Michael Breen (born 31 July 1952, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, UK) is an author and journalist covering North and South Korea. He is well-known in the expatriate community for his insight into Korean society and culture which can be found in his non-fiction writing on Korea (North and South) and his regular newspaper column in the Korea Times (an English-language daily in South Korea). In both the newspaper opinion pieces and his more scholarly, book-length works on Korea, Breen shows an often witty, easy-to-read style that nonetheless displays a keen understanding of Korean social history.

Personal history

Mr. Breen is a graduate of the University of Edinburgh and first began living in South Korea in 1982. He has covered North and South Korea for several newspapers including The Guardian and the Washington Times. In 1994, he became a management consultant specializing in North Korea. He entered the public relations field in 1999 as the managing director of Merit/Burson-Marsteller where he remained until 2004. He is now president of Insight Communications Consultants, a public relations firm. Mr. Breen was made an honorary citizen of Seoul in 2001.

Current work

As of May 2008, Mr. Breen has a featured column for the Korea Times, an English-language daily in South Korea, where he comments on Korean society, culture, and political issues.

Published works

• Kim Jong-il: North Korea's Dear Leader
• The Koreans

References

External links

• ABC News
• Bio page at Insight Communications Consultants