Diversity of Experiences

Christian Yoon, JD, Senior Foreign Service Officer for U.S. Department of State, evaluated me like this "In the past eight months, the U.S. Embassy in Seoul hosted President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, and several Presidential Delegations to the winter Olympics. During these visits, Henry assisted in coordinating transportation for the official movements as well as for the Hundreds of support personnel in security, communications, and operations. In assigning and dispatching vehicles for transportation requirements that were mission-critical yet often changing at the last minute, Henry demonstrated keen analytical skills and ability to efficiently allocate limited resources. 

Henry is also adept at absorbing complex and technical information. He was tasked with researching voluminous historical records to determine the terms of the agreement between the U.S. and Korean governments regarding the eventual return of the property currently occupied by the U.S. government agencies in Korea. Henry sorted through thousands of pages of documents and identified information relevant to moving forward projects to relocate the U.S. military bas and build a new U.S. Embassy compound.

Henry is an excellent communicator and is skillful at cultivating and maintaining important contacts. He not only writes concisely and speaks persuasively, but listens carefully and readily understands the issues at hand. Whether he is inspecting potential lease properties with landlords, delivering diplomatic notes to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, or conveying holiday gratuities to the important contacts in the Korean government of behalf of the Embassy, Henry displayed tact and professionalism appropriate for the highest levels of business, government, and diplomacy."

Reflections:
During my undergraduate years, I had great experiences of interning at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, where I worked closely with diplomats and gained firsthand experience in diplomatic protocols and procedures. My responsibilities included conducting financial accounting, assisting in the organization of high-level meetings and events, and drafting reports and memos for senior officials. This experience provided me with a unique perspective on international relations and the intricacies of diplomacy, and further fueled my passion for public policy and global affairs.

Yoo, eun Hae, Former Deputy Prime Minister for social affairs, Education Minister, and National Assembly Member in the Republic of Korea, evaluated me like this "one of his duties is making drafts of city ordinance on behalf of members of Goyang city council. His first draft was designed to enhance teenager's rights. After I approved it, he had to stay up several nights for research to complete the project. His concern and consideration towards them could help adolescents and solve the problems they face. Hwan Bin is very warm-hearted yet well-disciplined, mature individual. I see a brilliant young professional in him who is ready to serve others. Having taken great interest in serving the community with his passion, he will be a competent yet sociable colleague of the students in academic community."

Reflections: 

I have also been actively involved in political activities related to the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea. I have participated in policy discussions and debates, (such as unequal opportunity of education, air pollution, gender equality, disadvantaged multicultural families),  conducted research on key policy issues, and provided input on Youth policy recommendations, under the first female Education Minister. Through my political experience, I have gained a deep understanding of the policymaking process and the role of public policy in addressing social, economic challenges and global environment issues. 

Nobuho Nagaswawa, Professor, MFA Graduate Program Director, evaluated me like this "Henry enrolled in my sculpture class. He worked with clay and plaster with fluid forms but he has quickly expanded his skills in more complex sculptural projects. By mid-semester, his interest in material investigation resulted in conceptual growth, mastering the various skills not only in sculpture fabrication, but also in 3-D rendering design skills. This has resulted in a mature, developed sculptural language that has continued to grow during the semester. The final assignment of the sculpture class was a public art project, in which Henry has developed a proposal that was strong conceptually and visually compelling. He used his rendering skills, and presented a project that was fully executable if he were given a real public art commission. Due to this final assignment, I encourage him to go into a creative field, such as architecture and design. By the end of the semester, I have also offered him to do an independent study. During the independent study, we developed a conceptual proposal for a public art project for a transit station in Baltimore. Henry created a series of strong visual renderings based on the concept I developed and contributed greatly though his expertise in 3-D rendering."

Reflections:

Before entering College, I worked at an architectural design company, and it was during that time that I developed a strong interest in public design. Although it may seem unrelated to my current major in economics, it is another important area of interest for me. This experience unexpectedly proved to be valuable later when I interned at the U.S. Embassy, as it helped me understand the cultural heritage-related provisions in the agreement between the Republic of Korea and the United States, and facilitated communication between government agencies for precise investigation and protection of cultural heritage within U.S. military bases.