Kyung I. Lah ( ko, 나경, ; born August 27, 1971) is a South Korean-American journalist and correspondent for

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

based in the U.S.

Early life and education

Lah was born in

Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 o ...

, and grew up in

Streamwood, Illinois Streamwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 39,577. It is a northwest suburb of Chicago, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. Streamwood is one of the three communities that ...

, Lah graduated in 1989 from

Hoffman Estates High School Hoffman Estates High School (HEHS) is a public four-year high school located in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, a northwest suburb of Chicago, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 211, which also includes James B. Conant Hi ...

Hoffman Estates, Illinois Hoffman Estates is a village in Illinois, United States. The village is located primarily in Cook County, with a small section in Kane County. It is a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 52,530. The village now serves a ...

. She earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism from the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

in 1993. She was also a writer for the school's

Daily Illini ''The Daily Illini'', commonly known as the ''DI'', is a student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 1871. Weekday circulation during fall and spring semesters is 7,000; co ...

newspaper.

Career

Lah began her career in 1993 as a desk assistant and field producer at

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington Str ...

in Chicago. In 1994, she became an on-air reporter for

WWMT WWMT (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States, serving West Michigan as an affiliate of CBS and The CW. The station is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and maintains studios on West Maple Street in Kal ...

-TV in Kalamazoo, Michigan. In 1995, she joined KGTV-TV in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

as a reporter. In January 2000, she returned to WBBM-TV as an on-air reporter. In early 2003, Lah moved to Los Angeles to take a job at KNBC-TV in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, where she was a morning reporter and a midday anchor. ''

The Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

'' reported at the time that Lah had turned down a "half-hearted (contract) renewal offer" from WBBM-TV. Despite receiving high praise from management, Lah was allegedly fired from KNBC-TV in

in March 2005 for an alleged affair with her field producer Jeff Soto. They were both married at the time and Lah's husband also worked for NBC in the Los Angeles area. In late 2005, Lah joined

CNN Newsource CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the ...

as a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent. In November 2007, Lah became CNN's Tokyo-based correspondent. A Japanese interpreter always accompanied her. On June 27, 2012, Lah left her post in Japan for a position at the CNN bureau in Los Angeles.

Controversy

Lah has written extensively about Japanese subculture, specializing in men who have married animated characters. As a result, she has been criticized by the Japanese and international blogosphere for focusing on the irregular outliers of Japan and for allowing her racial bias to influence what she reports on, rather than the hard-hitting news that was expected from her as a reporter for an international broadcasting company.

Personal life

Lah has declared that she holds a very strong South Korean identity. In a 2006 interview with ''Dynamic-Korea'', she revealed that she "

hinks Hinks is an English surname. Notable people called Hinks include: * James Hinks (manufacturer) (c.1816–1905), oil lamp manufacturer in Birmingham, England * James Hinks (1829–1878), Irish–British dog breeder * Joseph Hinks (1840–1931), Br ...

about the larger question of being Korean every single moment."

References

External links

Kyung Lah
at

Cable News Network CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...