Jie-ae Sohn is an invited professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Ewha Womans University, focusing on international communications. Jie-ae spent 15 years from 1995 to 2010 as CNN’s bureau chief and correspondent based in Seoul. She then joined the South Korean government, serving as the spokesperson of the Presidential Committee for the Seoul G20 Summit in 2010 and then the Presidential Secretary of the Office of Overseas Public Relations. She was also the President/CEO of the Korea International Broadcasting Foundation, which runs Korea’s only English-language broadcasting station, Arirang TV and Radio. Ms. Sohn is married with three daughters.

Fei Xue is an analyst in the Asia Country Analysis team. He focuses on Northeast Asia, providing forecast and analysis on economic development, public policy and international relations in the region.
Prior to joining the EIU, Fei worked as a global analyst at Fitch Solutions. Before that, he worked at a London-based think tank focusing on international development.
Fei holds a Master's degree in Comparative Politics from London School of Economics and Political Science as well as a Master's degree in Public Policy from University College London.

Lena Schipper is Seoul bureau chief for The Economist. Previous to this role she worked as assistant news editor in London. She has also worked as a researcher for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, for the German Institute of International and Security Affairs in Berlin, and as a political-risk consultant for clients across the Middle East and Africa. She studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics and International Relations at Oxford University.

Andrijana Cvetkovikj has a Doctoral Degree from Nihon University, and an Executive MBA from the Fox School of Business, Temple University, and a Master Degree in Cinema and Media Studies from the National Academy of Theater and Film Arts of Sofia, Bulgaria. She is recipient of the the WIN Inspiring Women Worldwide Award 2022. Cvetkovikj was the first resident Ambassador of the Republic of Macedonia in Japan from 2014-2018. Cvetkovikj was also the Head of the Digital Diplomacy Unit (2013-2014)and the Public Diplomacy Unit (2018) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Macedonia. She sits on the Board of Del Sole Corporation, and used to be an Executive Advisory Board Member of Cartier-Japan (2018-2020), promoting women’s entrepreneurship and mentoring. Cvetkovikj was a visiting professor at Kyoto University (2012), the International Center for Japanese Studies(2010-2011), the European University and other academic institutes. She is currently an Advisor to the OIST Foundation (the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology).

Cvetkovikj is the Founder & CEO of BrioNexus, Co., Ltd., Tokyo based consultancy firm, and of a non-profit organization Ambassadors of Change. She is a member of the Japan Board Diversity Network (JBDN), and the Worldwide Women Corporate Directors (WCD) Organization. She has been a speaker at the UN Conference for Climate Change, the World Economic Forum, and other venues. In 2018 she received the distinguished award Doctor Honoris Causa by the European University for contributions in the Sciences and Arts.

Jacco Zwetsloot has lived in Korea for 20 of the last 25 years, with a broad range of work experience in the communication, legal, tourism, training and broadcasting sectors. He has worked as an English teacher, a tour guide for the US military, a regular radio show guest, and a translator of North Korean propaganda. Currently, Jacco works as a content creator for a communications consultancy Insight Communications Consultants, hosts a weekly podcast about North Korea, moderates panel discussions, writes a monthly Korean newspaper column and still leads occasional lunchtime walking tours in downtown Seoul for the Royal Asiatic Society Business & Culture Club. Jacco holds a Master of Arts degree in Korean Studies from Leiden University, a Bachelor of Arts in Asian Studies from Monash University and a separate Bachelor of Arts in Modern European Studies and German Language from the University of Melbourne.