Biography

A South Korean’s diplomat’s daughter, Seh-lynn was born and raised from an early age in Korea, France and West Africa. A first career in Finance at JP Morgan in New York then in London with Montier Partners, she starts her second with writing.

Korean in her soul, Seh-lynn’s love for the French language shapes her identity. The foundation of her writing stems from those multiple layers of identities, which explain her desire to make the Korean culture known to the western world.

Where she once felt paralyzed by the violent forces hanging over the Korean peninsula, she freed herself by confronting them through her writing. In her first book Deux Coréennes, she gives voice to a North Korean refugee she encountered while living in the United Kingdom and tells the story of two women who, despite their extreme differences, learn how to trust one another and focus on what unites them; a message of hope and peace.

She has recently been asked to join the Korean government as an Advisor for the Committee of the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, chaired by the President of ROK. Her role will be to improve the relations between the North Korean refugees and the South Koreans living in the UK. She will attempt to break the psychological barrier that divides the two cultures and to improve the communication through initiatives around cultural exchanges. These efforts will serve as a base for building a model for a future reunified Korea.

Seh-lynn earned both a Bachelor’s degree and her first Master’s degree in French Literature with Honours from L'Université Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV). She finished her PhD coursework in the French department of New York University before completing an MBA at Columbia Business School at Columbia University in 1994. Based in London with her husband and their two children, she still spends considerable time in Seoul where her parents reside.