Mike Cowin

Mike Cowin, former deputy head of mission at the British Embassy in Pyongyang, North Korea, joins the Korean Studies Program at the Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center as the 2014–15 Pantech Fellow. Having spent twenty years covering Korean issues for the British Government, Cowin brings immense insight not only on North Korea but also on Northeast Asia. During his time at the Center, Cowin will focus his research on economic and social deverlpment that he has seen taking place in North Korea while serving there. Cowin, a specialist on Korea and Japan, has been a member of the Research Cadre of the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the United Kingdom since 1988. He has also served in the British embassies in Tokyo from 1992 to 1997, in Seoul from 2003 to 2007, and presently in Pyongyang, as deputy head of mission, since March 2012. He has spent most of his career in London working on policy related research, providing advice to relevant policy desks and acting as the interface between the FCO and academic and research institutions.