Academic CV
Curriculum Vitae
Email yj.lee@chu.ac.kr Website youngjoon-lee.com Address 38 Halladaehak-ro, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, 63092, S. Korea
Education
Mar 2015 – Feb 2019
Ph.D. in Finance
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
- Thesis: Deciphering Monetary Policy with Text Mining: An Automated Polarity Classification Approach
Mar 2007 – Aug 2010
M.A. in Economics
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
- Specialization: Financial Engineering
Mar 1996 – Feb 2001
B.S. in Industrial Engineering & Computer Science
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Experience
Dec 2024 – present
Associate Professor
Artificial Intelligence, Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Deliver AI curriculum covering NLP, MLOps, Robotics, and Operating Systems
- Guide and mentor student research projects in AI applications
Aug 2023 – present
Chief Innovation Officer
Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Oversee university AI and emerging technology research initiatives
- Lead AI research connecting theoretical frameworks with industry applications
- Set up a knowledge exchange platform for AI research
Mar 2022 – present
Head of Research
Natural Language Research Center, Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Lead development of AI-driven NLP models for financial applications
- Oversee creation of AI-powered virtual physician for healthcare delivery
- Develop AI technologies in robotic art and visual media
Feb 2021 – Nov 2024
Assistant Professor
Artificial Intelligence Engineering, Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Delivered AI engineering curriculum covering NLP, MLOps, Robotics, and Operating Systems
- Guided and mentored student research projects in AI applications
Mar 2019 – Sep 2020
Visiting Scholar
Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Led a project using ML and NLP for ESG data analysis and investment strategies
- Applied advanced technological methods to financial analysis to understand ESG factors in investment
- Contributed to sustainable finance and technology research related to climate-resilient economy
Sep 2018 – Aug 2021
Researcher
Yonsei Business Research Institute, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Oct 2014 – Jan 2017
Senior Quantitative Analyst
Gian Research, Seoul, Korea
- Developed risk models and portfolio tools for equity and bond investments
- Consulted on pension fund management systems and asset management processes
- Created fixed-income risk model and quantitative equity rating system
Jul 2006 – Sep 2014
Head of Quantitative Strategy
Hyundai Securities, Seoul, Korea
- Researched asset allocation strategies for MOLIT Housing Fund
- Designed and implemented quantitative factor investing strategies
- Consulted and tested low-volatility strategies in ETF construction
- Developed earnings valuation models and pair trading systems
Nov 2001 – Oct 2005
Head of Research and Development
FnGuide Inc., Seoul, Korea
- Led R&D initiatives across business and product lines
- Implemented database systems and financial research solutions
- Consulted on custom index management and equity management systems
Organizations
May 2024 – present
Director, Cheju Halla RISE Center
Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Lead the Regional Innovation System & Education (RISE) Center to advance AI-based education, research, and industry collaboration
- Oversee multi-institutional RISE projects with partners such as Saltlux, RovoRoad, and AWS
- Coordinate AI curriculum innovation and regional workforce development for Jeju's strategic industries
Apr 2025 – present
Project Director, KOICA-TIU-Cheju Halla AI Training Center
Tashkent International University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Lead the design and implementation of AI curriculum and training programs integrating Microsoft Azure certification pathways
- Collaborate with TIU leadership and KOICA to establish the AI center through international academic partnership
Jan 2024 – present
Lead Investigator, Jeju RIS Office for High-Intelligent Service
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Korea
- Lead efforts to integrate AI curriculum in Jeju educational institutions
- Develop AI deployment strategies suitable for Jeju's cultural and economic context
Jan 2022 – present
Committee Member
Aju Research Institute of Corporate Management, Seoul, Korea
- Assess and report on the ESG performance of target investment companies for sustainable and responsible investing
Invited & Leadership Activities
2025
Mentor to award-winning student teams (IN-JEJU Challenge 2025)
IN-JEJU Challenge 2025, Jeju, South Korea
- Guided student teams to Best Prize and Excellence Award in Physical AI and AIoT competition
- Mentored teams developing multi-agent simulation for robot learning and AIoT agent systems
2025
Opening Ceremony, KOICA-TIU-Cheju Halla AI Training Center
Tashkent International University, Tashkent, Uzbekistan
- Officially opened landmark AI education center in partnership with KOICA and TIU
- Launched 4 industry-aligned programs with Microsoft Azure certification pathways
2025
Organizer, STAI 2025 (Sustainable Transition with AI Hackathon)
STAI 2025, Jeju Island, South Korea
- Co-organized intensive AI hackathon focused on climate action and sustainability
- Led 27 participants in developing 5 groundbreaking solutions for environmental challenges
- Collaborated with AWS, Saltlux, and Asan Nanum Foundation
2025
Keynote Speaker, International Pharmaceutical Sciences Conference
2025 International Pharmaceutical Sciences Conference, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
- Delivered keynote on AI agents transforming education and drug discovery
- Presented Cheju Halla University's AI Professor System and Bio-AI agent for pharmaceutical research
2025
Presenter, Saltlux AI Conference 2025
Saltlux AI Conference 2025, GS Tower, Seoul, South Korea
- Presented AI Professor System at conference themed "AI Agents Eating the World"
- Demonstrated hybrid model combining Saltlux's LUXIA LLM with education-specific innovations
2025
Delegation meetings at USC and Cal Poly
USC Space Engineering Research Center (LA) & Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo)
- Developed partnerships for aerospace and CubeSat technology collaboration
2025
Attendee, CES 2025
CES 2025, Las Vegas, NV
- Gathered insights on latest AI and education technology trends for RISE project development
2025
Delegation visit to Stanford d.school
Stanford University (d.school), Stanford, CA
- Explored design thinking methodologies for educational innovation
2024
Collaboration visits with PULSE9 and HKDI
Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) & PULSE9, Hong Kong
- Explored AI applications in creative content and design education
2024
Delegation visit to Dassault Systèmes Headquarters
Dassault Systèmes Worldwide HQ, Vélizy-Villacoublay, France
- Presented RISE project and explored collaboration opportunities in education and smart cities
- Discussed aerospace innovations and workforce development with Dassault leadership
2024
Moderator – "Youth Asks AI about the Future" session
4th Asia-Pacific Young Leaders Forum, Jeju, South Korea
- Facilitated discussion on AI's role in shaping the future for young leaders
2024
Organizer, STAI Workshop at IJCAI 2024
IJCAI 2024, Jeju Island, South Korea
- Co-organized international workshop on AI for sustainability with Christopher Manning, Soh Young In, and Gaku Morio
- Hosted keynote speakers including Markus Leippold and Peter J. Morgan
2024
Instructor, STAI NLP Workshop for Social Scientists
The Seaes Hotel, Jeju Island, South Korea
- Led hands-on NLP workshop for social science researchers
- Collaborated with Gaku Morio (Hitachi America/Stanford) and Jae Yoon Lee (Saltlux AI Labs)
2023
Presenter, Spring Future Culture Technology Forum (Multimodal AI)
2023 Spring Future Culture Technology Forum, Jeju, South Korea
- Presented "Infinite Possibilities: AI's Journey Towards Understanding Everything, Everywhere, All at Once"
- Explored large language models, attention mechanisms, and AI hallucinations
2022
Presenter, Jeju Forum 2022 (ESG and Sustainable Finance)
Jeju Forum, South Korea
- Presented "Rethinking ESG: A Strategic Approach for Real Impact"
- Addressed ESG framework challenges and proposed solutions for sustainable finance
Projects
Aug 2025 – present
Agentic AI-Based Intelligent Education Platform
Cheju Halla University, Yonsei University, KAIST, and Saltlux
- Joint development of AI Professor System integrating Saltlux LUXIA LLM and Cheju Halla's education platform
- Built intelligent education agents for personalized learning and research reasoning
- Advanced semantic knowledge graph and RAG pipeline for AI education
Aug 2025 – present
Intelligent Road Maintenance and Smart Infrastructure
Cheju Halla University, Seoul National University, KAIST, and RovoRoad
- Developed AI-powered road surface inspection and autonomous repair systems for Jeju smart infrastructure
- Integrated edge AI with drone-based imaging and reinforcement learning for real-time damage detection
Apr 2025 – present
TIU AI Education Center Development
Cheju Halla University & Tashkent International University, Uzbekistan
- Lead establishment of an advanced AI education center in Uzbekistan
- Develop 16-week AI curriculum integrating Microsoft Azure certification pathways
Apr 2024 – Feb 2025
Traffic Optimization Platform for Jeju Traffic Safety
Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Lead project to enhance Jeju's transportation infrastructure using data-driven urban planning
- Analyze traffic patterns and signal timing at key intersections in Jeju
- Develop real-time traffic network data update systems
Jul 2023 – Feb 2024
Multi-Object Detection and Robotic Drawing with Multiple Camera Sensors
Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Developed methods integrating multi-object detection with AI and robotic drawing in digital art
May 2023 – Feb 2024
The Bank of Korea Knowledge Partnership Program with Cambodia
Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Analyzed Bank of Korea's communication strategies
- Used machine learning-based text mining for policy analysis
Mar 2023 – Sep 2023
Dissecting Corporate Reputation Risk in News Media
Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Used aspect-based sentiment analysis techniques to analyze corporate and CEO reputations in news media
May 2022 – Apr 2023
Analyzing the Value and Bias in ESG Information Using NLP
Aju Research Institute of Corporate Management, Seoul, Korea
- Developed NLP model to evaluate ESG information from various media sources
- Assessed the relationship between ESG information and stock price movements
Mar 2021 – Apr 2022
ML-based ESG Ratings Model
Aju Research Institute of Corporate Management, Seoul, Korea
- Developed machine learning model for ESG ratings using NLP and big data analytics
Feb 2021 – Feb 2022
Development of a Pathology Database for an Internet Hospital Platform
Cheju Halla University, Jeju, Korea
- Led extraction and processing of pathology data for NLP applications
- Developed pathBERT, NER, and RE models for medical data analysis
- Created Knowledge Graph and QA model
Mar 2019 – Sep 2020
Translating Data into Insights (ESG / Stanford)
Precourt Institute for Energy, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Applied machine learning and NLP techniques for insights from ESG data
Jan 2018 – Feb 2019
eKoNLPy: Korean NLP Python Library for Economic Analysis
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
- Developed eKoNLPy, a Korean NLP Python library for economic analysis
- Enhanced Mecab tagger from KoNLPy to handle economic terms, financial institutions, and company names
- Added sentiment analysis features for interpreting monetary policy statements
Mar 2018 – Sep 2018
Evaluating the Effectiveness of the BOK Communication using Text Mining
The Bank of Korea, Seoul, Korea
- Evaluated Bank of Korea communication effectiveness using text mining techniques
Jun 2017 – Nov 2017
Information Extraction and Summarization System using Big Data and AI
Sogang University, Seoul, Korea
- Developed system for information extraction and summarization for financial industry applications
Publications Full list ↗
Peer-reviewed Journal Publications
- Looking back and looking forward: A scientometric analysis of the evolution of corporate sustainability research over 47 years — Soh Young In, Young Joon Lee, and Robert G. Eccles. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 2023.
- A Study on Responsible Investment Strategies with ESG Rating Change — Young Joon Lee, Yun Sik Kang, and Bohyun Yoon. Asia-Pacific Journal of Business, 2022.
- Text Mining for Economic Analysis — Soohyon Kim, Young Joon Lee, Jhinyoung Shin, and Ki Young Park. Journal of Korean Economic Analysis, 2020.
- Deciphering Monetary Policy Board Minutes with Text Mining: The Case of South Korea — Young Joon Lee, Soohyon Kim, and Ki Young Park. Korean Economic Review, 2019.
- Interpreting the Minutes of the Monetary Policy Board through Topic Modeling and Sentiment Analysis — Young Joon Lee and Bohyun Yoon. Journal of The Korean Data Analysis Society, 2019.
Working Papers
- Measuring Monetary Policy Surprises Using Text Mining: The Case of Korea — Young Joon Lee, Soohyon Kim, and Ki Young Park. Bank of Korea Working Paper, 2019.
Certifications
Oct 2014
Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA)
CAIA Association
- Credential ID: 10683
Sep 2006
Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
CFA Institute
- Credential ID: 348641
Aug 2006
Certified Research Analyst (CRA)
Korea Financial Investment Association
- Credential ID: 6606001314
May 2006
Data Architecture Professional (DAP)
Korea Database Agency
- Credential ID: DAP-06003