Background

Before entering philosophy, I trained and practiced as a lawyer in South Korea. After earning my J.D. from Seoul National University School of Law, I served my three years of mandatory military service as a Judge Advocate in the Republic of Korea Army—serving as appointed defense counsel, handling appellate cases, conducting investigations, and advising commanders as Command Judge Advocate—while concurrently pursuing doctoral coursework in the philosophy of law at Seoul National University. I remain a licensed attorney in South Korea.

This background shapes my philosophical work. Handling real institutional cases drew me toward non-ideal theory and convinced me that the tension between legal doctrine, institutional hierarchy, and moral principle poses genuinely philosophical problems. My undergraduate training in economics and international relations, together with my legal education, continues to inform how I approach questions in ethics and political philosophy.