Sujean Lee Becomes Superstar in South Korea

Sujean S. Lee ’03 made a nation proud last month by capturing the presidency of the Undergraduate Council.

After Younhap News Agency relayed word back to Lee’s parents’ native South Korea, her win was proclaimed over the airwaves and in print around the country.

“Many people are boasting,” said one South Korean journalist—who said that he “joyfully” heard the news from Younhap.

Lee is the first Asian-American president of the Undergraduate Council, which started holding popular elections for the presidency in 1996. Lee’s parents came to the United States 30 years ago and met in Philadelphia.

Her victory has been covered by five broadcasting companies and about 15 South Korean newspapers, including all three of the country’s top dailies.

Lee’s story was also covered on a popular talk show featuring a famous comedian (“the Jay Leno of Korea,” according to Lee).

The comedian and his co-hosts—a famous architect and a well-known supermodel—interviewed Lee both at her home and at Harvard during winter break.

Former council president Paul A. Gusmorino ’02 said he has never seen such international attention lavished on a council president before.

“It’s absolutely unprecedented,” Gusmorino said. “It could only happen at Harvard.”

Lee said the publicity is exciting, but she noted that it is also an ocean away.

“It’s sort of unreal because it’s so distant,” she said.

Korean journalists covering Lee’s story said the strong interest among

South Koreans in education and foreign universities have fueled Lee’s popularity in her family’s native country.

Jaeho Kim, the New York correspondent for the Chosun Daily News, said Korean parents are “eager” to provide their children with the best education.

“Parents are saying ‘Wow, a Korean woman became president of Harvard,’” Kim said.

And if it were any other university, it might not be as exciting, many of the journalists said.

“If Sujean became president of another university, newspapers may not be interested,” Kim said.

In addition to an article announcing the election results, the Chosun Daily News also featured Lee in a longer magazine piece.

Kim, who wrote the piece, said people in Korea are particularly interested in her high school activities and what she plans to do after college.

”When my subscribers read my articles, they can think that even though we are a minority we can become the president of the best university in the U.S.,” Kim wrote in an e-mail to The Crimson.

—Staff writer William M. Rasmussen can be reached at wrasmuss@fas.harvard.edu.