She's probably the most powerful woman in North Korea: Kim Yo Jong, the dictator’s younger sister. She’s viewed as an emotionless and shrewd strategist for her brother, the North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un. But just who is the "Red Princess"?
In his first trip outside of North Korea since the pandemic, Kim Jong Un met Vladimir Putin in Russia to discuss whether they each had something the other wants.
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Jean Lee about the upcoming meeting between Kim Jong Un and Putin — and what North Korea might get out of it.
Jean Lee and Mark Hertling join CNN Erin Burnett Out Front to discuss Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin.
Jean Lee joined Jim Acosta on CNN’s Situation Room to discuss reports that Kim Jong Un may meet with Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Jean speaks to the New York Times about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.
Jean speaks to the New York Times about Japan-South Korea relations.
Jean Lee shares how years of reporting from inside North Korea help her and her audiences better understand the nation.
Jean Lee joins Lewis Vaughan Jones on BBC’s The Context to discuss BBC reports about hunger and food shortages in North Korea.
Jean Lee talks about South Korean President Yoon’s visit to the U.S. and Biden administration policy toward Asia.
Jean joins the Lawfare podcast to discuss the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group, believed to have been responsible for several of the largest and most audacious incidents of hacking, ransomware and outright theft of the modern era.
Jean Lee joins BBC’s Outside Source to discuss North Korean hackers and the launch of Season 2 of The Lazarus Heist.
Jean Lee appears on BBC’s Global News Podcast to discuss North Korea and the. launch of Season 2 of The Lazarus Heist.
Jean Lee joins the BBC World Service to discuss North Korea’s launch of a suspected long-range ballistic missile just hours before the first Tokyo summit between the leaders of South Korea and Japan in 12 years.
“The statements and policy changes are part of a broader strategy to destabilize and create anxiety,” said Jean H. Lee, a fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu.
Others caution that the latest shift is likely part of a familiar playbook for North Korea. “Given the political landscape, North Korea is looking for new and novel ways to ramp up tensions,” said Jean H. Lee, a visiting fellow at the East-West Center, a Honolulu-based think tank. “Calling South Korea Enemy No. 1 is a tactic Kim Jong Un may hope will spark some anxiety in the region and unease among South Koreans.”
She's probably the most powerful woman in North Korea: Kim Yo Jong, the dictator’s younger sister. She’s viewed as an emotionless and shrewd strategist for her brother, the North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un. But just who is the "Red Princess"?
In his first trip outside of North Korea since the pandemic, Kim Jong Un met Vladimir Putin in Russia to discuss whether they each had something the other wants.
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Jean Lee about the upcoming meeting between Kim Jong Un and Putin — and what North Korea might get out of it.
NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Jean Lee about the upcoming meeting between Kim Jong Un and Putin.
Jean Lee and Mark Hertling join CNN Erin Burnett Out Front to discuss Kim Jong Un’s trip to Russia to meet Vladimir Putin.
Jean Lee joined Jim Acosta on CNN’s Situation Room to discuss reports that Kim Jong Un may meet with Vladimir Putin in Russia.
Jean speaks to the New York Times about the growing alliance between Russia and North Korea.
Jean Lee shares how years of reporting from inside North Korea help her and her audiences better understand the nation.
Jean Lee speaks to The Current about the U.S. government's attempts to reach an American soldier in North Korea.
Jean speaks to CBC Radio about a U.S. soldier who bolted across the heavily-fortified North Korean border .
This week on CyberWire’s Hacking Humans podcast, our guests are Jean Lee and Geoff White from BBC and the Lazarus Heist talking about what is coming up in Season 2 of their show and how the Lazarus Group is evolving.
Jean Lee joins Lewis Vaughan Jones on BBC’s The Context to discuss BBC reports about hunger and food shortages in North Korea.
Jean Lee talks about South Korean President Yoon’s visit to the U.S. and Biden administration policy toward Asia.
Jean joins the Lawfare podcast to discuss the North Korea-backed Lazarus Group, believed to have been responsible for several of the largest and most audacious incidents of hacking, ransomware and outright theft of the modern era.
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.
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Leading experts on North Korea discuss the challenges surrounding North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities. What does North Korea want, and what leverage does the U.S. have? How close to nuclear war are we?
Read MoreIt's hard to know what exactly is going on in North Korea, but it is possible to get glimpses. Seasoned North Korea observer Jean Lee has looked at the evolution of television soap operas in the era of Kim Jong-Un. What gave her the idea?
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North Korean state media is often known for its bombast and fiery rhetoric. But spend some time watching North Korea’s televised dramas and soap operas, and you may be surprised to see that the country acknowledges some of its weaknesses, too.
Read MoreA group of women gossiping about the new neighbor. A feisty middle schooler using a homemade drone to prank his classmates. A young military officer seeking information from his past. These themes could be from any American TV show. But they are, in fact, storylines from a new wave of soap operas produced by the North Korean state.
Former AP journalist Jean Lee, now a Global Fellow at The Wilson Center, analyzed four of these North Korean soaps for a new research paper commissioned by KEI. In this episode of Korean Kontext, she discusses some of her observations, including a shift from emphasizing military service to emphasizing family ties and a focus on youth and the next generation of North Koreans - themes which may indicate some of Kim Jong-un's main domestic priorities
Read MoreThis 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 MoreThe Korea Economic Institute of America published today a new analysis by Jean Lee, a journalist and veteran North Korea watcher who opened the AP’s Pyongyang bureau, focused on how North Korean soap operas can shed light on Kim Jong Un’s policy priorities. For her study, Lee analyzed four North Korean TV dramas that aired from 2013 to 2016. She used the dramas to tease out details of what these dramas can tell us about North Korean thinking, and what the regime wants the general populace to focus on in their daily lives. Things like clothing choices, apartment decorations, and career choices that are seen in the dramas shed light on how Kim Jong Un sets domestic priorities in North Korea.
Read MoreIn 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.
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Jean H. Lee is a journalist and former Pyongyang Bureau Chief for the Associated Press. Both her parents were born in South Korea and immigrated as students to the United States in the 1960s. Before moderating a Zócalo/UCLA panel discussion titled “Is War With North Korea Inevitable?” at the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy in downtown Los Angeles, she spoke in the green room about supermarket shopping in Pyongyang and whether North Koreans have horns.
Read MoreIn 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 MoreAll eyes will be on President Trump as he heads to Asia next week, with seething tensions over North Korea topping his diplomatic agenda. Global Fellow Jean H. Lee says that while Pyongyang’s neighbors are accustomed to anxiety about the nuclear threat, the temperature – and the stakes – are only continuing to rise: “It’s not the first time that we’ve had this fever. That said, we need this fever to subside.” Differences between the U.S. president and his South Korean counterpart, the Kim regime’s strategy, and China’s current calculations are also discussed in the latest edition of Wilson Center NOW.
Read MoreJean H. Lee, a former Pyongyang bureau chief for The Associated Press, said on Twitter that she had visited the offices of KCNA, the North Korean state news service, and found the agency using very old Korean-English dictionaries for their translations.
Read MoreAfter North Korea's latest nuclear test over the weekend, the largest yet, Jean Lee, global fellow, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, and former Associated Press Pyongyang Bureau Chief, talks about President Trump's bellicose response, how that affects the U.S. relationship to longtime ally South Korea, and what else to expect from the North. However, Trump's response and the Trump administration response are different. "The mixed messages are going to help North Korea," explains Lee, who is stationed in Seoul, South Korea currently. And she says that "as a proud American," she is worried, "that [Trump] will lead us into a military conflict that will destroy this region."
Read MoreWhere in the world is Kim Han Sol? Jean Lee @newsjean Wilson Center speaks to @gordongchang on the John Batchelor Show about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's half-brother that has sent the slain man's son into hiding.
Read MoreSouth Korea conducted more military drills Tuesday, the latest to deter North Korea after its nuclear test on Sunday. But there are growing concerns about U.S.-South Korea relations, as President Trump pushes South Korea to get tougher, threatening a trade deal and potentially driving a wedge between the two allies. William Brangham reports on the tensions rising with the Korean peninsula.
Read More"This is not the time for these two countries to be showing these cracks. North Korea is going to exploit that," said Jean Lee, a North Korea expert and global fellow at the Wilson Center.
A day after North Korea fired a missile over Japan, Kim Jong-un hints at further action describing the launch as "a meaningful prelude to containing Guam". We try to assess the North's strategic thinking.
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“North Korea goes out of its way to make it hard for foreigners and locals to cross paths,” said Jean H. Lee, a global fellow at the Wilson Center who opened the Associated Press’s Pyongyang bureau in 2012 and frequently reported from inside the country. “That said, there are moments when tours do intersect with ordinary North Koreans. Though very brief, those interactions are valuable.”
North Korea fired a missile early on Tuesday that flew over northern Japan before crashing into the sea off the coast of Hokkaido. Jean Lee is the former bureau chief for the Associated Press in North Korea.
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The FT’s review of The Lazarus Heist, the Peabody-nominated BBC World Service podcast.