Y. J. Choi teaches the Comparison of the Eastern and Western Civilizations at Yonsei University in South Korea. Until May 2013, he served as South Korea’s ambassador to the United States. From 2007 to 2011, while serving as head of United Nations Operations in Cote d’Ivoire, his role was recognized to be instrumental to its democratization and reunification in 2011. Choi also served as permanent representative of Korea to the UN (2005–2006), vice foreign minister (2004), ambassador in Vienna (2002), assistant secretary-general for UN peacekeeping operations (1998–1999), and deputy executive director of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (1995–1997). He studied medicine and international relations at Yonsei University, and holds a PhD in international relations from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne. Choi’s previous publications include his trilogy comparing Eastern and Western civilizations, a body of work that provides in-depth explorations of the cultural philosophies upon which the two civilizations stand.