I am an Assistant Professor of Political Science at James Madison College of Public Affairs at Michigan State University. I also serve as an Associate Editor at Communist and Post-Communist Studies. Before joining MSU, I was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

My research focuses on authoritarian politics, democratization, authoritarian legacies, and protest, with a regional emphasis on East Asia, including China and the Korean Peninsula. My work has appeared in journals such as International Security, Democratization, Journal of East Asia Studies, and International Studies Review, among others. My research has been supported by the Korea Foundation and the Academy of Korean Studies.

You can find my work on Google Scholar, follow me on Bluesky at @immyungheelee.bsky.social, or connect with me on LinkedIn. Please find my CV here.