Jake Kwon is a senior journalist at the BBC based in Seoul, South Korea. He was previously a producer for CNN covering politics and culture of the Korean Peninsula. Since 2016, he has covered Kim Jong Un’s missile programme, the sudden fall of South Korean leaders, and the rise of South Korea’s soft power in the world.
Kwon was born in Seoul and moved to Canada after the Asian financial crisis of 1997. He studied musical theatre in New York City before moving back to Seoul to open a backpacker’s hostel. He believes his life was largely shaped by South Korean social trends.