Ramon Pacheco Pardo

Ramon Pacheco Pardo is Professor of International Relations at King's College London and the KF-VUB Korea Chair at the Brussels School of Governance of Vrije Universiteit Brussel. He is also King's Regional Envoy for East and South East Asia, helping to shape and implement the university's strategy for the region. Prof Pacheco Pardo is also Adjunct Fellow (Non-Resident) with the Korea Chair at CSIS, Non-Resident Fellow with Sejong Institute, and Committee Member at CSCAP EU. He has held visiting positions at Korea University, the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, and Melbourne University. His publications include the books Shrimp to Whale: South Korea from the Forgotten War to K-Pop (Hurst and Oxford University Press, 2022) and North Korea-US Relations from Kim Jong Il to Kim Jong Un (Routledge, 2019). Prof Pacheco Pardo has been editor of Millennium: Journal of International Studies and currently sits in the editorial boards of East Asia: An International Quarterly, EU-China Observer and Global Studies Journal. He has participated in track 1.5 and 2 dialogues with South Korea, North Korea, China, and Japan. Prof Pacheco Pardo has testified before the European Parliament and advised the OECD, the European External Action Service, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the United Kingdom’s Cabinet and Foreign & Commonwealth offices. He is a frequent media commentator on North East Asian affairs and EU-East Asia relations.

Research

• East Asia’s international relations and political economy, especially the Korean Peninsula
• EU-East Asia relations, especially South Korea, North Korea and China
• Regional governance in East Asia

Teaching

Prof Pacheco Pardo currently teaches modules on global politics and the political economy of East Asia. In the past he has also taught courses on EU-Asia relations, international political economy, the international relations of the Asia-Pacific, introduction to politics, and Spanish politics, among others.

Expertise and public engagement

Prof Pacheco Pardo is a Committee Member of CSCAP EU, a group of European experts on contemporary Asia-Pacific affairs drawn from academia and research institutions, together with relevant officials from the EEAS. The role of CSCAP EU is to provide informed expertise on the region to CSCAP, the Asia-Pacific’s premier track-2 forum, and for European scholars and policy practitioners to collaborate. Prof Pacheco Pardo has also been part of EU, Spain and UK delegations to dialogues with South Korea, North Korea, China and Japan. He has also testified on North Korean affairs before the European Parliament on several occasions. In addition, Prof Pacheco Pardo is a frequent media contributor, having been interviewed by Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera English, Asharq Al-Awsat, Associated Press, BBC (radio and TV), Bloomberg, Cadena SER, Chosun Ilbo, CNN, El País, France 24, JoongAng Ilbo, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Nikkei Asian Review, Radio Nacional de España, Reuters, Sky News, South China Morning Post, The Hankyoreh, The Korea Times, The Strait Times, The Times, Voice of America (radio and TV), The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among many others. He is also a regular contributor to Arirang TV. He is happy to talk about East Asian, Europe-East Asian, and global economic and political affairs.