Kim Yeon-chul graduated from the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Sungkyunkwan University and received a Ph.D. (1996.8) He served as Senior Researcher of the North Korean Research Institute at Samsung Economic Research Institute, Policy Advisor to the Minister of Unification, Director of the Korea Institute for National Unification, and Minister of Unification. He is currently a professor at the Faculty of Unification at Inje University, and serves as the chairman of the Korean Peace Forum. His books include “Industrialization and Economic Policy in North Korea” (2001), “Strategy for Negotiation” (2016), and “70 Years of Dialogue: A New Reading in the History of Inter-Korean Relations”.