Peter Banseok Kwon

Peter Banseok Kwon is associate professor of strategy, statecraft, and political economy in the School of Civic Leadership. A historian with interdisciplinary training, his research examines the interplay of militarization, modernization, state-building, nationalism, and civil–military relations in Korea, East Asia, and in comparative global perspective. His work focuses especially on how states mobilize institutions, industry, and political authority in pursuit of security, development, and sovereign capacity. 

Kwon has served as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar and visiting professor at Korea National Defense University, a Soon Young Kim Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University, and a visiting scholar at Yonsei University, Seoul National University, and the Academy of Korean Studies. His research has been supported by the Fulbright Program, the Academy of Korean Studies, the Association for Asian Studies, the U.S. Department of Education’s Foreign Language and Area Studies program, and the Korea Institute at Harvard University. 

Education 

PhD in history and East Asian languages, Harvard University 

MA in regional studies–East Asia, Harvard University 

Publications 

Cornerstone of the Nation: The Defense Industry and the Building of Modern Korea under Park Chung Hee 

Column of the Nation: The Yulgok Operation and South Korea’s Global Rise, 1974–1992