My name is Christopher Welsh and before starting my internship at the East Asia Institute, I had just completed my coursework at Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies, majoring in Global Affairs and Policy. My coursework was related to security and foreign policy, specifically focusing on East Asian security issues. I was lucky enough to be accepted to the Winter 2023 internship at the East Asia Institute. For two months I had the privilege to work with EAI staff, as well as a group of talented and hard-working interns on EAI projects.

Throughout my time at EAI, I worked with Dr. Kim on EAI’s “Global NK Zoom & Connect” project, an English-based website that archives articles related to North Korea from around the world, as well as publishes its own articles on North Korea-related issues. This opportunity to work in North Korean affairs greatly excited me because it perfectly matched my previous coursework and academic interest. During my time working on GlobalNK Zoom & Connect, I contributed to published articles by fact-checking articles, editing publications, and sourcing articles directly from DPRK’s official media outlets. I also had the privilege to work on other programs such as EAI’s “Anti-Corruption Summit” and “EAI Academy”. This “hands-on” experience that EAI has enabled me to gain has deepened my own knowledge of affairs in East Asia while also gaining practical experience in the very things that I had studied for years.

Outside of academic work that I performed for EAI, the Winter 2023 intern team also managed EAI’s unofficial Instagram account, performed general office tasks, and allowed me to network and connect with not only established academics in my field but also young aspiring professionals such as my fellow interns as well as those that attended EAI’s Academy. Although at times the workload seemed like a lot, the experience I gained through this internship was well worth it. The EAI internship represents my first step towards a career in policy and international relations and I deeply believe that this experience, although short, provided valuable experience in the actual day-to-day operations of a think tank.