Jae Ku

Senior Fellow, U.S.-Korea Relations

Dr. Jae H. Ku is an expert in U.S.-Korea relations, Korea’s relations with China and Japan, and human rights in Asia. Prior to his current position, he produced award-winning historical documentaries about Asia: I am Grace, Rescued by Fate, The Last Tear, and Forgotten Victory. He also founded and runs the LifeLong Lessons Institute, a non-profit education organization dedicated to helping under-resourced students improve their reading, writing, and math skills.

From 2007-2018, he was the Director of the U.S.-Korea Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a research institute he co-founded. He was also the director of Freedom House’s Human Rights in North Korea Project, a Congressionally mandated international campaign under the North Korea Human Rights Act of 2004. For over a decade, Dr. Ku has been a consultant for the University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies at the United States Army Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Dr. Ku is currently an Adjunct Professor at Clarewood University and a non-resident fellow at the Center for Law and Government at Liberty University. He has also taught international relations at Brown University, Johns Hopkins SAIS, and Yonsei University. He has authored numerous books and articles on Asian security; he has appeared on CNN, CNBC, and Fox News, and has been cited regularly in the New York Times, Washington Post, Chosun Ilbo, and many other news outlets.

Dr. Ku has been a recipient of the Fulbright and Freeman Fellowships. He received his Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, an MSc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and his A.B. with high honors from Harvard University.