Suk-Young Kim

Professor Kim is an interdisciplinary scholar with doctoral degrees in Interdisciplinary Theatre and Drama (Northwestern University, 2005) and Slavic Language and Literature (Univ. of Illinois at Chicago, 2001). Her work primarily focuses on body politics, transmedia, entertainment industry, and the historical roots of today’s popular culture. She finds writing inspirations in odd anachronisms and illuminating beauty found in dusty archives, live stages, and today’s vertiginous screen cultures.

Her writings have appeared in English, Korean, Russian, Polish, and German languages while her scholarship has been recognized by the International Federation for Theatre Research New Scholars Prize, the Library of Congress Kluge Fellowship, James Palais Book Prize from the Association for Asian Studies, the Association for Theater in Higher Education Outstanding Book Award, ACLS/SSRC/NEH International and Area Studies Fellowship, and the Academy of Korean Studies grants among others. She was a visiting professor at Yonsei University, University of Bologna, and Arizona State University. She is a member of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and co-edits the Columbia University Press’ new book series Critical Voices from East Asia. Her commentary on Korean politics and media has been featured in major media outlets, such as Billboard, NPR, NYT, WSJ, CNN and her opinion pieces have been published by the Los Angeles Times and NBC. In 2023, she was invited to serve as a judge for the MNET Asian Music Awards. Professor Kim previously taught at Dartmouth College and UC Santa Barbara.   

BOOKS

• Millennial North Korea: Forbidden Media and Living Creatively with Surveillance  (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2024)

• Surviving Squid Game: A Guide to K-Drama, Netflix and Global Streaming Wars  (Applause Theatre and Cinema Books, 2023)

• The Cambridge Companion to K-Pop, editor

(Cambridge University Press, 2023)

• DMZ Crossing: Performing Emotional Citizenship Along the Korean Border

 (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014)

• Illusive Utopia:  Theater, Film, and Everyday Performance in North Korea

(Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2010)

• Long Road Home: Testimony of a North Korean Camp Survivor, coauthored with Kim Yong (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009)

Video Lectures, Interviews and Op-Eds

• Op-ed: “The tragedy in Seoul” (Los Angeles Times, 2022)
• Op-ed: “Hollywood, take note, Korean pop culture is here to stay” (Los Angeles Times, 2022)
• Op-ed: “K-pop stans’ anti-Trump, Black Lives Matter activism” (NBC News, 2020)
• Podcast: Surviving Squid Game with New Books Network (2023)
• Podcast: Vox Media Switched on Pop (2019)
• Podcast: K-Pop Live with New Books Network (2019)
• Interview: KBS America (2022)
• Interview: Quartz News Show (2019)
• Interview: All Things Considered (NPR, 2016)
• Interview: “K-popporazzi” (Radio Lab, 2016)
• Lecture: “What is K-pop?” (USC Korean Studies Institute, 2016)
• Lecture: “For the Eyes of the Dear Leader: Fashion and Body Politics in North Korean Visual Arts” (Library of Congress, 2007)