Hyung Pai is a renowned historian, anthropologist, and professor specializing in Korean and Japanese heritage management, archaeology, cultural heritage management policies, tourism, and museum studies. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard University and completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Center for Korean Studies at UC Berkeley. He is currently a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Throughout his prolific career, Hyung Pai has authored several publications that explore the intersection between politics, identity, and historical artifacts. Some of his most notable works include Heritage Management in Korea and Japan and "Re-surrecting the Ruins of Japan's Mythical Homelands," a chapter in The Handbook of Post-colonialism and Archaeology. He has also conducted extensive research on the influence of colonialism and nationalism on Korean cultural and ethnic identity formation.

Hyung Pai has held several prominent positions in academia and research in Korea and Japan, including Visiting Research Fellow at the International Center for Japanese Studies and the University of Tokyo, Visiting Researcher at the Tokyo National Research Institute of Cultural Properties, and Senior Research Fellow at the Fulbright Korea and Japan Foundation.

Overall, Hyung Pai's research and publications have greatly contributed to our understanding of historical artifacts' impact on cultural and ethnic identity formation in Korea and Japan.