Somin
Lee
Research on how international rules and standards work across borders, with a focus on the evidence available to importing authorities and the responsibilities of actors who hold it.
Research interestsinternational trade rules, technical barriers to trade, cross-border second-hand goods, institutional capacity, development policy and consumer protection
International rules and
the evidence they require
A product can cross a border without the records needed to assess its safety or condition. My research interests concern how international rules and standards organise the production and transfer of that evidence, and what happens when importing authorities or consumers have to reconstruct it. These questions connect trade regulation with differences in institutional capacity.
Work on cross-border second-hand goods provides a practical starting point. Since joining the Institute for Consumer Safety Standards in 2023, I have contributed comparative analysis and proposals concerning ISO 20245. My subsequent work in ISO/PC 245 includes comments on working drafts and the design of a data exchange model and international demand survey. This experience informs my interest in how standards connect the responsibilities of exporting and importing actors.
My proposed doctoral research would investigate when standards make product evidence usable across borders and how verification responsibilities are allocated. In used-vehicle trade, I would trace inspection records, evidence transmission, border checks and correction. For development policy, I am interested in whether importing institutions can use that evidence to exercise choices over reuse, repair, inspection or refusal, and where the burden falls when usable evidence is missing.
The existing research record includes a sole-authored manuscript on AI-disclosure notifications at the WTO TBT Committee, submitted in September 2026. It examines the traceability of notified measures and access to evidence rather than estimating trade effects. Two other submitted manuscripts address EU–Korea AI disclosure law and EU Safety Gate records. Together with the standards work, they provide a basis for studying the relationship between international rules, regulatory information and domestic implementation.
Academic foundations
M.A. Global Economy & Strategy · Ranked first in cohort
B.A. International Studies · Ranked second in cohort
Law, technology and international regulation
Professional trajectory
ISO committee work
ISO/PC 245: Cross-border trade of second-hand goods
Served on the resolution drafting committee at the Chengdu plenary (August 2025). Authored WG 1 comments on the Part 1 working draft, and designed the SG 1 data exchange model and international demand survey underpinning Part 2, circulated to member bodies through COPOLCO in January 2026.
ISO/COPOLCO: Committee on consumer policy
Reviews consumer-related standard drafts on behalf of the member body. Drafted the member-body comment response to the Stuffed Articles proposal (April 2025), and reviewed the ISO Form 4 and draft International Standard submitted with a new PC proposal (October 2025).
DKE Young Professionals Camp, Offenbach, Germany
Selected from more than 100 KYP professionals as Korea's only delegate to DKE's 18-country Young Professionals Camp (August 2025). Worked in a six-country team on standardisation for AI healthcare robotics, within a wider programme on smart cities and emerging-technology standards.
Reactivation of ISO/PC 245
Conducted the gap analysis of the SAC new work item proposals and drafted Korea's position paper on the SAC Draft Part 1. Joined the COPOLCO discussions on reactivating the committee.
ISO 20245 revision initiative
Presented the case for revision at ISO/COPOLCO WG 24, which led to the establishment of a revision-NP task group in March 2023. Delivered two comparative analyses of the SAC draft and authored the ICSS chapter report.
Publications and manuscripts
Allocating the work of AI disclosure: Article 50 of the EU AI Act and Article 31 of Korea’s AI Framework Act compared
A legal comparison of eleven EU and Korean units distinguishes disclosure and evidence-production duties from rights to verify them. Existing complaints, official investigations and voluntary detection routes are considered separately; their use and effectiveness are not measured.
Notified but Not Verifiable? AI Disclosure Measures at the WTO TBT Committee and the Allocation of Verification Burdens
An audit of six notified drafts and one administrative addendum from five WTO members distinguishes specified disclosure duties from version-tracing and evidence-access gaps in the retrieved record.
Consumer Risk Coverage in ISO/IEC JTC 1 AI Standards: A Systematic Analysis Based on the COPOLCO AI White Paper
This study maps the titles and abstracts of 416 AI-related ISO/IEC JTC 1 standards against twelve consumer-risk categories from the ISO/COPOLCO AI White Paper. It codes 4,992 document-risk pairs and shows that current standards primarily address technically specifiable risks, while structural and systemic risks largely remain beyond their normative scope.
Keywords artificial intelligence · consumer protection · international standards · content analysis
Can product-removal counts be trusted? Data quality, transparency and risk governance in the EU Safety Gate
This record-level audit asks whether Safety Gate records provide usable evidence for downstream risk control by testing product identification, measure-specific dates and correction pathways. It links data quality to evaluability, regulatory transparency and institutional learning without treating records as evidence of removal success or harm reduction.
Industry Status Analysis for Smart Diaper Standardization
Care-Worker Evaluation of a Smart Diaper System
A usability evaluation involving 20 care workers who had used the system in practice for approximately four years, linking field evidence to product improvement and international-standardisation requirements.
Consumer Risk Disclosure and Performance Information for AI-Based Classification Services
Awarded the Grand Prize (Minister's Award) at the 13th Standards, Safety & TBT Competition.
Analysis and Implications of International Standardisation in the AI Industry for Appropriate TBT Measures
Talks & presentations
Engagement & service
Fields, methods & languages
Governance & Policy
- Delegated and transnational rule-making
- AI and digital regulation
- International standards development
- Consumer protection and regulatory legitimacy
- Cross-border trade and regulatory diffusion
Research & Methods
- Comparative case-study design and process tracing
- Systematic content analysis and coding (titles and abstracts of 416 ISO/IEC standards)
- Legal, policy, and institutional document analysis
- Survey design (ISO/PC 245 SG 1 international demand survey)
- Stata (working knowledge)
- Bilingual academic writing
Languages
- Korean (native)
- English (TOEFL iBT: 119; most recent score 117, 1 March 2025)
- French (DELF B2)
- Spanish (DELE A1)