Fyodor Tertitskiy
Korean historian (born 1988)
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Fyodor Tertitskiy (Russian: Фёдор Тертицкий; also known by his Korean name Lee Hwisung, Korean: 이휘성, Hanja 李輝星; born 23 August 1988) is a Russian and South Korean historian and specialist on North Korea. He lives in Seoul, lectures at Korea University, and has held a research post at Kookmin University's Institute for Korean Studies.[2][3]
Russia (1991–2024)
South Korea (2024–present)[1]
Fyodor Tertitskiy | |
|---|---|
| Фёдор Тертицкий | |
Tertitskiy in January 2022 | |
| Born | 23 August 1988 Moscow, Soviet Union |
| Citizenship | Soviet Union (1988–1991) Russia (1991–2024) South Korea (2024–present)[1] |
| Education | Seoul National University (PhD) |
| Occupations | Historian, scholar of North Korea |
| Notable work | Accidental Tyrant: The Life of Kim Il-sung (2025); The North Korean Army: History, Structure, Daily Life (2022) |
| Father | Konstantin Tertitskiy |
Biography
Tertitskiy was born in Moscow in 1988. During high school, he decided to pursue a career as a scholar of North Korea.[4] He majored in Korean studies at university and moved to Seoul in 2011. He completed his master's degree at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul and earned a PhD from Seoul National University in 2017. Tertitskiy lectures at Korea University.[5] Tertitskiy writes on North Korean political, social, and military history for outlets including NK News and Daily NK.[2][3][6]
Reception
Tertitskiy's Accidental Tyrant (Hurst and Oxford University Press, 2025), a biography of Kim Il Sung, was reviewed by the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Foreword Reviews (which awarded it a starred review), and the Asian Review of Books. The book was also selected for the Financial Times' 'Best summer books: History" list and included in The Week's roundup of notable history titles for 2025.[7][8][9][10][11][12] South Korean media have credited Tertitskiy with several archival discoveries, including: a 1941 Soviet interrogation protocol of Kim Il Sung;[13] Kim Il Sung's confession regarding clandestine financial assistance to Cho Bong-am, an opposition candidate in the 1956 South Korean presidential election; [14] a 1969 KGB report on Kim family relatives;[15] and records of talks between Pak Song-chol and Leonid Brezhnev.[16]
Works
- Tertitskiy, Fyodor (2026). Pyongyang on the Brink: Sixteen Crises That Shaped North Korea. Hurst Publishers. ISBN 9781805266082. Retrieved 9 April 2026.
- Accidental Tyrant: The Life of Kim Il-sung (London: Hurst, 2025; New York: Oxford University Press, 2025). ISBN 9780197800881.[6]
- 표도르 째르치즈스키(이휘성) (2022). 김일성 전기. 파주: 한울아카데미. ISBN 9788946081871.[17]
- Фёдор Тертицкий (2025). Ким Ир Сен: вождь по воле случая. Москва: Альпина нон-фикшн. ISBN 978-5-00223-321-2.
- Tertitskiy, Fyodor (2024). The Forgotten Political Elites of North Korea: Woe to the Vanquished. Routledge. ISBN 9781032745473. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- Tertitskiy, Fyodor (2023). Soviet-North Korean Relations During the Cold War: Unruly Offspring. Routledge. ISBN 9781032537306. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- 표도르 째르치즈스키(이휘성) (2023). 북한과 소련: 잊혀진 인물과 에피소드. 한울아카데미. ISBN 978-89-460-7466-8. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- Tertitskiy, Fyodor (2022). The North Korean Army: History, Structure, Daily Life. Routledge. ISBN 9781032147154. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
- 표도르 째르치즈스키(이휘성) (2018). 김일성 이전의 북한: 1945년 8월 9일 소련군 참전부터 10월 14일 평양 연설까지 [North Korea before Kim Il Sung: From the Soviet Union's entry into the war on August 9, 1945, to the Pyongyang speech on October 14, 1945]. 한울아카데미. ISBN 978-89-460-7113-1. Retrieved 2 October 2025.