Hello!

My name is Dokyung(DK) Jang, and I am a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a Non-Resident Kelly Fellow at Pacific Forum.

My research examines how external coercion reshapes domestic political behavior, patterns of economic adaptation, and public perception. In 2026, I received a research grant from South Korea's Ministry of Unification for a project examining how economic sanctions shape North Korea's spatial resource-allocation policies. 

Across my projects, I investigate the mechanisms through which sanctions, military threats, and geopolitical pressure influence the decisions of third-party states, redistribute economic costs within targeted societies, and shape the psychological responses of mass publics.

Taken together, my work contributes to a broader understanding of coercive diplomacy that moves beyond interstate bargaining to encompass the subnational political, economic, and cognitive adjustments that emerge under sustained external pressure.