Washington Post names Lee its Tokyo bureau chief

Michelle Ye Hee Lee

Washington Post foreign editor Douglas Jehl, deputy foreign editor Eva Rodriguez and editor for Russia, Japan and the Koreas Brian Murphy sent out the following announcement on Friday:

We’re very happy to announce that Michelle Ye Hee Lee will become our next Tokyo bureau chief, beginning next summer.

The assignment carries responsibility for the Koreas as well as Japan; it is our main vantage point on North Korea and its undiminished nuclear arsenal. Michelle is ideally equipped for these roles.

Beginning with her high-speed debut at The Post as a member of the Fact Checker team, Michelle has consistently demonstrated her rigor, versatility, drive and digital savvy. For the last three years, she has covered money and influence for National’s Political Investigations and Enterprise team, transcending the boundaries of the campaign-finance beat to tell more human tales, such as her portraits of fundraising in Hollywood and firms that specialize in alarmist emails.
During critical moments in the North Korea story, Michelle has filled in for Foreign in Seoul, distinguishing herself by writing with authority, empathy and voice, as she did in telling a personal tale: “How my North Korean-born grandparents taught me about loss, memory and the power of Pyongyang cold noodles.”
Michelle grew up in Guam, speaks fluent Korean and is a graduate of Emory University. She began her career at the Arizona Republic and moved to The Post in 2014. She recently began a second term as president of the Asian American Journalists Association.

In her new role, Michelle will work closely with Min Joo Kim, our Seoul-based reporter. She will move to Tokyo next summer, in time for the Olympics, and will take over as bureau chief in late August.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.