Kester Abbott Email & Phone Number

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

London, England, United Kingdom

Seoul, South Korea

Coordinating with academic faculty to finalize teaching arrangements and their provision of undergraduate courses.Interacting with students through one-to-one or group mentoring sessions to identify ways to make their university experience richer, happier, and more fulfilling. This included helping facilitate their participation in academic seminars and major-related field trips, including university visits from Seoul-based diplomats and a field trip to the Joint Security Area at the DMZ.

Seoul, South Korea

Graduate Research Assistant for the Yonsei Center for International Studies. Responsible for:Interacting and liaising with academics and policymakers to support the department in producing and sharing quality research on international security issues.Identified emerging issues in regional and global security studies for the department to examine, including cross-Taiwan Straits relations, South Korea’s interest in possessing its own nuclear weapons capacity, and the long-term impact of the war in Ukraine on Northeast Asia.

Seoul, South Korea

Graduate Research Assistant for the Yonsei Center on Oceania Studies. Responsible for:Identifying emerging trends in the Oceania region within the context of the US-China strategic rivalry, andcoordinated with fourteen leading regional academics based around the world to deliver the center’s first successful online webinar. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHV17XLNxcHwpzu6_zPFYbg

Seoul, South Korea

The Peninsula Diplomacy Group (PDG) - Diplomatic Roundtable covering Korean and East Asian Security dynamicsSupported organizing and managing seminars through liaising with Seoul-based diplomatic representatives and leading academics to identify and address topics for discussion that are either the most pressing or of growing concern to the political and security dynamics facing the Korean Peninsula and the wider Asia-Pacific region.Prepare transcripts of the seminars and write monthly report summaries of the event’s key takeaways, which are subsequently sent to the organization’s funders to ensure continued financial support.Locating and communicating with Korea-based and overseas academics and diplomatic representatives to expand the group’s networking pool and global outreach.

Seoul, South Korea

Responsible for editing all the institute’s English-language-based products, including academic papers and articles (i.e., issue briefings, working papers, and special reports), as well as newsletters and event-related materials.Conducted stylistic editing, including clarifying authors’ arguments, ensuring coherence and flow, and refinements to language.Oversaw copy editing changes, such as ensuring correctness, accuracy, and consistency in authors’ arguments.Charged with proofreading and structural editing changes, by ensuring materials were presented in a final format that met the institute’s textual and visual standards, and harmonized content to improve its organizational layout and ease of reading.Leveraged knowledge of international relations with my analytical skills to produce insightful and comprehensive final drafts before their in-print and online publication within tight deadlines and often a short notification.

Seoul, South Korea

Engaged with leading academics and policymakers involved in North Korean affairs to articulate social, environmental and youth-driven initiatives that could support reducing political tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Seoul, South Korea

Maintained and updated the institute’s "Global North Korea" and "Asian Democracy Research Network" (ADRN) projects’ websites, and author’s contact information and article databases.Edited working papers for online and in-print publication (including stylistic editing, copy editing, proofreading, and structural editing).

Master'S Degree, Global Affairs And Policy, Gpa 4.1 / 4.3

Fields of concentration: International Security & Foreign Policy, and East Asian Studies. Master's Thesis: "Stumbling into Empire.

Bachelor Of Arts - Ba, History, First Class Honours

Focus on Modern East Asia, the British Atlantic World, and Diplomatic History.