Writing & Journalism

Words as Bridges

Translation, reporting, and research. Writing is where the fieldwork and the thinking meet.

Translation & Media

MediaWatchTV

Translation Intern · June 2024 – February 2025

Provided English translations of articles and videos to bring coverage of political corruption in Korea to the international stage. Organized interview scripts for The Postil Magazine and The Diplomat, and contributed to "Harvard Professor's Paper on the Comfort Women Issue Survives," published by MediaWatch.

MediaWatch's Battle for Truth and Democracy in Korea

A short documentary I produced with Minjung Lee on MediaWatch's fight to correct the record in Korean journalism: the JTBC tablet evidence controversy, the rise in defamation suits against reporters, and the protests surrounding the impeachment of President Yoon. It follows the story from the newsroom to the streets to the floor of the National Assembly. Stills from the film are below, or watch it in full.

Inside the MediaWatch newsroom, a still from the documentary, where the reporting at the center of the story is made.
Inside the MediaWatch newsroom, a still from the documentary, where the reporting at the center of the story is made.
With MediaWatchTV Chief Executive Editor Hwang Uiwon, whose investigative work I translated into English.
With MediaWatchTV Chief Executive Editor Hwang Uiwon, whose investigative work I translated into English.
Street protests during the impeachment crisis, a still from the film, where the fight over Korea's media spills into public view.
Street protests during the impeachment crisis, a still from the film, where the fight over Korea's media spills into public view.
The National Assembly speaker calls the impeachment vote, a still from the film's closing chapter.
The National Assembly speaker calls the impeachment vote, a still from the film's closing chapter.

MediaWatch, in English

As a translation intern, I translated investigative reporting and opinion columns from Korean into English, so coverage of the tablet-manipulation controversy and the wider fight over press freedom in Korea could reach an international readership. A selection of my published translations:

MediaWatch CEO Byun Hee-jae declares conditional political asylum in the United States outside the Korean Consulate in Los Angeles

MediaWatch CEO Byun Hee-jae declares conditional political asylum in the United States outside the Korean Consulate in Los Angeles

Yoon Suk-yeol's prosecution fails in its attempt to arrest Byun Hee-jae; JTBC tablet criminal trial halted

Yoon Suk-yeol's prosecution fails in its attempt to arrest Byun Hee-jae; JTBC tablet criminal trial halted

Hong Sung-joon, Lee Un-hak, and Park Ju-young must admit to distorting the NFS tablet findings and apologize

Hong Sung-joon, Lee Un-hak, and Park Ju-young must admit to distorting the NFS tablet findings and apologize

National Forensic Service response to the court: 'No evidence that Choi Soon-sil viewed the Dresden speech on the tablet'

National Forensic Service response to the court: 'No evidence that Choi Soon-sil viewed the Dresden speech on the tablet'

Cho Kuk goes to prison while covering up Yoon Suk-yeol's tablet manipulation

Cho Kuk goes to prison while covering up Yoon Suk-yeol's tablet manipulation

'Bribery charges are a peripheral element in Park Geun-hye's impeachment' — Kwon Seong-dong's lie

'Bribery charges are a peripheral element in Park Geun-hye's impeachment' — Kwon Seong-dong's lie

The fraudulent election scheme of Kang Yong-seok, Hwang Kyo-ahn, and others can be exposed in one public debate

The fraudulent election scheme of Kang Yong-seok, Hwang Kyo-ahn, and others can be exposed in one public debate

Song Young-gil requests that prosecutors of Yoon Suk-yeol's administration be adopted as witnesses during the impeachment review

Song Young-gil requests that prosecutors of Yoon Suk-yeol's administration be adopted as witnesses during the impeachment review

First trial for the forged-contract case tied to 'Choi Soon-sil's tablet'; court orders analysis of the official handwriting

First trial for the forged-contract case tied to 'Choi Soon-sil's tablet'; court orders analysis of the official handwriting

Byun Hee-jae submits his opinion statement to the court: 'If there is no forensic evidence, the story of JTBC obtaining the tablet is false'

Byun Hee-jae submits his opinion statement to the court: 'If there is no forensic evidence, the story of JTBC obtaining the tablet is false'

Subtitled & script translation

I also translated the script and English captions for MediaWatch's interview documentary on the investigation into the South Korean president's tablet manipulation.

“The investigation into a South Korean president's tablet manipulation” (Interview with Byun Hee-jae) — English script and captions translated by Alex Jong Ho Lee.

Journalism

LeadersTimes

Journalist · March 2021 – Present

Reporting on contemporary global issues in English for Korean audiences. Each assignment has taken me somewhere I wouldn't have gone otherwise, from the atomic bomb memorial in Hiroshima to the graves of forgotten soldiers in Busan.

Hiroshima: The Anniversary of the Atomic Bombing

Traveled to Hiroshima to document the 79th anniversary of the atomic bombing for Korean readers. Over several days I covered the Peace Memorial Ceremony, the survivor testimony sessions where hibakusha accounts are passed to a younger generation, and the small, little-known memorial to the American airmen who also died in the blast, a piece of the history that rarely makes it into either country's telling.

At the Atomic Bomb Dome, the ruin left standing near the hypocenter and now the heart of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
At the Atomic Bomb Dome, the ruin left standing near the hypocenter and now the heart of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
At the Peace Memorial Ceremony grounds on the morning of the anniversary, among the thousands who gather each year to remember the dead.
At the Peace Memorial Ceremony grounds on the morning of the anniversary, among the thousands who gather each year to remember the dead.
With a hibakusha legacy successor after a survivor testimony session at the Peace Memorial Museum, where survivors' accounts are handed on to a new generation.
With a hibakusha legacy successor after a survivor testimony session at the Peace Memorial Museum, where survivors' accounts are handed on to a new generation.
Leaving a note at the small memorial to the American airmen killed in the bombing, a story rarely told on either side of the Pacific.
Leaving a note at the small memorial to the American airmen killed in the bombing, a story rarely told on either side of the Pacific.

The Forgotten Soldiers of the Korean War

The UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan is the only cemetery of its kind in the world, the resting place of UN soldiers who died in the Korean War. I went to report on the annual memorial, interviewed Rear Admiral Neil Koprowski about the men history has largely forgotten, and designed and sold 'Freedom is Not Free' t-shirts to raise funds for the families of the fallen.

Interviewing Rear Admiral Neil Koprowski at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, the only UN cemetery in the world.
Interviewing Rear Admiral Neil Koprowski at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, the only UN cemetery in the world.
The 'Freedom Isn't Free' t-shirts we designed and sold to fund the flower-wreath donations at the UN Memorial Cemetery.
The 'Freedom Isn't Free' t-shirts we designed and sold to fund the flower-wreath donations at the UN Memorial Cemetery.
The annual memorial service for the UN soldiers who died fighting in the Korean War.
The annual memorial service for the UN soldiers who died fighting in the Korean War.
The flower wreath ceremony at the cemetery, honoring soldiers most people have forgotten.
The flower wreath ceremony at the cemetery, honoring soldiers most people have forgotten.

Research

Published Scholarship

Research

Predicting Whether Inflation Will Remain in the U.S. after the Covid-19 Pandemic

Journal of Student Research · Volume 11, Issue 2 · Published

Research

China's Greatest Weakness: Internal Conflicts with Ethnic Minorities

Oxford Journal of Student Scholarship · Volume 9, Issue 1 · Submitted for publication review