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www.groovekorea.com / May 2014 40 Edited by Elaine Ramirez (elaine@groovekorea.com) INSIGHT 7 Jasmine Lee May 2013 Jasmine Lee was elected as a proportional representative in South Korea’s Na- tional Assembly in 2012. Born in the Philippines, she is the first naturalized Ko- rean to become a lawmaker. In an interview with Groove Korea, she said demographic and economic trends make it inevitable for Korea to embrace multiculturalism. She is also secretary-general of Waterdrop, a charity supporting foreign spouses of Koreans. She has been particularly outspoken in her support for comfort women, who were sex slaves for the Japanese military during the Invasion. She told Groove Korea that supporting a bill to help comfort women was something that she is proud of. She truly embraces not only the rights of foreigners but the rights of women in Korea as well. Recently, she submitted a modified version of a bill regarding the prevention of domes- tic violence and the protection of victims. 5 Krys Lee June 2012 Like many expats on the Korean Peninsula, writer Krys Lee tries to keep a balance between multiple identities in her professional and personal life. Lee is Korean, Korean-American and a writer who happens to portray Koreans and Kore- an-Americans. Born in Seoul, raised in the United States and educated in the U.S. and U.K., she returned to Seoul in her 20s. Lee’s stunning fiction debut, “Drifting House” (2012), depicts the lives of Korean immigrants to America in both contemporary times and immediately following the Korean War. In an interview with Groove Korea, she said her current obsessions are power, society and the many ways they intersect with class, gender, violence, loneliness and love, religion and the spiritual in general. Lee is a monthly columnist for Korea’s JoongAng Ilbo newspaper and the recipient of the 2014 Rome Prize Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts & Letters. She is currently working on a forthcoming novel about North Korean refugees. 6 Lilly Lee June 2012 Lilly is one of the many immigrant women who have come to Korea to start a new chapter. Her life story, however, is in no way common. Lilly left her native Myanmar in 1987 amid a deteriorating political situation with the 8888 Uprising against the military dictatorship. With the support of her father, she went to India to continue her studies. Then, after struggling through a stint in Malaysia, she left for Korea and met her soul mate, who is now her husband. She pursued her strong desire to go to school in the U.S. and graduated from nursing school in Orlando, Florida. Lilly’s aspirations now rest on hope for her country. She dreams of building a church in her father’s name, and also wants to go back to school to study counseling so she can help immigrant women like herself. Lilly has traveled over 56,000 km in her life, and her passion to journey further has yet to fade.