Dr. Choe Hyondok is research professor (wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin) and vice director of Korea-Europe Center at the Institute for Korean Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. Her research priority at present is focused on the history of transnational democratization in case of South Korea.

She studied philosophy, political sciences and sinology in Seoul, Frankfurt/M and Bremen. She received her Ph.D. in 1997; her doctoral dissertation was on the genealogy of the concept ‘ideology’ as a social critical terminology. Her research priority has been social and political philosophy, intercultural philosophy, feminist philosophy. She has been always interested in interdisciplinary research on democracy and human rights related to South Korea. At present she

1998-2000, she worked as adjunct professor for philosophy at Hanil University and Theological Seminary in South Korea. 1998-2001, she taught philosophy at Seoul National University, Sungsil University, Ewha Womans University, etc. in Seoul and was involved in research projects in the field of feminist philosophy. In 2001, she joined in the Institute of Missiology, Missio in Aachen, Germany and responsible for the region, Northeast and Southeast Asia. Until 2006, she regularly visited this region and did the research of contextual and intercultural philosophies and theologies; initiated intercultural dialogues among the philosophers and theologians from this region as well as intercontinental encounters. From 2002 to 2008, she was director of Korea Communication and Research Center at the Korea Association (Korea-Verband e.V.) first in Essen and afterwards in Berlin. During her work as (research) professor in the framework of Humanity Korea (HK) Program at Ewha Womans University (2008-2010) and Pusan National University (2010-2011) in South Korea, she deepened her research in intercultural philosophy and expanded her international network. 2011-2013, she worked for Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (Korea Office) as program coordinator and research staff (wissenschaftliche Mitarbeiterin). In 2013, she followed an invitation from the University of Costa Rica in San José, Costa Rica and worked until 2019 as the holder of the Chair of Korean and East Asian Studies in order to establish the Korean studies there. From August 2021 - March 2022 she worked as a research fellow of Dept. of Korean Studies at the University of Tübingen. Since 2014, she has served as consultor of the Pontifical Council of Culture (Vatican).

She was editor-in-chief of the following three journals: Korea Forum (bi-annual journal in German language, 2003-2009), Chakana. Forum for intercultural theology and philosophy (multi-lingual, bi-annual academic journal 2004-2005), Chakana. Revista Internacional de Estudios Coreanos (academic journal of Korean Studies in Spanish language, 2007-2009). Since 1995, she has published academic monographies, anthologies and articles for journals and books especially in the field of intercultural philosophy and Korean studies.