The KARP Team
A/Prof Jay Song
Project Director
Jay is a Korea Foundation Associate Professor in Korean Studies and Research Coordinator for the Migration, Gender, and Environment cluster at the Asia Institute, University of Melbourne. Song conducts research in the areas of North Korea, human rights and Asian migration. Her current research projects focus on Korean migration to Australia using complexity theory.
A/Prof Jeffrey Robertson
Project Partner
Dr. Robertson is an Associate Professor of Diplomatic Studies at Yonsei University. He worked for the Australian Government in the field of foreign policy and North Asia, focusing on China, the Korean Peninsula, and Japan. His research interests include diplomatic practice, foreign policy, Korean peninsula affairs. His main research areas include diplomatic studies, foreign policy, and South Korea. Dr. Robertson’s time with the Korean Studies Research Hub (KSRH) at the University of Melbourne will be spent completing a book on the Australia-Korea bilateral relationship with the support of an Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) Australia-Korea Foundation (AKF) Grant. The book uses a diplomatic studies approach to secure insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the Australia-Korea bilateral relationship.
Dr. Peter K. Lee
Research Fellow
Peter is a Korea Foundation Research Fellow, undertaking a policy project on “Korea-Australia Middle Power Collaboration” in March 2022 - May 2023. His research focuses on Korea-Australia relations, middle powers, and security cooperation. Peter is also a Research Fellow in the Foreign Policy and Defence Program at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. Previously, he was a Research Associate at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul. He received a BA (Hons) and MIR from the University of Melbourne and his PhD from the Australian National University.
Theo Mendez
Research Assistant
Theo is a PhD candidate at the Asia Institute and the Melbourne Climate Futures Hub in the University of Melbourne. Theo’s research focuses on the potential for greater collaboration between South Korea and Australia in clean energy, and the ways in which this could transform Australia-South Korea relations. His thesis is tentatively titled “Building a Sustainable Relationship: Examining the Potential for Greater Collaboration between Australia and South Korea in Clean Energy”. Before joining the University of Melbourne, Theo was an undergraduate researcher at the University of Western Australia’s Korea Research Centre where he researched the representation of Asia in Australian education policies.
