Hiraiwa Shunji is a Professor at the Faculty of Policy Studies, at Nanzan University. He was a Professor at the School of International Studies, Kwansei Gakuin University(2010-2017), the Graduate School of International Relations, University of Shizuoka (1999-2010), and an Associate Professor at Matsusaka University (1994-1999). He was a Special Assistant at the Embassy of Japan in China (1996-1998). He received his B.A. from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies (1987), his M.A. (1989), and his Ph.D. (2001) in political science from Keio University and studied at Yonsei University from 1990-91. His publications include North Korea (2013), What does North Korea think? (2013), DPRK and PRC (2010).