We chat to Senior Lecturer in International Relations Sung-Young Kim, whose current research is focused on the transition to renewables in Asia.

How did you originally become interested in your area of research?
I’m interested in learning about why sometimes, some countries prosper economically while others don’t. I believe that states can have a lot to do with the answer but, they can also impair developmental progress and even pillage and plunder societies. For me, the political transformation and economic rise of the Northeast Asian countries (Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and now China) provides a fascinating landscape to investigate the sources, manifestations and tensions of state power. From a young age, I was eager to make sense of the political drama my parents and grandparents would tell us about the country they had left behind (South Korea) after immigrating to Australia. As an undergraduate student, my ‘lightbulb’ moment was sitting in Linda Weiss’s (now Emeritus Professor at the University of Sydney) lectures. The personal recollections etched into my memory met with the analytical gusto presented in that class, sparking off my intellectual curiosity.

Tell us a bit about your current research
Somewhat surprisingly, the global transition to renewables is occurring, and will be decided, in Asia. I’m currently pursuing two separate projects on green growth in Northeast Asia. The first investigates the state’s role in the building of new domestic industries related to green energy infrastructure in the Northeast Asian countries. This book-length project shows that a new type of development strategy I refer to as ‘hybridized industrial ecosystems’ in my earlier work, has emerged in Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. This may serve as a new model for promoting green high-technology industries in other countries. The secondis being undertaken with my collaborators under the auspices of the Australia Research Council examining the drivers, obstacles and strategies to overcome clean energy transitions. Using my co-authored framework of ‘developmentalism environmentalism’ the project provides lessons for policymakers (including Australia) based on the experiences of the region’s green industry leaders: China and South Korea.

What is your proudest achievement?
Getting a continuing academic job! As the son of people who earnestly wanted to pursue an education but could not, it’s been a privilege for me to be working in my position. Any large organisation has its perks and challenges but, for me, I’m always grateful for the opportunity to be part of someone else’s journey in life especially my former PhD and MRes students. As academics we have the honour of living through (sometimes in a single day): responding to unbelievably rigorous comments after peer-review, introducing the wonders of political science research in a first-year tutorial, attending the graduation ceremony of a former student and meeting their friends and family, soothing through a crisis faced by a research student I am supervising, giving a keynote lecture to corporate and government leaders, and then finishing off the day with marking third-year students’ essays! It’s a demanding job but, immensely rewarding.

What would people be surprised to know about you or your work?
If you’ve ever visited one of the markets throughout Sydney, you may have seen me with my booming voice, trying to cut above the drama and the noise of stallholders and hagglers! In my youth, I used to help out at my parents’ stalls on weekends. Not once did I ever think the ability to be louder and clearer than the crowds of people who would gather at any moment in such an environment would become useful for a future career – let alone the intellectual environment of a university setting!

What is on your agenda for 2021?
My top goal is to successfully execute the 2021 Australian Political Studies Association (APSA) Conference hosted by the Discipline of Politics and International Relations in the Macquarie School of Social Sciences. This annual event normally attracts 200-300 delegates from Australia and around the world. The outbreak of COVID-19 and the travel restrictions forced us to make the heartbreaking decision to cancel the conference in 2020. The on-going uncertainties arising from the COVID-19 situation has made planning for large events trickier than ever. However, in 2021 we are determined to host the conference whether that be online, on-campus or a hybrid format. With the full support of APSA the organisation, the Faculty of Arts and the University, the members of the Local Organising Committee (Dr Ian Tregenza, Dr Francesco Stolfi, Dr Jumana Bayeh, Ms Kelli-Lee Drake and myself) are confident the APSA 2021 Conference will be a great success!