Seunghoon Paik is a Researcher at the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul. He is also a cooperative professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy and an advisory committee member of the National Intelligence Service. He was an Assistant Researcher at the Department of European & African Studies, Institute of Foreign Affairs & National Security (IFANS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Seoul, Korea. He holds a BA in Arabic and an MA degree in Politics from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul. and a PhD in International Relations at Durham University.