I am an Associate Professor of Political Science at Hanyang University in Seoul and received my Ph.D. in political science from the University of Chicago. My research and public work examine open inquiry, academic freedom, procedural liberalism, democratic institutions, civil society, and political polarization, with particular attention to the United States, South Korea, and East Asia.
A central question in my work is how free societies sustain disagreement. I study what happens when political actors begin treating ordinary procedural protections—free speech, due process, viewpoint neutrality, evidentiary standards, and open debate—as dangerous when used by people they regard as denialists, extremists, collaborators, or enemies of democracy. My research examines how such zero-sum approaches to procedural rights, especially when combined with concentrated institutional power, produce exclusion, epistemic fragmentation, and declining trust.
My scholarship has appeared in Theory and Society, Human Rights Review, Pacific Affairs, PS: Political Science & Politics, and other journals. I have also authored public media articles for Asia Times, Japan Forward, Korea Herald, Korea Times, Nikkei Asia, NK News, South China Morning Post, The Diplomat, The Hill, and The UnPopulist.
I co-founded the Heterodox East Asia Community (HEAC), where I organize forums bringing together scholars, journalists, students, and civic actors with sharply different perspectives. Our discussions have addressed academic freedom in China and Hong Kong, North Korea, historical memory and the comfort-women controversy, religion and LGBT issues, democratic polarization, and freedom of inquiry across the Asia-Pacific. In 2025, I received Heterodox Academy’s Open Inquiry Award for Courage.
HEAC speaker forums are available on Youtube, such as the implications of the Mahmoud Khalil case for freedom in Asia (with Shai Davidai and Jonathan Zimmerman: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaCKsDuEaDJlDIeYD2Yi_IvxYDx3aNiwS
My presentations are designed for universities, civic institutes, academic and business associations, student groups, think tanks, and public audiences ~ for anyone interested in open inquiry in East Asia and the West. I welcome formats that include substantive discussion, disagreement, and audience questions rather than one-way lectures.
Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10U2y-XINpY-ixleiU2Oz2-7HPVEcq1X42_NuP3YwJIw
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Rgb8CE4AAAAJ)
Academia: https://hanyang.academia.edu/JosephYi
Substack: https://hxeast.substack.com
Yi, J. (2026, September 18). Globally pragmatic South Korea has a punitive streak at home. Nikkei Asia. https://asia.nikkei.com/opinion/globally-pragmatic-south-korea-has-a-punitive-streak-at-home
Yi, J. (2026, June 1). And that’s how I became Korea’s famous denialist. Inquisitive Magazine. https://inquisitivemag.org/articles/the-heterodox-life/and-thats-how-i-became-koreas-most-famous-denialist/