Seongok (a.k.a. Christine) Bae was born and grew up in South Korea. She received her B.A. and M.A. degrees in French language and literature from Seoul National University. She then pursued her studies in France, where she received her doctorate in seventeenth century French literature from the University of Paris-Sorbonne.

She taught at several universities in Korea before coming to California, where she has been teaching French at Los Angeles Harbor College and Long Beach City College. In addition to teaching she also has translated various literary and scholarly works from French and English into Korean.