Michelle Beltran is currently an International Affairs M.A. candidate at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University (GW). Her concentrations include Conflict Resolution and Human Rights studies with an interest in the Korean Peninsula. She is currently a member of the GW Truth and Human Rights in North Korea (THiNK) student organization where she serves as an executive board member for the Public Relations Chair. In addition, she will be working on reinstating the GW Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) chapter during the next academic year (2019-2020). Prior to starting her studies at GW, Michelle obtained her B.A. in Political Science with an emphasis in International Relations and Political Theory at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus. She also studied at the Yonsei International Summer School Program (YISS) in 2015 and at Ewha Womans University during the academic year 2017-2018 as an exchange student.

Michelle is especially interested in peacebuilding processes and human and sexual trafficking issues related to women and girls. Therefore, a crucial concern to her is the issue of sexual enslavement that North Korean women escapees become victims once in China. By interning at HRNK, Michelle hopes to expand her knowledge about these issues while also being able to actively work on the improvement of North Korean people’s lives.