Currently, he is a professor emeritus in the Department of Archaeology and Art History at Seoul National University. He obtained his Ph.D. in Art History from Harvard University and served as a professor and museum director at both Hongik University and Seoul National University. He has also held positions as the founding head of the Art Research Office at the Korea Institute of Spiritual Culture and as president of various academic associations and committees. His contributions to the study of Korean art history have been recognized with numerous awards.

He has been consistently writing about various aspects of Korean popular culture, including K-pop, in written form. Currently, he is in charge of Weverse Magazine.