A scholar on international relations, human rights and the North Korean diaspora in South Korea, Dr. Son leads the organization’s research reports and is project manager on the Global project, providing resources and training for human rights documentation groups globally. She interacts with our advisors and directors and researchers to analyse findings deliver presentations in various settings, and manage productive interaction with the academic world. She is also a Research Professor at Korea University Human Rights Center, having earned her Ph.D. in international relations and politics with a focus on the Korean Peninsula at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, as well as her M.A. in international studies and diplomacy. Her research interests and recent publications include coverage of inter-Korean relations, human rights, North Korean refugees, nationalism, identity, reconciliation and transitional justice in the East Asian context.

The initiator of the Transitional Justice Working Group (TJWG), Lee designs projects and oversees the operation of the organization. Prior to establishing the organization in 2014, Lee served as public and media relations specialist at Presidential Council for Future and Vision (PCFV) of South Korea from 2011 to 2013. Lee has over fifteen years first-hand research and advocacy experience on North Korean human rights issues, and has been engaged in training human rights activists in South Korea. Formerly, he worked for Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (NKHR) from 1999 to 2011. He currently advises NKHR and the South Korean Government’s Center for North Korean Human Rights Records. Lee received his M.A. in Political Science and B.A. in English Language and Literature from Sogang University in Seoul.