South Korea

This project studies the domestic and international roots of the ethnopolitical transformation in Yanbian, the Korean autonomous region along the Chinese-North Korean border, as a unique case of China’s modern territoriality change and state building in its frontiers.

Using South Korea’s pharmaceuticals industry and Argentina’s agri-biotech sector as case studies, this research delves into how the contemporary developmental states navigate the complex regulation-innovation nexus.

By expanding insights from the cultural sociology of disaster and suffering, this project explores how the state, social scientists, and victims’ parents struggle to find the meaning of suffering.

My dissertation investigates associations between geographic distribution (density and proximity) of licensed tobacco retailers (LTRs) and adolescent smoking in Seoul, South Korea.

Spring 2026 GPOD Project - Hakeoung Hannah Lee