이기동은 국가안보전략연구연 수석연구위원이며, 동 연구원 부원장을 지냈다. 그는 국가통일자문회의 상임위원이자 통일부 자문위원회 위원이다. 이전에는 통일연구원(KINU) 선임연구위원, 한국정치학회(KPSA) 북한분과위원장, 일본 게이오대 객원교수 등을 지냈다. 그의 주요 연구 분야는 북한 정치와 군사, 남북 관계이다.

Gee-Dong Lee is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy (INSS). He is a former vice president of the INSS. He is a standing member of the National Unification Advisory Council and a member of the Ministry of Unification Advisory Committee. Prior to joining the INSS, he served as a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU), chairman of North Korea Subdivision at the Korean Political Science Association (KPSA), and visiting professor of Keio University in Japan. His main area of research is North Korean politics and the military, and inter-Korean relations.