Ministry, he was the Head of the North Korean Military Studies Research Division at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses. Prior to that, he worked with the Minister of National Defense of Korea as the Senior Policy Advisor (2009-2010). He also has served in many advisory positions both at the National Security Council at the Office of the President and the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee. Dr. Shin is the author of several books on law and security, including North Korean Military: A Secret Report (2013) and International Law and the Use of Force (2008). He also has been publishing many other articles on ROK-U.S. alliance, inter-Korea relations, and Northeast Asian politics and security. Dr. Shin received his B.A. from Chungnam National University and did his graduate studies at Seoul National University, School of Law. He received his J.S.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2007.