“I build bridges between languages, cultures, and communities around the world that are too often left behind.”
Alex Jong Ho Lee
Seoul National University · Journalist · Social Entrepreneur
2500+
Books donated
3
Libraries built
4
Languages
6+
Years of service
2
Research papers
About
Student, Writer,
and Builder
Alex Jong Ho Lee is a student at Seoul National University, where he studies English Language and Literature, and a writer, organizer, and civic entrepreneur with roots in both the United States and South Korea. For more than six years he has worked at the intersection of language, culture, and community, always circling the same question: who gets to have their story told, and in whose words?
He has translated Korean folktales for multicultural families in Seoul, co-founded Angels for the Journey to keep students in school across the Philippines, Cambodia, and Laos, co-written multilingual children's books and built libraries in Cambodia through Lumen Education, reported from Hiroshima and Busan, translated investigative journalism for MediaWatch, and built Jurio, a bilingual app for migrant workers. Different mediums, one conviction: that language is power, and that communities deserve to see their stories told in their own words.
When he isn't writing or organizing, you'll find him at a migrant worker center on a Sunday, out on assignment for a story, or drafting the next children's book.
English
Fluent
Korean
Fluent
French
Conversational
Chinese (Mandarin)
Conversational
From the Field
The Work in Pictures
Six years of work across Cambodia, the Philippines, and South Korea: libraries and classrooms, memorials and newsrooms, the places where the bridges are actually built. Tap any photo to read the story behind it.
View full gallery →Children gather for a reading session in Phnom Penh, one of the Cambodian communities where Lumen Education works to put books in kids' hands.
Presenting a donated collection of Lumen's multilingual children's books to the National Library of Cambodia in Phnom Penh.
Reading together with children at one of the three Lumen libraries we built inside local churches in Siem Reap.
In a village outside Siem Reap, where seeing children without a single book in their own language first inspired Lumen Education.
Delivering biweekly support in person to a family in the Philippines through Angels for the Journey, and reading with her the picture book we made together about the Filipino folktale of the durian.
A fundraising event for Angels for the Journey, which sends tuition assistance and school supplies to families across the Philippines, Cambodia, and Laos.
A weekly gathering at the Mission Center for Migrants in Daegu, alongside its founder, Pastor Ko, who has spent years supporting migrant workers far from home.
The Mid-autumn Harvest Full Moon Festa with the Mission Center for Migrants, celebrating alongside migrant and industrial workers in Korea over a night of food, music, and shared tradition.
Interviewing Rear Admiral Neil Koprowski at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, reporting for LeadersTimes on the soldiers most people have forgotten.
Reporting on political corruption in Korea alongside MediaWatchTV Chief Executive Editor Hwang Uiwon, whose coverage I translated into English.
On assignment at the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, covering the anniversary of the bombing for LeadersTimes readers in Korea.
Featured Projects
Where the Work Lives
The three initiatives I've founded and continue to lead: a publishing venture and library network in Cambodia, a scholarship nonprofit across Southeast Asia, and a labor-rights app for migrant workers in Korea. Different tools, the same mission.
Lumen Education Program
CEO & Founder
A publication-centered social venture that co-writes and prints multilingual children's books in Khmer, English, and Korean, then builds the libraries to hold them. Lumen exists to close a quiet but stubborn gap: children in Cambodia growing up with no books in their own language and no library within reach.
- →Published two illustrated books rooted in Cambodian oral tradition: "Amok" (a girl learning to cook fish amok with her grandmother) and "Phnom Pros and Phnom Srei" (a Khmer legend co-written with local youth)
- →Established three children's libraries in Siem Reap in partnership with Angels for the Journey
- →Donated a collection to the National Library of Cambodia and partnered on free Korean language and cultural exchange programs
- →Born from observing the gap between Cambodia's booming tourism and children's lack of books in their own language
Angels for the Journey
NPO Co-founder
A youth-driven nonprofit that accompanies children and families across the Philippines, Cambodia, and Laos, keeping students in school when an unpaid fee or a family crisis would otherwise end their education. Support is deliberately direct and consistent: tuition, uniforms, exam fees, and supplies, delivered in person and backed by emergency help when it's needed most.
- →Delivered 186 supports to students through tuition assistance, school supplies, uniforms, and exam fees
- →Provides emergency family support including food, hygiene items, and medicine when schooling is threatened
- →Guided students through U.S. college applications: Chanra Hun from Cambodia gained admission to Reed College with the Continental Scholarship
- →Connects international volunteers through pen pal programs, cultural exchange workshops, and free Zoom tutoring
Jurio
Builder
A bilingual Korean/English web app that translates labor rights out of legal jargon and into plain language migrant and industrial workers can act on. Korea's labor law already protects these workers on paper; Jurio exists to unlock that protection from behind the language barrier, one phone screen at a time.
- →Fully bilingual KR/EN interface to remove language barriers
- →Designed specifically for migrant and industrial worker communities
- →Connects workers to legal resources and rights information
Community & Journalism
On the Ground and in the Press
The work that runs alongside the projects: reporting stories that would otherwise go untold, translating Korean journalism for the world, and showing up week after week for the communities behind the headlines.
Journalism & Media
Watch on YouTubeMediaWatchTV
Translation Intern
Translated investigative articles and videos on political corruption in Korea from Korean into English, so reporting that would otherwise stay inside the country could reach an international readership. Over ten of my translated articles were published on MediaWatch, and I translated the script and captions for the outlet's interview documentary.
- →Published English translations of MediaWatch's investigative reporting and opinion columns on the tablet-manipulation controversy
- →Organized interview scripts for The Postil Magazine and The Diplomat
- →Contributed to "Harvard Professor's Paper on the Comfort Women Issue Survives," published by MediaWatch
LeadersTimes
Journalist
Reporter on contemporary global issues in English for Korean audiences. Each assignment has taken me somewhere I wouldn't have gone otherwise, from the atomic bomb memorial in Hiroshima to the graves of forgotten soldiers in Busan.
- →Traveled to Hiroshima to document the anniversary of the atomic bombing and its lasting legacy for Korean readers
- →Covered the flower wreath ceremony at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Korea, interviewing Rear Admiral Neil Koprowski on the forgotten soldiers of the Korean War
- →Designed and sold 'Freedom is Not Free' t-shirts to fundraise for families of fallen UN soldiers
- →Reports on international politics and culture bridging Korea and the wider world
Community & Service
AsianHub
Volunteer
Where it all began. Working with families who had immigrated to Korea from across Asia, I translated manuscripts and recorded audio recitations of Korean folktales so their children could hear these stories in a language they understood, supporting AsianHub's bilingual summer education programs. It was here I first saw how much a community loses when it can't tell its own story in its own words.
Mission Center for Migrants
Volunteer
A sanctuary and support center for migrant workers in Daegu. Every week I help make and serve food, and I help organize Lunar New Year and Chuseok celebrations so workers far from home can stay connected to Korean culture and to one another. Sitting with people who had crossed oceans for work and found little support on the other side is what later led me to build Jurio.
Journey
The Road So Far
Read the full story →Where It Started: AsianHub
It started with a folktale. Working with AsianHub in Seoul, I sat with families who had moved to Korea from across Asia and realized how much gets lost when a community can't tell its own story in its own language. I began translating and recording Korean folktales so their children could hear them too. That question (who gets to have their story told?) has driven everything since.
Building Something of My Own
Watching children in the Philippines, Cambodia, and Laos fall behind without support, I co-founded Angels for the Journey, an NPO that sends tuition assistance and school supplies to families across Southeast Asia. That same year I joined LeadersTimes as a journalist. Two very different things, but the same instinct: if there's a gap, fill it.
Back to School: Seoul National University
Enrolled at SNU to study English Language and Literature, wanting to understand more rigorously how language shapes power. University gave me a framework for what I had already been doing on the ground, and a community of people who pushed me to think harder about it.
A Year of Showing Up
2024 was less about founding things and more about being present. I translated political corruption coverage for MediaWatchTV so Korean stories could reach international audiences. I designed t-shirts and placed flower wreaths at the UN Memorial Cemetery to honor soldiers most people have forgotten. I started showing up every week at the Mission Center for Migrants in Daegu, making food, organizing holidays, sitting with people who had crossed oceans and ended up with very little support on the other side.
Cambodia: Lumen Education Program
I went to Cambodia because I heard about children who had no books in their language and no library within reach. I stayed to co-write them. Working with local youth and students abroad, we published multilingual children's books rooted in Cambodian oral tradition, built three libraries in local churches, and donated over 2,500 books, including a collection to the National Library of Cambodia. It was the most concrete thing I have ever done, and the most humbling.
Jurio: The Same Problem, a Different Tool
Cambodia taught me that the most dangerous kind of exclusion is the kind that looks invisible. When workers can't read a contract, or don't know they have rights, or can't ask for help because no one speaks their language. In April 2026 I started building Jurio: a bilingual Korean/English app that puts labor rights information into the hands of migrant and industrial workers in Korea. Same mission as always. New medium.
Writing & Journalism
Journalism
All writing & research →MediaWatchTV
Translation Intern
Translated investigative articles and videos on political corruption in Korea from Korean into English, so reporting that would otherwise stay inside the country could reach an international readership. Over ten of my translated articles were published on MediaWatch, and I translated the script and captions for the outlet's interview documentary.
LeadersTimes
Journalist
Reporter on contemporary global issues in English for Korean audiences. Each assignment has taken me somewhere I wouldn't have gone otherwise, from the atomic bomb memorial in Hiroshima to the graves of forgotten soldiers in Busan.
Published Scholarship
Predicting Whether Inflation Will Remain in the U.S. after the Covid-19 Pandemic
Journal of Student Research · Volume 11, Issue 2 · Published
China's Greatest Weakness: Internal Conflicts with Ethnic Minorities
Oxford Journal of Student Scholarship · Volume 9, Issue 1 · Submitted for publication review
Skills
Areas of Expertise
Languages
Expertise
Contact
Let's Connect
Whether you're interested in collaborating on a project, curious about the work in Cambodia, Korea, or the Philippines, have a story worth telling, or are considering me for a fellowship or opportunity, I'd love to hear from you. I read every message.
alexjlee23@gmail.com© 2026 Alex Jong Ho Lee · Seoul, South Korea