Rüdiger FRANK is Chair Professor at the Department of East Asian Studies at the University of Vienna, where he established the English-language MA program East Asian Economy and Society in 2008. He is the founder and director of the European Centre for North Korean Studies, a platform for scholars and researchers engaged in multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and comparative research on North Korea.
He holds a PhD in Economics and an MA in Korean Studies and International Relations. His research focuses on the political economy of East Asia, socialist transformation, and regional security. He has published extensively in these fields, including award-winning books on North Korea. He has held visiting and adjunct positions at institutions such as Columbia University, Seoul National University, and Korea University. He regularly advises governments, international organizations, and the private sector on Korean Peninsula affairs. He is a member of numerous editorial and advisory boards in Korean and East Asian studies and has served on bodies such as the World Economic Forum’s councils on Korea. He is also a board member of Global Neighbours, a non-profit platform promoting informed public debate and citizen engagement on international politics and economics.