Jaehoon Ahn, a member of the HRNK Board of Directors, passed away in June 2011.

As a native son of Pyongyang whose family was forced to flee after Kim Il-sung’s takeover, Mr. Ahn personally understood the unique urgency of promoting North Korean human rights.

Before joining HRNK, Mr. Ahn brought rigor and integrity to his many journalistic endeavors. He served as a correspondent for JoongAng Ilbo, a researcher for The Washington Post, and founding director of Radio Free Asia’s Korean Service. His hard work and persistence in building the Korean Service from scratch helped to establish Radio Free Asia as an important source of information on both sides of the 38th parallel.

Mr. Ahn’s knowledge, passion, and team spirit enabled HRNK to make the best use of its diverse range of talent and opinions.

HRNK lost an extremely capable advocate of North Korean human rights and a widely respected human being. Jaehoon Ahn was a mentor to many, and an inspiration to all.