Hark-Joon Lee

Born :

February 12, 1970

One colleague who's been in the industry longer than I had been gave me a valuable piece of advice. "Stay close to the facts and observe things fully and report. Then you can be a mediocre journalist." I held onto his words when I worked and I've been following that advice for 16 years.

pieces advice years

I agree strongly that no story is more valuable than someone's life.

agree valuable stories

I think I was able to endure risks not because I was ambitious about great stories but I was curious as a journalist.

ambitious risk thinking

People don't tend to lie about themselves when they're in imminent danger.

danger lying people

It is natural for us to pay attention to North Korea and human rights issues of North Korean defectors but I wish people would not try to create stars. The reality is different from Hollywood movies.

stars rights reality