"Snowboarding just doesn't have the same exposure there, and she doesn't have the same accomplishments yet as someone like Yuna Kim," says Jean Lee, a global fellow at the Wilson Center, who previously served as Associated Press bureau chief in Pyongyang, North Korea. "But she has the potential. If she goes home with a medal, and I think she probably will, she'll become a huge star in South Korea."
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SCMP: Lessons for today of USS Pueblo’s 1968 capture by North Korea →
Political experts say there is much to be learned from the warship crisis 50 years ago that brought the Korean peninsula to the brink of a second war.
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Thanks to Jada Yuan, the New York Times' new World Traveler, for the shoutout in her interview about how she's preparing for her yearlong, 'round-the-world journey!
New York Times: A Few Questions for Our 52 Places Traveler →
I was just on a snowboarding trip with Jean and downloaded her brain for two hours (look out for that in a future article). - Jada Yuan, the New York Times' world travelerRead More
Business Insider: Go inside the North Korean ski field where South Korea will join the North for Winter Olympics training →
Go inside the North Korean ski field where South Korea will join the North for Winter Olympics training. With photography by Jean H. Lee for Getty Images.
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NBC News: How Kim Jong Un bested Donald Trump in the slugfest that was 2017 →
One of 2017's defining geopolitical slugfests was between heavyweight personalities President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
It was an international standoff that descended into personal name-calling, with Trump labeling Kim "little rocket man" and the U.S. president being described as an "old lunatic" and a "dotard" in return.
If the past year were one round in a boxing match, most analysts say there's only one winner.
Read MoreGlobal News: How North Korea is using TV sitcoms as state propaganda →
This is the new face of propaganda in North Korea, says Jean Lee, a global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. It’s softer and more subtle than the nightly news broadcasts, and more entertaining too, she said. “[North Koreans] are much more inclined to pay attention because they’re enjoying it.”
Read MoreCNBC: How Kim Jong Un is using TV dramas to change North Korea →
In new research, Jean H. Lee described how Kim Jong Un's administration is creating made-for-TV dramas concentrated on youth and technology to appeal to the next generation of North Koreans.
Read More'Wild card' Trump heads into North Korea's line of sight →
In the South Korean capital Seoul, Trump will find people who have lived with that reality for decades.
"It's crucial for Trump to show that he's willing to defend and protect South Korea because there's a lot of questions and concerns on the part of South Koreans about his commitment to that alliance, and that has fed fears here in South Korea that they may be abandoned," said Jean Lee, a global fellow at the Wilson Center and former Pyongyang bureau chief for The Associated Press.
Read MoreAl Jazeera: US, South Korea laud new UN sanctions on Pyongyang →
Jean Lee, a fellow at the Wilson Centre, said it was "not the right time" for Tillerson to engage with his North Korean counterpart.
"The US and its allies will be looking for some proof and concrete steps taken by the North Korean side to show that they are willing to discuss a freeze or step back from the nuclear provocations, before they even begin discussing engagement," she told Al Jazeera from Seoul, South Korea's capital.
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