Andrew Kim, Outgoing CIA Official in Charge of Korea Mission Center, Joins Stanford as Visiting Scholar

Former head of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center Andrew Kim will bring rich perspectives and experiences on North Korea. Kim joins the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies.

January 7, 2019
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

STANFORD, CA — Stanford University’s Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) announced today the appointment of Sung Hyun “Andrew” Kim as a William J. Perry visiting scholar through the winter quarter of 2019.

Kim, who recently retired as a senior intelligence officer from the Central Intelligence Agency after 28 years of service, is the outgoing assistant director of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center, where he helped secure the foundation for the Trump-Kim summit of June 2018. At Stanford, he will contribute to studies of current North Korea diplomacy in comparison to previous negotiations with the DPRK, a research scope that he refers to as “U.S.-DPRK summit of the century and the tide of history.” Kim will also participate in policy engagement regarding North Korea issues through Shorenstein APARC and its Korea Program, which are part of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI).

“I am delighted to welcome Andrew to Stanford,” said Gi-Wook Shin, director of Shorenstein APARC and of the Korea Program. “I have known him for many years, and his extraordinary expertise and rich experiences in Korean affairs are an invaluable addition to FSI’s and APARC’s community of scholars and practitioners. I look forward to Andrew’s contributions to our explorations of ways to promote sustainable reengagement of North Korea, which reflect our mission of producing policy-relevant research and strengthening dialogue and cooperation between counterparts in the Asia-Pacific and the United States.”

Kim established the CIA’s Korea Mission Center in April 2017 in response to a presidential initiative to address North Korea’s longstanding threat to global security. As part of his role as head of the Mission Center, he managed and guided CIA Korea analysts in providing strategic and tactical analytic products for a range of policymakers. He accompanied CIA Director and then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang in meeting with the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un several times. Formerly he served as the Agency’s associate deputy director for operations and technology, leading all efforts to update operational technology and incorporate a state-of-the-art doctrine into CIA training curricula.

Earlier in his career, Kim served as the CIA’s chief of station in three major East Asian cities, while also managing the intelligence relationship with politically and militarily complicated foreign countries and advancing U.S. interests. In recognition of his many contributions, Kim was honored by the Agency with the Director’s Award (2018), Presidential Rank Award (2012), and the Donovan Award (1990). He speaks fluent Korean, Japanese, and Mandarin Chinese.

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About the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
The Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center (Shorenstein APARC) addresses critical issues affecting the countries of Asia, their regional and global affairs, and U.S.-Asia relations. As Stanford University’s hub for the interdisciplinary study of contemporary Asia, APARC produces policy-relevant research, provides education and training to students, scholars, and practitioners, and strengthens dialogue and cooperation between counterparts in the Asia-Pacific and the United States. Founded in 1983, APARC today is home to a scholar community of distinguished academics and practitioners in government, business, and civil society, who specialize in trends that cut across the entire Asia-Pacific region.

Media contact:
Noa Ronkin, Associate Director for Communications and External Relations
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
noa.ronkin@stanford.edu

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