Yu Bin (Paul) Kim is currently a Master's student at Stanford University, studying East Asian Studies. His primary research interest is the PRC-DRPK relations, with a focus on China's influence over North Korea. Another research interest that he has is North Korean refugees in China. Before going to Stanford, as an undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he majored in East Asian Studies, International Studies, and Political Science. Also, he holds an undergraduate certificate in African Studies.

He developed his interest in North Korea, especially North Korean refugees, as an undergraduate student. He focused on not only taking relevant classes, but also doing personal studies; it is important to note that his personal studies included monitoring media sources, reading books, and watching documentaries. Moreover, under the guidance of Professor Charles Kim at UW-Madison, he did a significant amount of research on North Korean refugees in China and their resettlement process in South Korea. Currently, as a graduate student, he continues to carry out his personal studies while taking pertinent classes. One of the topics that he is considering for his Master’s thesis is North Korean refugees in China.

Interning at the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, he wants to expand his knowledge on North Korean refugees and understand how NGOs operate in a more general sense. Without doubt, achieving these two goals will serve as a crucial stepping-stone towards pursuing a career at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the near future.