KIM Jih-un is a professor at the Department of Political Science & Diplomacy, Chungnam National University (CNU), Korea. He majored in International Studies for his Ph.D. at the University of South Carolina, USA. Before he moved to the CNU, he taught at Webster University in the U.S. for a decade. At the CNU, he was the director of its Institute of Social Sciences and is the director of its Institute of Peace and Security Studies. Also, he worked for the Korean Political Science Association as a member of its research board and currently serves as a board member of the Korea Diplomacy Plaza. His research interest includes U.S.-China relations, Korea-U.S. relations, and environmental/resource security.