Advocacy Fellows

The Advocacy Fellows Program cultivates and develops young North Korean defectors into advocates, storytellers, and agents of change on this issue

The North Korean regime has dominated the narrative both inside and outside of the country, even attempting to suppress North Korean defectors who are living in South Korea and the United States. So when a North Korean person makes the brave decision to share their story with the world, it's one of the most radical and impactful ways to change the narrative and bring the attention back to the people.

What Advocacy Fellows Do

media publicity

Working with our Media team, Advocacy Fellows help produce video content that shares their story and perspectives.

advocacy

Advocacy Fellows meet with decision makers to shift their focus to where it belongs – on the North Korean people.

storytelling

Advocacy Fellows share their personal stories through speaking events, interviews, and more.

Advocacy Fellows

20
26

2026

Eunsook Jang

Eunsook graduated from Korea University with a degree in political science and went on to earn a master's degree in international development from Brandeis University. A Fulbright Scholar and North Korean defector, she currently serves as a research intern at a leading think tank in Washington, D.C., where she focuses on human rights in Asia, North Korean and Asia-Pacific policy development, and post-reunification planning for the Korean Peninsula. As an Advocacy Fellow, Eunsook hopes to bridge her lived experience with policy work and inspire greater engagement on this issue.

Sunghyuk An

Sunghyuk is a first-year PhD student in Political Science at Binghamton University, State University of New York. His research focuses on international security and alliance politics, particularly how weaker states in asymmetric alliances work to secure their survival in a competitive, often brutal international system. He holds two master's degrees in international relations, from the University of Chicago and Syracuse University, and is grateful to LiNK's scholarship for helping make that possible. Through the Advocacy Fellows Program, he hopes to raise awareness of North Korean human rights and share his perspective on how the international community can better support the North Korean people, who continue to suffer under a brutal regime.

Noel Kim

Noel was born in the northern part of North Korea and escaped in 2009, arriving in South Korea the following year. She studied Library and Information Science and Creative Writing at university. She first joined Liberty in North Korea as an Advocacy Fellow in 2018, and later came on as full-lime staff at the South Korea office. She now works as Program Manager on capacity building programs that empower young North Korean defectors in South Korea to become agents of change on this issue. Returning once again as an Advocacy Fellow, Noel hopes to gain a broader perspective on this work and learn from the fellows, staff, and stakeholders she'll be working alongside.