Jongsun A. Kim is a nonresident senior fellow in Forward Defense initiative of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. Kim brings over two decades of experience across national security, defense innovation, and congressional strategy. Kim also serves as an advisory board member at JerseySTEM, a nonprofit organization focused on STEM access and equity that partners with universities, corporations, and community-based youth organizations. Throughout her career, Kim has been at the forefront of bridging technology, policy, and governance to shape the future of US defense and intelligence capabilities.

Most recently, she served as senior advisor and chief of staff to the Department of Defense (DoD) chief technology officer, where she helped drive the DoD’s innovation agenda—crafting strategies for emerging technologies, modernizing governance structures, and aligning defense investments with long-term strategic priorities. In this role, she also worked across the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s nineteen business units as part of the Executive Leadership Team, advancing efforts to strengthen corporate culture and internal coordination.

Previously, Kim was the deputy comptroller for budget and appropriations affairs, serving as the secretary of defense’s senior advisor on all matters related to appropriations and as the primary liaison between DoD leadership and the congressional appropriations committees. Before that, she served as a professional staff member on the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, where she oversaw tens of billions of dollars in classified funding and led oversight of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise. As the lead policy advisor to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner (D-VA), she focused on Asia-Pacific strategy, the intersection of national security and emerging technology, and private sector engagement on economic and technological threats.

Earlier in her career, Kim served in policy roles within the Pentagon and the Defense Intelligence Agency, deploying to Afghanistan in support of combat operations, serving in the White House Situation Room, and managing the US–South Korea alliance. She began her government service as a Defense Intelligence Scholar.

Before entering federal service, Kim worked on domestic policy as an analyst at Abt Associates and as a governor’s aide in New Jersey. She holds master’s degrees from Harvard University and the National Defense Intelligence College and earned her BA from Wellesley College. She also studied at the University of Edinburgh and Korea University.