Kang Sang Jung is one of the most influential ethnically Korean residents of Japan (zainichi). A political science professor at the University of Tokyo, he also gives lectures around the country, is a regular television commentator and has a column in the prestigious weekly current affairs magazine Aera.
In his 2008 life-guide book "Nayamu Chikara" ("The Power of Wavering"), which has sold 755,000 copies, Kang analyzes why it can be so hard to live in today's Japan despite the supposed benefits of its free-market economy and cutting-edge information technology.
In part — along with his academic motivation to understand the workings of society — he clearly appears to attribute his deep insight into the society to his background as a member of a disadvantaged minority.