I am a postdoctoral researcher at the KDI School of Public Policy and Management. My research examines the gap between formal commitments and substantive implementation, and the political and institutional conditions that widen or narrow this gap. This core puzzle underlies two complementary streams of work.
My primary research focuses on subnational climate governance. I examine why cities and local governments adopt climate commitments, and what distinguishes symbolic gestures from substantive policy action. Drawing on comparative analyses of the United States and South Korea, my work explores municipal participation in transnational climate networks, the effects of carbon neutrality policies, and the political economy of bilateral climate finance allocation to the Global South.
A second line of research extends this core question to international human rights and the politics of state acknowledgment. I investigate how the design of monitoring institutions shapes state behavior under treaty derogation, and why states selectively acknowledge or provide remedies for some historical injustices while remaining silent on others.
I received my Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota in 2025, and hold a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Korea University.
Contact: yoonsookim@kdischool.ac.kr
Yoonsoo Kim 