IWP’s China Asia Program is a new initiative that encompasses academic courses, extracurricular lectures, and research about China and Asia, as well as partnerships with academic institutions in the allied countries in the region of Northeast Asia. Through these partnerships, IWP will invite Asian students to participate in IWP’s master’s and doctoral programs and provide IWP students with study-abroad opportunities in those Asian allied countries.
Dr. Amanda Jihyun Won is the Director of the Institute of World Politics’ (IWP) China/Asia Program. In May 2022, she received a Doctor of Statecraft and National Security (DSNS) degree from IWP. Amanda is also the founder of IWP’s Asia Initiative Lecture Series (AILS) through which diverse scholar-practitioners have presented their expertise on Asia.
Amanda holds an M.P.S. in Arts and Cultural Management from the Pratt Institute in New York and an M.A. in Government (with a specialization in National Security Studies) from Johns Hopkins University. Her professional experience includes having worked in both the NGO and government sectors, serving as a legislative assistant at the New York City Council and as a Diplomatic & Consular Affairs and Partnership intern at the New York City Mayor’s Office for International Affairs. She has also worked at the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK) where she was a contributor to that organization’s publication: “The Parallel Gulag: North Korea’s “An-Jeon-Bu” Prison Camps.”
Amanda has published an article entitled “The Theory and Practice of North Korean Espionage,” which was published in the Winter/Spring 2020 edition of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers’ (AFIO) The Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies. She also co-authored an article “North Korean Control Systems – Insights from an NKIS Intelligence Officer/Defector,” also published in the AFIO’s The Intelligencer, Summer/Fall 2021 edition. At IWP, Amanda has presented multiple lectures on the topic of North Korean espionage. She also presented a lecture based on her doctoral research on the aforementioned topic at the 2022 Intelligence Studies Consortium, sponsored by the National intelligence University. In addition, Amanda was also invited by the USACAPOC, Ft. Bragg, where she presented a lecture on “The Uniqueness of North Korean Special Operations.” Recently, she delivered a presentation on “The Evolution of North Korean Espionage through its Death of Democracy” at the 2022 International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE), held at the Citadel, South Carolina.
Asia Initiative Lecture Series
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