2019 Summer Internship
Chanho Lim, Political Science and International Relations at Korea University

•Motivation and Goals

The East Asia Institute is an independent think tank on politics and diplomacy, and is conducting active research in international politics, comparative politics, and other areas of political diplomacy. They are publishing various comments and holding events such as a city forum. I was inspired by my interest in international politics in the class, and I have since studied international politics by taking international political subjects such as , , and . While attending school, I wondered how experts in politics and diplomacy actually use their knowledge of politics and diplomacy, including international politics. I participated in the 2019 Summer Seasonal Internship Program, the East Asia Institute, for the purpose of exploring how political and diplomatic knowledge is utilized and experiencing social life.

•Internship

① I was in charge of creating a time line on the recent issue of Korea-Japan export regulations. I helped research associate Kim Se-young gather articles from major media companies (Joseon, Joongang, Kyunghyang and Hankyoreh) by date, and I arranged the positions of Japan, Korea, and major journals. When I was first assigned to work, my former intern sorted out the volume by early August and take on other tasks, so I try to catch up with the backlog. I worked quickly and intensively to catch up on all the dates in a few days, and then Ms. Kim held a Korea-Japan export control timeline meeting with me and Joel. He has decided to run an English article, I have decided to run a Korean article, and I looked for a factual article in the JoongAng Ilbo for a Korean article, while compiling an article with more diverse perspectives from other media outlets. During my internship, I collected and organized articles on Korean literature.

② I supported The Korea Foundation(KF) Korea WorkShop 2 and a discussion forum "Korea-Japan Relations, Where Are We Headed?" In addition to the basic event support, I was also responsible for the summary of lectures. I took Professor Son Yeol's "Korea's Diplomacy 2019" lecture and summed it up.

③ I promoted Korea Foundation (KF) Korea WorkShop 2 and a discussion forum "Korea-Japan Relations, Where Are We Headed?" (telephone to the school administration office, post promotional messages to the school community, etc.). Related to the discussion forum, I organized major university PR lists into Excel files and created basic school promotional materials.

④ I edit comments posted on the website of the East Asia Institute.

⑤ I attended an internship seminar and took a special lecture on Korea-Japan relations and an Excel special lecture, etc.

⑥ I did organizing other paperwork, etc.

•Differences before and after Internship

① Applying Knowledges to Practice

Before the practice, I did not know how my major knowledge I had learned at school was applied. The learning process was fun, but I still wondered how the knowledge I learned in class was used. As an intern at the East Asia Institute, I was able to understand the usage of my major knowledge. When writing comments on North Korean issues and other topics of political diplomacy, I could see that international politics and other knowledge of my majors are applied in a very important way. My major knowledge was helpful when arranging Korea and Japan’s domestic political situations and positions of major countries, such as the United States, in producing a Korea-Japan export control timeline. I think the experience of checking the application of the major knowledge in the institute will be of great help in the future when continuing to study.

② First Work Experience

I spent most of my time in school and had little experience in social life. I had no experience as an intern in Korea. My experience as an intern at the East Asia Institute was the moment when I took my first step in society. I owe a lot to researchers who are always caring and welcoming to interns. I was also encouraged to look at my great intern colleagues from the side. Internship experience was a time to acquire the knowledge and experience necessary for my future career.