Ella Startt is a third-year student at King’s College London, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in War Studies and Philosophy. After visiting North Korea in 2019, her interests in the country’s human rights issues increased as a result of experiencing the numerous mechanisms used by the Kim regime to promote a utopian image of North Korea to foreigners and the consistent denial of human’s rights abuses. 

As an intern at HRNK, Ella aspires to conduct more research to further understand her experience in North Korea, as well as gain insight on the different workings contributing to the survival of the Kim regime. As she aims to possibly work in Conflict resolution and Peace building on the Korean Peninsula, she hopes that during her time at HRNK, she will be able to gain greater insight into the realities currently undermining Korean reunification, and learn more about the current paths being pursued in negotiations between the international community and North Korea on its Nuclear arms program.