RECENT Events

Jean served as emcee of the 3rd Annual Women of Impact event held by the East-West Center, where the EWC’s Board of Governors honored President Hilda C. Heine of the Marshall Islands with this year’s Women of Impact Award to celebrate the remarkable achievements of women leaders. Jean also moderated a discussion exploring the role of women in innovation and their impact on addressing critical challenges with Dr. Yanghee Lee, Professor Emeritus, Sungkyunkwan University, Department of Child Psychology and Education; Mona Pasquil Rogers, Director of California Government Engagement, Meta, and Kristen Udui, Graduate Degree Fellow, East-West Center. View photos from the event on Flickr.

On Oct. 15, 2024, Jean spoke at the Asia New Zealand Foundation Te Whītau Tūhono’s Asia Summit at New Zealand’s Parliament in Welllington, joining leading experts on Asia from New Zealand and offshore to discuss the big trends shaping the region for an event marking the Foundation’s 30th anniversary.

Reporters at risk: Supporting truth tellers in an age of rising authoritarianism

Atlantic Council • Sept. 24, 2024

Press freedom and security are under assault amid authoritarian crackdowns on free speech and dissent. From Beijing to Moscow, and Pyongyang to Tehran, journalists are risking their lives to deliver the news and report the truth amid government censorship, harassment, and persecution.

Following the August 1 prisoner swap that freed Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva from Russian imprisonment, journalists with firsthand experience in authoritarian countries hed light on the challenges that journalists face reporting on closed societies, discuss ways to help reporters overcome these challenges, and explore how this vital work relates to the broader global struggle between democracy and autocracy.

Opening remarks: Jenna Ben-Yehuda, Executive Vice President, Atlantic Council
Jean Lee, Co-host, The Lazarus Heist, BBC World Service; Former Pyongyang Bureau Chief, Associated Press (Virtual)
Jason Rezaian, Writer, Global Opinions; Former Tehran Bureau Chief, the Washington Post
Edward Wong, Diplomatic Correspondent; Former Beijing Bureau Chief, the New York Times
Mikhail Zygar, Founding Editor in Chief, Dozhd (TV Rain); Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council
Moderator: Jane Ferguson, Author and Correspondent, PBS  NewsHour

Click here to watch the full panel, held on the sidelinesof the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

Oct 10, 2017

Brookings Institution: The path forward: Who is Kim Jong Un?

Leading U.S. experts and former officials to identify actionable policy steps the White House and Congress should take to address the growing threat from North Korea.

Aug 25, 2017

C-SPAN: The Rise and Rule of North Korea's Kim Dynasty

The Sidebar with Steve Scully: As tensions with North Korea rise, this week we examine the history of that country's ruling Kim family. We spoke to Jean H Lee, author of "Kings of Communism: Inside Kim Jong Un's Bloody Scramble to Kill of His Family" in the September edition of Esquire Magazine.

Jun 7, 2017

Chicago Council: NORTH KOREA ON THE BRINK?

What steps should the United States and South Korea take to maintain peace and stability in Northeast Asia?

Dec 6, 2016

Wilson Center: Beyond Caricatures: Writing About the Real North Korea

Award-winning foreign correspondents, researchers and writers on the challenges of writing about North Korea today, from getting on the ground to turning to defectors for information about daily life inside the Hermit Kingdom.

Jul 29, 2016

Aspen Security Forum: Peril on the 38th Parallel

Can Kim Jong Un be stopped before he turns the peninsula, and the region, into a nuclear wasteland? Jean Lee speaks at the Aspen Security Forum.

May 14, 2015

Korea Society: Opening Pyongyang

Jean Lee discusses the challenges of reporting on a country considered among the world's worst for press freedom, the role her Korean-American ethnicity played in her interactions with the North Koreans, and her observations on reunification after working as a journalist on both sides of the DMZ.

Mar 9, 2013

SXSW: Tweets from the DMZ: Social Media in North Korea

Social media has transformed culture, communication, creativity and journalism in every nation on Earth — other than North Korea, of course. Wait — not so fast. What do we really know about social media’s role in the mysterious nation — or what role it could play in the future, in the open or underground? Get some insight and answers to your questions as Associated Press Social Media Editor Eric Carvin leads a conversation with AP Korea bureau chief Jean H. Lee, a social media-savvy journalist with firsthand expertise on the reclusive regime north of the 38th parallel.

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Reporters at risk: Supporting truth tellers in an age of rising authoritarianism

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