Park Jin-hai primarily focuses on K-dramas, entertainment shows and actor interviews. Beyond that, she also pens articles covering the broader arts scene, with a particular emphasis on classical music, dance and various aspects of lifestyle. Since joining The Korea Times in 2013, she has made significant contributions in the realms of hallyu (Korean wave), industry news and international affairs.
Working with Jasmine
Boris Ondo, left, from Gabon, and Evan Trotzuk, from the United States, are working as interns for Rep. Jasmine Lee. / Korea Times
By Park Jin-hai
By Park Jin-hai
Rep. Jasmine Lee
Rep. Jasmine Lee of the ruling Saenuri Party is the first lawmaker among naturalized immigrants.
Lee has now hired two foreign interns.
Evan Trotzuk, 16, is an American high school student from Manhattan, New York. Boris Ondo, 24, is a Gabonese graduate student at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies.
They come in addition to a naturalized Mongolian secretary.
Ondo, who is on a Korean government's five-year scholarship, studies political science and diplomacy. He has been on an internship from June 27 and will stay through Aug. 30.
Ondo and Trotzuk help out researching on other countries' immigration and domestic violence-related laws through research and policy papers and news reports on the Web.
“For interracial marriages, the paper works and mandatory educational programs each government requires are different. For instance, some governments ask for fees for interracial marriages, while others don’t. I summarize them and translate them into Korean, so that they could later be used for submitting a bill,” Ondo said.
For Trotzuk, this is his third visit to Korea. On his second visit last year, he spent about a week working at Rep. Lee's office, searching American newspapers for news about Lee. "Once I saw her work on multiculturalism, it really whetted my interest," he said.
"There was a point where Korea was just kind of nothing to me, but now it is a really important part of my life," he said.
He studied Korean for a year before he came back here this time for a two-week internship from July 1. He said he was worried at first that it might be awkward for him, because he doesn't speak Korean.
"They might just tell me to sit there and I won't be doing anything. But once I got here, I started working right away and everybody made an effort to talk to me. I was in good spirits by the end of ‘Day One,’" he said.
He has studied for the past three or four days the United Kingdom’s policy on domestic abuse, checking if it is followed up on.
As for their internship, Park Hyun-young, secretary of Rep. Lee, said that the office has become livelier thanks to the two.
When asked about the future careers, Boris said that he plans to go back to his country, because he thinks that his country should benefit from the training and education he receives here.
“Since I was young, I've been noticing injustices. My question was always that why is it that some people are pretty well-off while others suffer,” he said.
“If I can make any difference in terms of law or policy, so that people can find their fair share, we can actually reduce all these inequalities. That would be good not only for my family, but for my community and also for my country.”