Ilcheong Yi joined the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD) in October 2008. Born in the Republic of Korea, he is trained as a political scientist and social policy analyst. He specializes in poverty, social policy, labour policy, social economy, and historical analysis of the economic and social development process. Prior to joining UNRISD, Ilcheong was Associate Professor at Kyushu University, Japan (2004-2008), Korea Foundation Visiting Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Malaya, Malaysia (2003-2004), and Visiting Research Fellow at the Stein Rokkan Centre, University of Bergen, Norway (2002-2003).
Ilcheong holds a BA and MA from the Department of Political Science, Seoul National University, Korea, and a PhD fro moxford University, UK.