Jaehoon Ahn (; May 13, 1941 – June 1, 2011) was a North Korean-born American journalist and researcher. Ahn worked as a researcher for '' The Washington Post'' for more than twenty-five years, until 1996. He was also the founding director of '' Radio Free Asia's'' Korean language service in 1997 and a board member of

U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea The Committee for Human Rights in North Korea (HRNK), formerly known as the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea, is a Washington, D.C.-based non-governmental research organization that "seeks to raise awareness about conditions in Nort ...

Biography

Ahn was born on May 13, 1941, in Pyongyang,

Heian'nan-dō was one of the administrative divisions of Korea under Japanese rule, with its capital at Pyongyang, Heijō. The province consisted of modern-day South Pyongan, North Korea. Population Number of people by nationality according to the 1936 cen ...

( South Pyongan Province),

Korea, Empire of Japan Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...

, present-day North Korea. He fled with his family from their home in Pyongyang, where his family had lived for generations, to South Korea during the night when he was five years old to escape Communism. In 1960, he obtained a bachelor's degree from

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a national public research university located in Seoul, South Korea. Founded in 1946, Seoul National University is largely considered the most prestigious university in South Korea; it is one of the three "S ...

. Ahn took a position as a

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

for '' JoongAng Ilbo'', where he covered the Six-Day War as a foreign correspondent for the newspaper. He moved to the United States during the late 1960s and settled in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. He joined the staff of '' The Washington Post'' in 1969 as an assistant librarian for the newspaper's research department. Ahn retired from the research department of '' The Washington Post'' in 1996. He worked for a Seoul-headquartered daily newspaper, where he helped to create the newspaper's style section and reorganize the structure of the newsroom. In 1997, Ahn was hired as the founding director of '' Radio Free Asia's'' fledgling Korean language service. Ahn helped to build the service from the beginning. He launched the RFA's Korea language service's first half hour of programming and hired the service's first five staff members and journalists. Ahn expanded the half-hour format to a longer show and managed to report directly from North Korea during his tenure as director. He retired from Radio Free Asia in 2007. In addition, Ahn served as a board member for the

. Ahn moved to Sandbridge Beach in southern Virginia Beach upon his retirement. Jaehoon Ahn died from complications from a bleeding ulcer at a hospital in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on June 1, 2011, at the age of 70. He was survived by his wife, Soonhoon Lee Ahn, whom he had been married to for 42 years; two daughters, Soomie Lee Ahn and Yoomie Lee Ahn; four sisters; one brother; and three grandchildren. His father died in June 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahn, Jaehoon 1941 births 2011 deaths The Washington Post journalists American newspaper journalists American radio journalists Seoul National University alumni North Korean emigrants to the United States South Korean emigrants to the United States People from Virginia Beach, Virginia People from Pyongyang Journalists from Virginia