Pan Suk Kim

Pan Suk Kim is a South Korean professor in the field of public administration. He is currently the International Director of the American Society for Public Administration since 2020. He was a commission member of the International Civil Service Commission of the United Nations from 2021 to 2024. He was an assistant professor of public administration in the School of Public Service at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia from 1991 to 1994. Kim is currently a professor emeritus of Public Administration in the Department of Global Public Administration, Yonsei University, Mirae Campus in South Korea.
Kim's research interests include theories and practices of public administration, public governance, and human resources management and development. He was a Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Government at Georgetown University in 2005, a visiting scholar in residence in the School of Public Affairs at the American University in 2015, and a visiting scholar in the Trachtenberg School of Public Policy and Public Administration at George Washington University in 2020.

Education and career

Kim received his BA degree in public administration from Chung-Ang University in 1982, M.P.A. from the Florida International University in 1984, and Ph.D. degree from the American University in 1990. He is an elected lifetime international fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, a congressionally chartered non-partisan non-profit academy in Washington, D.C. He had led a number of professional associations including the Korean Society for Public Personnel Administration as well as regional and international associations including the Asian Association for Public Administration and the International Institute of Administrative Sciences. He was a member of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration in New York for two terms and was a Vice Chairperson of UNCEPA in 2010–2013. He was the editor-in-chief of the Asian Review of Public Administration and the Korean Policy Studies Review, and a deputy editor of the International Review of Administrative Sciences. He has been named Underwood Distinguished Professor from 2010 to 2013, and was the Dean of
the College of Government and Business at Yonsei University. Kim was the founding director of the Institute of Poverty Alleviation and International Development at Yonsei University in 2010–2013.

Government experience

Kim has broad experience as an expert in governmental affairs. He was the Chairperson of the Committee for Public Officials’ Occupational Accident Compensation and Pension within the Korean government from 2021 to 2024. He was the Minister of Personnel Management in the Republic of Korea from July 2017 to December 2018. Prior to that, he was a Secretary to the President for Personnel Policy in the Office of the President from December 2003 to January 2005.

Selected publications

Kim has published over 200 refereed articles in Korean and international journals and also authored several books. He edited a number of books, including the following:

Public Administration and Public Governance in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea
Civil Service System and Civil Service Reform in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea
Public Sector Reform in ASEAN Member Countries and Korea ;
Value and Virtue in Public Administration ;
Democratic Governance, Public Administration and Poverty Alleviation.

Selected awards and honors

Kim was recognized for his contribution and received several awards, including the following:

International Public Administration Award, awarded by the American Society for Public Administration.
Paul P. Van Riper Award for Excellence and Service, awarded by the American Society for Public Administration.
Warner W. Stockberger Achievement Award, awarded by the International Public Management Association for Human Resources.
Donald C. Stone Service to ASPA Award, awarded by the American Society for Public Administration.
Riggs Award for Lifetime Achievement in International and Comparative Public Administration, awarded by the Section of International and Comparative Administration of the American Society for Public Administration.