About Me and This Site

Hello, and welcome. I’m Jiwon Yoon.

I’m a Korean-born writer, former tenured professor of media studies, and longtime educator now based in the United States. I write about Korea for readers who want more than headlines: its society, democracy, culture, history, and everyday life, along with the stories and context that help make sense of it all.

My work brings together research, lived experience, and storytelling. Before turning fully to writing, I taught media and communication for more than two decades in higher education. My academic work focused on media and digital literacy, intercultural communication, and cultural competence, and those questions still shape how I see the world and how I write.

I was born and raised in South Korea, spent part of my adolescence in Thailand, and later moved to the United States for graduate school. Living across cultures has deeply shaped my perspective, not only as a scholar and writer, but also as a person. It has made me especially attentive to what gets lost in translation, what is flattened by stereotypes, and what stories can reveal that headlines often cannot.

Over the years, I have also worked closely with North Korean defectors through education and mentorship. That work led to my doctoral research on media literacy and cultural competence, and it continues to shape my writing today. I am currently collaborating with Kumhee, a North Korean defector who was once my student and later became a close friend, on her memoir.

These days, much of my current writing appears in my Substack, Understanding Korea, One Story at a Time, where I publish essays on Korean society, politics, history, culture, and family life for global readers.

Thank you for being here.