US Fellows’ Biographies
Cory BENNETT
Editor
POLITICO
Washington, D.C.
Cory Bennett is POLITICO’s deputy editor for
national security and Europe. He helps orchestrate foreign
policy, intelligence and international coverage by coordinating
with POLITICO Europe. Formerly, Bennett served as
POLITICO’s cybersecurity editor, overseeing the publication’s
coverage of digital security policy on Capitol Hill and in the
Trump administration.
Over the past several years, Bennett has covered cybersecurity,
national security and online privacy for multiple publications,
including The Hill, Communications Daily and National
Journal.
Bennett earned an undergraduate degree in government from
Cornell University and a master’s degree in journalism from
Columbia University. He is originally from Chicago.
Michael KONOPASEK
General Assignment Reporter
FOX31 Denver
Denver, Colorado
Michael Konopasek is an Emmy Award-
winning journalist who joined FOX31 Denver
in August 2016. Before arriving in Denver, he
was a reporter at NBC affiliate, KING-TV, in Seattle and CBS
affiliate, KWTV-TV, in Oklahoma City.
Konopasek has covered stories garnering much national and
international attention, including his gavel-to-gavel coverage of
the Taylor Swift sex assault trial in 2017 and Washington state’s
largest wildfire in 2014. He reported for TEGNA-owned
television stations nationwide during the 2015 Umpqua
Community College shooting in Roseburg, Oregon. Michael was
part of Edward R. Murrow Award-winning coverage of the 2014
Marysville Pilchuck High School shooting and was nominated
for a regional Emmy Award for his coverage of a mass-casualty
collision between a charter bus and a “duck boat” vehicle.
In 2013, Konopasek and a photojournalist chased a deadly F5
tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. He was awarded a regional Emmy
Award for the tornado coverage.
Konopasek is originally from the Northwest Indiana suburbs of
Chicago. He is a proud graduate of Ball State University and holds a
Bachelor of Arts degree in telecommunications and a minor in political
science.
Stephen NESSEN
Reporter
WNYC/New York Public Radio
New York, New York
Stephen Nessen is currently the transportation
reporter at New York Public Radio (WNYC). Prior to
the role, he was a general assignment reporter
covering everything from daily news, the Trump campaign, the
rebuilding of Ground Zero, Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath, to
features on Mohawk Ironworkers, and a four-part series on the oldest
family in a public housing development.
Nessen’s stories have appeared on: NPR’s Morning Edition and All
Things Considered, BBC, Marketplace, The World, Only a Game, The
Takeaway, Tell Me More, Here and Now, The Brian Lehrer Show, and
podcasts such as The United States of Anxiety and Note to Self. His
photos have appeared in various national and international publications.
Nessen received his master’s degree in journalism
from Columbia University.
Katherine PARK
News Anchor/Reporter
KCRA-TV/Hearst (NBC-affiliate)
Sacramento, California
Katherine Park is an award-winning anchor and reporter for KCRA,
Sacramento’s NBC affiliate.
Since joining KCRA in 2014, Park has covered several breaking news
stories including the arrest of the Golden State Killer, the Oroville dam
emergency and the wine country wildfires. She was also part of the
Oakland warehouse fire coverage which earned KCRA an Edward R.
Murrow award for best newscast, and an Emmy nomination.
Park anchored and reported news in Washington, D.C. for six
years where she reported on many high profile events at WJLA/
NewsChannel 8, including both President Obama’s inaugurations,
the Navy Yard shooting and the 2010 blizzard.
Park is a native of the DC-metro region, and graduated with
honors from the University of Maryland. She has served as the
DC-chapter president for the Asian American Journalists
Association, and now sits on the national board.
Sean ROSSMAN
Multimedia Journalist
USA TODAY/Gannett
McLean, Virginia
Sean Rossman is a multimedia reporter for
USA TODAY focusing on enterprise,
breaking and trending news coverage. He is
inspired by good storytelling, no matter the form.
Rossman attended Temple University before starting his career
covering local and state government for the Tallahassee
Democrat in Florida. He has received multiple Florida Society of
News Editors awards and a Gannett company honor; winning a
first place features and enterprise FSNE award for his coverage of
a cash-strapped rural hospital in Florida’s Panhandle.
Joan VENNOCHI
Columnist, Op-ed Page
The Boston Globe
Boston, Massachusetts
Joan Vennochi began her career at the Boston
Globe as a researcher on the Spotlight Team and
shared a Pulitzer Prize for a series on the MBTA. Since then,
Vennochi has covered city, state and national politics and created
a business column that explores the intersection of business and
politics. She currently writes for the Op-ed page.
As a member of the Boston Globe’s editorial board, she also helps
write editorials. Vennochi is a graduate of Boston University and
Suffolk Law School, and teaches journalism at Suffolk
University.
 Korea Press Foundation
Korea Press Foundation is a non-profit and non-partisan organization
dedicated to promoting professional journalism in Korea media. KPF’s programs
goes from assisting the activities of journalists and management of media
companies to journalists training, international journalists exchange, research and
survey, publication and information services.
KPF was founded in 1999 with the merger of the three media assisting
organizations. Since its foundation, KPF has played a leading role of journalists
training, media research & survey. It has more than 140 staffs including 8 2018 Korea-United States Journalists Exchange
researchers with PhD.
The board members of KPF consist of professionals representing
different social voices from functionally diversified areas of Korean media. The July 8-17, 2018
main source of income comes from our role of advertisement agency for
government and public organizations. Media related funds such as Fund for
regional Newspaper Development and Newspaper Development Fund also US Fellows
supports KPF activities.

Korea Study Tour: Seoul, Pyeongtaek, Busan, and

The East-West Center
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea
The East-West Center promotes better relations and understanding
among the people and nations of the United States, Asia, and the Pacific through
cooperative study, research, and dialogue. Established by the U.S. Congress in Final Dialogue: Seoul, South Korea
1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and analysis on critical
issues of common concern, bringing people together to exchange views, build
expertise, and develop policy options. The Center is an independent, public,
nonprofit organization with funding from the U.S. government, and additional The Korea-United States Journalists Exchange
support provided by private agencies, individuals, foundations, corporations, and
governments in the region.
The Korea-United States Journalists Exchange, launched in 2005, offers
opportunities for six Korean journalists to visit the United States and six
US journalists to visit South Korea to meet with government and business
leaders, academics, non-governmental organizations and other members
of the community. The 2018 program, with its theme on “Bridging the
Gaps in Understanding between the United States and South Korea: The
Allied Response to the North Korea Nuclear Crisis,” seeks to introduce
journalists to the political, security, economic, cultural and social issues of
each country. After their study tours, the US and Korean journalists will
convene for a final dialogue via web/video conferencing at the Korea
Press Foundation and at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii
respectively to discuss the relationship between their countries and how
media coverage of US-Korea issues can be enhanced.
East-West Center
1601 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96848 The 2018 Exchange is co-sponsored by the East-West Center and the
Tel: 808-944-7384; Fax: 808-944-7600; Korea Press Foundation.
Email: seminars@eastwestcenter.org; http://www.eastwestcenter.org
Center for Cultural and Technical Interchange Between East and West, Inc. A national educational
institution established by the United States Congress and incorporated by the State of Hawai‘i.
An Equal Employment Opportunity Employer