Alfred Jyung-Hyun Kim Appointed to the East-West Center Board of Governors at the Nomination of Secretary of State Marco Rubio

Alfred Jyung-Hyun Kim (Korean name: Kim Jung-hyun), President of the BEXUS Policy Research Institute, was appointed on May 12 as a member of the East-West Center (EWC) Board of Governors at the nomination of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The East-West Center’s official name is the Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1960, it is a public diplomacy institution aimed at strengthening relations and promoting mutual understanding between the United States and countries in Asia and the Pacific. Headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii, the EWC operates research, education, and dialogue programs on political, security, and economic issues in the Indo-Pacific region. Notably, it is a quasi-governmental organization that receives a significant portion of its annual operating budget directly from the U.S. federal government through the Department of State.

The EWC Board of Governors consists of 18 members, five of whom are directly appointed by the U.S. Secretary of State. Appointment to the EWC Board by the Secretary of State is regarded as a high-level honorary position in which the U.S. government carries out its Asia-Pacific diplomatic strategy through the private sector. Previous appointees nominated by the Secretary of State include prominent diplomats and security experts such as David Stilwell (former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs), Kenneth I. Juster (former U.S. Ambassador to India), Kelley Currie (former Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues), and Kurt Campbell (former Indo-Pacific Policy Coordinator).

This appointment is interpreted as part of the Trump administration’s “America First” foreign policy strategy, aimed at strengthening U.S. strategic positioning in the Indo-Pacific region, particularly on the Korean Peninsula.

In the appointment letter, Kim was recognized as “an investigative journalist, U.S. Army reservist, and expert on Indo-Pacific political and security issues.” The letter particularly praised his policy research on political and industrial threats to the Korean Peninsula, as well as his high proficiency in both English and Korean.

Kim, a U.S. citizen, completed his mandatory military service as a sergeant in the KATUSA Tango Security Force (under the U.S. 8th Army), a unit known for receiving special forces-level training. He was awarded the Expert Infantryman Badge (EIB) and the Army Commendation Medal (ARCOM). The ARCOM is given to U.S. soldiers who demonstrate outstanding achievement or valor in both combat and non-combat situations. The EIB, in particular, is considered a more difficult and prestigious badge to earn than the Combat Infantryman Badge (CIB). During his time as a reporter for Monthly Chosun, Kim also demonstrated strong capabilities as an investigative journalist, winning a third-class special reporting award for his exclusive coverage of the “Tooth Dad” story.

Kim Jung-hyun established and currently operates the BEXUS Policy Research Institute in Washington D.C. Since its founding, the institute has published approximately 20 to 30 policy research reports. The majority of these reports focus on international politics and security issues, including U.S.-China strategic competition, analysis of the Trump 2.0 administration’s foreign policy, security restructuring on the Korean Peninsula, election integrity issues, and criticism of globalism. Rather than theoretical, in-depth academic analysis, the reports are characterized by timely, practical assessments and realistic policy recommendations, consistently written from a realist and anti-globalist perspective. This is believed to strongly reflect the diplomatic and security philosophy of institute president Kim Jung-hyun and the “America First” principles of the Trump administration.

Prominent Pro-Trump Figure and Indo-Pacific Policy Expert

Alfred Jyung-hyun Kim, former journalist for 'Monthly Chosun', has been a leading voice supporting the Trump administration’s “America First” policy since 2016. He has consistently argued that it serves as a win-win strategy that simultaneously advances the national interests of both the Republic of Korea and the United States.

In particular, the Trump 2.0 administration continues to pursue a hardline “America First” agenda centered on reciprocity. Its key policy directions include reshaping the global order with the U.S. at the center, demanding “responsible burden-sharing” from allies, opposing globalism, prioritizing national sovereignty, combating corruption, strengthening border control, deregulating government oversight, and promoting energy independence. Kim has long advocated for this realist and transactional alliance model, arguing that Korea should shoulder greater responsibility in return for securing advanced U.S. security assets and tangible economic benefits. He is also known for his strong opposition to globalism, in which unelected global elites and international organizations dominate national policy decisions.

Kim publicly raised issues regarding election integrity during the 2020 South Korean general election and 2020 US presidential election, echoing former President Trump’s strong claims about the 2020 U.S. presidential election fraud. In 2025, he attended the inauguration of the Polish president as the Korean representative of MEGA (Make Europe Great Again) and drew international attention by presenting South Korea’s election fraud issues since 2002 in front of lawmakers and journalists from over 30 countries. During the Moon Jae-in administration, he led the civic movement opposing “vaccine passes,” resisting the government’s excessive coercive policies. He has also called for adopting the welfare policies of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who leads the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement, in South Korea.

During his independent run for the 22nd National Assembly, Kim drew significant attention by advocating for “mandatory education on the life of Syngman Rhee,” opposition to the introduction of CBDC, and the “Christian Nation Theory.” He is widely regarded as one of South Korea’s leading Syngman Rhee advocates. His positions align closely with the Trump 2.0 administration’s emphasis on “individual liberty,” “small government,” and “Christian evangelicalism.”

In this way, Alfred Jyung-hyun Kim is evaluated as a prominent pro-Trump figure who has consistently aligned with the Trump administration—especially its second term—on key issues including foreign policy and national security, election integrity, and civil liberties, sharing its core values of realism, reciprocity, and liberalism.