Board Members and Officers

Board Members

Chairman

Dong-Bin Shin is the Chairman of LOTTE Group.
Prior to joining LOTTE Group in 1988, Mr. Shin spent six years as Executive Director at Nomura International LTD in London where he served the institutional Research and Sales department.
With his insight and interest on the Asian economy, he serves as Vice-Chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, Vice-Chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Association, Board Member of the Asia Business Council, and Co-Chairman of the Korea-Indonesia Partnership Council.
He also participates as a Global Trustee of Asia Society, and a member of the Board of Overseas Columbia University Business School.
Mr. Shin has also co-authored a Korean-language volume ‘Learning Retail Leads You to be CEO’ introducing the innovation strategy of convenience store.
His expertise and contribution to the society was well recognized; he has been honored with the Order of Civil Merit of Moran Medal by the President of the Republic of Korea in 2005, Knight First Class of the Order of the White Rose of Finland in 2006, the Officer de la Légion d’Honneur by the President of France in 2007, the Commander of the British Empire (CBE) by the Queen of the United Kingdom in 2014, the Order of Friendship by the President of Russia in 2015, and the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Isabel La Catolica in 2016.
He earned an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1981 after graduating from Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan with a B.A. in economics.

Dr. Hong-Koo Lee

Honorary Chairman

Dr. Hong-Koo Lee, former Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States, has a distinguished career in academia, government, and politics. From 1994 to 1995, he served as Prime Minister of Korea under President Kim Young Sam’s government. Until his posting in Washington in 1998, he served as Chairman of the then-ruling New Korea Party and a member of the Korean National Assembly. Prior to 1994, his government service included appointments as Minister of National Unification in 1988 and Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1911 to 1993.
Dr. Lee is a graduate of Emory University and received his Doctorate in Political Science from Yale University. He also studied at Seoul National University’s College of Law.
Before entering government service, Dr. Lee had a distinguished career in academia, as Professor of Political Science at Emory University in 1963, Case Western Reserve University from 1964 to 1967, Seoul National University from 1968 to 1988. He also served as President of the Korean Political Science Association from 1986 to 1988.
Dr. Lee was a member of the Commission on Global Governance which proposed a reform of the United Nations system in 1995. He was also Chairman of the World Cup Bidding Committee which successfully won the right to host the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea.
Dr. Lee is the Honorary Chairman of the Asia Society Korea in Seoul.

Dr. SungJoo Han

Dr. SungJoo Han is an Honorary Chairman of the Korean American Association, and the Chairman of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies. He also serves as President Emeritus of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs and is a Professor Emeritus at Korea University. Professor  Han previously served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1993-94, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Cyprus in 1996, a member of the UN Inquiry Commission on the 1994 Rwanda Genocide in 1999, Chairman of the East Asia Vision Group in 2000, and Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the United States in 2003-2005. Dr. Han is a graduate of Seoul National University in 1962 and received a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1970. He has many publications in Korean, including Nam Gwa Puk, kurigo Sekye (The Two Koreas and the World) (2000). His three recent publications include: On the Brink: A Korean Diplomat’s Journey for Peace (Seoul: Ollim, 2018); Korea Triangles, 1945-2020: Treading a Tightrope (Seoul: The Asan Institute for Policy Studies, 2019); “Hanguke Oegyoga Itnunga [Does Korea Have Diplomacy?]” (In Korean) (Seoul: Ollim, 2021)

Mr. Young Joon Kim

Mr. Young Joon (“Y.J.”) Kim is Chairman, Board of Directors, of Asian University for Women (AUW) Support Foundation. He retired as a partner in the Projects Energy & Infrastructure Finance Group of the international law firm of Milbank LLP, where he spent his entire professional career, having served in the firm’s offices in New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul, with a particular focus on the energy, petrochemical, infrastructure, semiconductor, telecom and aviation sectors.  A graduate of Yale College, B.A. (political science and economics), and Harvard Law School, J.D., Mr. Kim is a member of the New York State Bar, and was a 2019 Harvard University Advanced Leadership Initiative (ALI) Fellow.  He is currently serving as: Member, Harvard University Board of Overseers’ Visiting Committee for the Law School; President, Harvard Law School Association of Korea; President, Yale Club of Korea; Board Member, GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation; and Trustee & Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Asian University for Women (AUW).

Mr. Mark Tetto

Mr. Mark Tetto is Co-Representative Director at TCK, in charge of investor relations and investment strategies review. Mark brings 10 years of finance experience spanning investment banking, corporate M&A, private equity and venture capital investing. Prior to TCK, Mark was at Samsung Electronics’ corporate M&A team, where he spent four years successfully acquiring companies and building the firm’s M&A practice. Previously, Mark was with Morgan Stanley, working in New York and London on M&A and corporate finance, raising funding for clients in excess of $1Bn. Mark holds a BA in Chemistry from Princeton University, and an MBA from The Wharton School, with a concentration in Finance.

Executive and Staff Members

Ms. Yvonne Yoon-Hee Kim

Executive Director

Ms. Kim is a professional event planner, non-profit program developer and media communications expert. From 1998-2007, Ms. Kim held varying roles at Columbia University's financial management and administrative departments, including managing special events for the President's Office. Prior to joining the Korea Center in July 2008, she was an Executive Associate for the Senior Vice President of Operations at Asia Society's New York headquarters. Ms. Kim has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in East Asian Studies. She is fluent in Korean.

Jae Hyeok Lee, Project Research Coordinator
Wesley Chang, Digital Contents Manager
Schoni Seung Hyun Song, Program & Communications Manager
Seongju Ahn, Program Associate