During a visit to New Zealand in February 2026, while being hosted by the Centre for Strategic Studies I conducted material gathering related to Pacific Islands relations with the main donors and discussed their expectation will local experts. The next step is to develop a more detailed research plan which will involve research collaboration between Waseda Univ, Victoria Univ of Wellington and the University of South Pacific in Fiji. I am currently in the process of refining the analytical framework for this project and determining specific case studies.

This research is part of a broader project aimed at exploring Korea's relations with Japan during the Cold War era. Focusing mostly on the democratization movement, this phase of the research seeks to explore the Korean perceptions of Japan during the late 1970s-1980s. To accomplish this goal, I conducted a research trip to Seoul where I gathered Japan and Korea-Japan relations related publications by anti-mainstream economists, public intellectuals and student activists. Currently, I am analyzing this material and in the process of drafting an academic article provisionally titled " Japan in Korea's national identity: Beyond the historical memory."