Saturday, April 14, 2007

Howon Jung


Howon Jung is our intern from South Korea. He is responsible for most of the photographs we have presented from our Southern Utah conventions blog slam. He and Craig Axford drove me around today as Utah State Democratic Party State and County leadership traveled from Iron to Kane County.
Q. If you lived in America and choose to affiliate politically which Party would you affiliate with?

"Communist"

Yes, he was joking.
After our laugh he told me that he would definitely be a Democrat.
He was born in Daegu, the third biggest city in South Korea, but now lives Seoul, the largest City in South Korea. He is a student at Yonsei University in the middle of Seoul. After graduation Howon wants to find a job as a international journalist.
Something else he feels is relevant is that he has no girlfriend.
When asked what he felt was a relevant discovery from his trip to Utah he answered by explaining that South Korea only has National government, but its different. He is very interested in how state government works.
Howon was also intrigued by the discussions on public education and asked Senator Pat Jones for a copy of her speech explaining that he found her information on public education quite interesting.
Howon seemed to enjoy the trip from Salt Lake to Southern Utah and mentioned that he was most intrigued by the "red rock" we saw on our way to Kanab.
We very much enjoyed Howon's company on our latest convention tour of Southern Utah, and we have also appreciated his diligent work at Utah Democratic Party Headquarters.
Any potential girlfriends can apply at utahamicus@aol.com but be aware that Howon is already half way through his three month stay.
Thanks Howon!

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

정 호원씨 미국에 왔으서 황영합니다. 트끼 Utah주에 황영합니다. 애인을 도음 없습니다.

Anonymous said...

^^b GREAT!

Anonymous said...

you couldn't use an American intern...you had to use a foreigner?

Rob said...

The Utah Democratic Party has worked with many "American" interns, and continues to do so.

The Karen Shepard Fund continues to fund opportunities for interns throughout Utah.

The Democratic Party in Utah also understands that Howon's internship with us is "invaluable".

He's an awesome dude.

Anonymous said...

rob,

you took away a valuable opportunity from a utah student and out sourced to a forienger...way to go walmart man.

J-Man said...

Now I understand what you meant by your cherry post Rob.

Sounds like you have a personal problem Anonymous. Has our vice chair offended thee? Was it a post that mentioned your daddy's name, or is it that fact that this blog might actually shed some light and truth on the Utah political scene.

Whatever your issue Anonymous, your arguments and accusations only help to shed light on the mean spirited games that the far right wackos love to play.

I can't wait for you to state that Rob said "cherries are blue".

Anonymous said...

John, I think anonymous already has, over and over again.

WELCOME HOWON!

CAxford said...

When we were approached about allowing Howon the opportunity to learn more about how the American political process works by serving as an intern, we jumped at the chance. While some judge the value of foreign policy decisions according to how many nations we can alienate, we at the Democratic Party believe fostering dialogue and relationships with foreign countries is far more productive.

That said, no American has been or will be denied an internship with the Utah State Democratic Party because we are willing to work with foreign exchange students too. The more the merrier is our view.

Craig Axford
DNC Party Organization Director of Utah

Rob said...

And there it is.

Anonymous said...

This whole thing seems really fishy..and it stinks.

I wonder, did the demo’s break law by having this foreigner work for them..there are laws about the type of work that a foreigner can do on a visa..even volunteer work...esp political work

About the involvement of a foreigner in our American political process - democrats have gotten in trouble for this before - remember the Clinton’s and the Buddhist monks?

Something is very much amiss here.

Anonymous said...

angry white male -- you have got to be kidding me.

students from all over the world come to utah all the time - an they do it legally. and as part of their program of study, they do internships. nobody said the Utah dems were paying this guy... and even if they were, who cares?

the only thing that stinks aruond here is your attitude.

Anonymous said...

I care ..if it was illegal and took a job away from an American

Emily said...

Hey... that's quite enough, folks.

Howon is here LEGALLY on a STUDENT VISA and has been interning with the Utah Democrats.

What else is there to it? Too much conspiracy, not enough thoughtful reflection.

Looking for cooler heads.

I met Howon in So. Utah last week, and I have to give him a lot of credit. Strange country, strange culture -- following a bunch of crazy politicans all over the place, having to hear the same speeches over and over again.

Emily said...

ps - angry white male, what part about "internship" don't you understand?

Anonymous said...

Rhetoric aside, I can understand the voices of digust over this.

South Korea is another country where U.S. companies are exporting jobs - for example, last week Citibank (the largest corporate contributor to the DNC) announced it was slashing 19,000 thousand jobs or 5% of it’s work force. Also an additional 7,500 were going to be moved to cheaper places of employment, including Poland, India and south Korea.

The truth is we are training this young man to go back to his home country to take an American job away from an American.

It’s sounds brutal....but it’s true.

Anonymous said...

At first, I think that it was unnecessary to write about it. That is because I am the person this “conversation” is about. However, I want say something to you.

Slashing 5% of it’s work force? It has no correlation with foreign student's internships in the U.S. That is just Citibank's policy for reducing costs of employment.
There are not many people needed for their bank because of development of computerization.

Also, I don't think that South Korea is cheap place of employment. Not any more. I have several friends who are working at Citibank. They usually draw a monthly salary of $3,000 from the firm their first year. These days, a number of Citibank's branches have increased to prepare after FTA between South Korea and U.S. Moving additional employees is form a link in the chain of the policy. Of course, that is for Citibank's profit.

Yes, you were right.

I will be able to get a job in Citibank when I go back to South Korea and graduate from the Univ. However, I don't think it is a good idea that foreign student’s internship is limited in number. World is flat. Americans get a job even in the foreign countries including South Korea. But, it is very difficult for Korean natives to get a job in U.S. It will turn out to American’s advantage just as their language is international.

Needless to say, my work, interning in Utah Democratic Party, is not illegal. I don't think that it takes a job away from an American or has a bad effect to UDP.

Except regular basic employees, there are four Americans who are working here for part time. I am a just one of them.

My work is similar to a Walmart’s job which is necessary for company but everybody can do the work. I am not a American native, So, I know that my abilities are limited in the English language.

The Last 4 weeks, one of the most important tasks was correcting Dem party members' e-mail and mail addresses. For performing this work, I tried to find their phone number in DEX book or Yellow page website. It was very pleasant for me to call people for their information. It could give me experiences of conversation with various people and perfecting my English. I don't think there are very many Americans who can devote themselves to 2 or 3 hours in this work on an everyday basis like an intern.

It is not just the office work for me, I also drive around southern Utah and participate in conventions. I just hope that people can see this situation from all the sides.

While I read this discussion, I felt that I have to take a more prudent attitude and responsibility for my work.

Thanks.