I was born and grew up in Kumi, a small city with 330,000 population. I have experienced different cities in South Korea. In 2004, I acquired my BS degree in Architecture at Chungnam National Univiersity in Daejeon, which is located in the center of Korea. While I was working at an architecture company in Seoul, I experienced urban development projects in Vietnam and expanded academic interest in rapid urbanization in developing countires. In 2007, I started my Master’s degree at Sogang Graduate School of International Studies, specializing in International Relations, where I am currently on academic hiatus. Before I joined Mundus Urbano Master program, I worked for the Clinton Climate Initiative of Clinton Foundation, an international NGO, where I worked as a program assistant to help the Seoul City Government to develop its climate-friendly policies and the Positive Urban Development Project in Seoul. In 2009/10 I completed a Master degree programme MSc. International Cooperation and Urban Development at Technical University of Darmstadt in Germany. Through the MESCI program, I aim to acquire competencies and develop methodologies to analyse urban economy, which can contribute to reduction of  poverty, economic growth and well-being of citizens. My research interest is; a) African cities from the perspective of economic growth, b) Cities working together to tackle on global issues, such as MDGs, and Climate Change.