July 2026 • Jean will be moderating a conversation with the journalist and author Sara Kehaulani Goo on journalism, cultural identity, storytelling, and new paths for connection and community impact. East-West Center, July 9, at 6 pm.
June 2026 • Jean moderated a private discussion on North Korea’s relationships with Russia and Iran with the National Committee on North Korea in Washington, DC.
May 2026 • Jean moderated a private roundtable discussion with GEN Xavier T. Brunson, commander of the United Nations Command, at the East-West Center.
May 2026 • Jean hosted LTGEN Scott Winter, deputy commander of the United Nations Command, at the East- West Center for a private discussion.
December 2025 • Jean moderated a private roundtable discussion with US Amb. Joseph Yun (ret.) and Amb. Cho Yun-je (ret.) of the Republic of Korea, held at the East-West Center in honor of the ROK-US Alliance.
Oct. 24, 2025 • Posthoc Salons, New York City • Jean Lee joined Susan Mactavish Best for a lively Posthoc Salons discussion about North Korea.
Oct. 23, 2025 • Asia Society Policy Institute • In the lead up to President Donald Trump’s trip to #Asia, the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York hosted a private roundtable discussion on #NorthKorea policy and prospects for #diplomacy, featuring Danny Russel of Asia Society Policy Institute and Jean Lee of the East-West Center, in conversation with Rorry Daniels and other notable policy experts and Track II practitioners.
Oct. 22, 2025 • Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Rethinking America's North Korea Strategy: As President Donald Trump prepares for his upcoming trip to South Korea to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may be on the agenda. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung first suggested the meeting during his recent trip to Washington. Trump and Kim seem open to the possibility, with one major caveat: Kim has stated publicly that discussions of denuclearization are off the table. Whether or not that meeting occurs, North Korea’s growing nuclear arsenal and deepening relationships with Russia and China are a persistent challenge for Washington. How should the second Trump administration alter, or maintain, its approach to North Korea? Is Washington reading Kim and the internal politics of Pyongyang correctly? And what role should China and South Korea play in U.S. strategy? Aaron David Miller spoke with Jean H. Lee, the presidential chair of the East-West Center, and Joel S. Wit, a distinguished fellow in Asian and Security Studies at the Stimson Center, on these and other issues.
Jean moderates a conversation with the author and journalist Sara Kehaulani Goo on journalism, cultural identity, storytelling, and new paths for connection and community impact.
Jean moderated a private roundtable discussion with Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, Commander of the United Nations Command (UNC), Combined Forces Command, and US Forces Korea, at the East-West Center in May 2026.
Jean was honored to moderate a discussion with two seasoned diplomats — US Amb. Joseph Yun and ROK Amb. Cho Yoon-je — for an in-depth discussion in December 2025 about the evolving US- ROK alliance.
Jean hosted a discussion with GEN Xavier T. Brunson, commander of the UN Command, Combined Forces Command and US Forces Korea, at the EWC.
Such an honor to moderate a private discussion with Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te during his stopover in Honolulu in December 2024.
Jean served as emcee at the 2024 Women of Impact event at the East-West Center to honor President Hilda C. Heine of the Marshall Islands, and moderated a panel discussion on women’s leadership with Dr. Yanghee Lee, Mona Pasquil Rogers and Kristen Udui.
Journalists with firsthand experience in authoritarian countries shed 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.
Generative AI is everywhere in the news today, but where will it be tomorrow? Jean Lee speaks to Charlie Beckett and Art Min about how artificial intelligence will shape the coming years, from elections to academia to mass media, and everything in between.
Jean Lee shares her perspective on how to read and understand North Korea today in a talk at the East-West Center in Honolulu.
Jean Lee testifies before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs about North Korea’s suspected illicit financing campaign using cyber theft.
Jean Lee joins cybersecurity expert Michael Barnhart and Korea Society policy director Jonathan Corrado for a discussion about the North Korean cyber threat.
Jean Lee joins co-host Geoff White and musician Dessa — along with special guests — for a live recording of the Lazarus Heist podcast in New York City.
For this month, we invited Jean Lee, Public Policy Fellow at the Wilson Center, to discuss North Korea’s cyber-attacks and how they finance Pyongyang’s missile developments despite the international sanctions against the regime.
Jean Lee speaks with senior director Stephen Noerper on ROK-DPRK relations. They address impasse and opportunity between North Korea and South Korea and offer recommendations for US and other policy makers on peninsular realities and possibilities.
Jean Lee welcomes Cho Myoung-Gyon, Minister of Unification for South Korea, to Washington, DC, to share his thoughts on inter-Korean unity and prospects for peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Is the perfect storm brewing on the Korean Peninsula? Jean Lee joins geopolitical experts at the Milken Institute Global Conference to discuss security in East Asia and potential avenues for conflict resolution.
In a high-stakes diplomatic gamble, President Trump has accepted an invitation to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un – and the dramatic development raises crucial questions:
Could this summit lead to meaningful constraints on North Korea’s nuclear program? What are the attitudes of China and South Korea toward bilateral U.S.-North Korean diplomacy? What preparatory work must be done to ensure a successful summit? And what would be the criteria for success?
In this Ground Truth Briefing, three veteran observers of U.S.-Asia policy and North Korea addressed these issues.
Romance, humor, tension — everyone loves a good sitcom, even North Koreans. But in North Korea, TV dramas are more than mere entertainment. They play a crucial political role by serving as a key messenger of the party and government policy.
Photo credit: Christopher Patrick Ernst @christopher_patrick_ernst
So grateful to Susan MacTavish Best @mactavishbest for inviting me to her SoHo loft for a @posthocsalons discussion on North Korea in October 2025. I’m buoyed by the interest in North Korea — and to have the opportunity to take this topic outside the Beltway to New York City! Fabulous night of delicious food and conversation.
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.