KABA-DC 2024 3Q Newsletter

• Our past events:
  • KABA-DC Chuseok event (9/18) - Featuring Ambassador Yuri Kim and Judge Sun E. Choi, we celebrated Chuseok with Korean food and drinks at Alston & Bird. Please see pictures here.
  • KABA DC Summer Reception and Mentorship Program Kick-off (7/18) - Over 100 guests gathered at the Hyatt House/Canopy by Hilton at the Wharf to successfully launch the 2024 Mentorship Program with over 65 participants. Please see pictures here.
• Upcoming Events: We are continuing to brainstorm future events! If you are interested in the event ideas below, please contact the KABA-DC program officers who are working on the initiative.
  • Tentative Pickleball "meet-up": Please contact Asher Keam at asherkeam@gmail.com.
  • Learning Korean legal business terms. Please contact Lisa Park at park@koreantiger.de.
• Become a KABA-DC Officer! KABA-DC is planning programs for 2025. If you're interested in joining our team, please email kabadc2009@gmail.com.
• Membership renewal: go to the KABA DC home page (here) and click the Subscribe button on the top right side of the web page! 
• Quarterly Member Spotlight: Top 10 Things to Know About: Joshua Yang

1. What motivated you to become a lawyer? 

During my childhood, my family found ourselves in a situation where we needed significant legal counsel and assistance in an unfamiliar system. I felt early on the necessity of being able to procure and afford quality legal services, and I promised myself that I would help fill that need not just to protect my own family, but help others in difficult situations as well. Although my career trajectory has taken me on a different path which I'm very happy with, I still find it worthwhile to engage with the community and make my profession something more than just a job (a big shoutout to the DC Bar Pro Bono Center Immigration Clinic, come volunteer with the community clinic each quarter!).

2. Tell me about your practice! (To internal: they can advertise or link recent articles, etc.)

I am an attorney with the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) which promotes Bulk Electric System reliability under federal statutory authority. In this capacity, I assist in enforcing federal standards for power companies ranging from operations and planning, to critical infrastructure protection, including cybersecurity, with agency oversight from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Our particular jurisdiction is over the Western Interconnection, which consists of 14 states in the western United States, the provinces of British Columbia and Alberta in Canada, and Northern Baja Mexico. In a nutshell, our job is to make sure that if you flick a light switch, the lights turn on!

WECC is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, so I work fully remote. A benefit for me is that we operate on Mountain Standard Time meaning that the 2-hour difference allows me to squeeze in my own morning routine in the AM. I travel frequently to the western United States for work, either to headquarters in SLC, or other States to participate in conferences and provide training to entities under our jurisdiction. It's been a great experience, and I truly value my team and the work we do!

3. What is your favorite thing about DC? 

All of the incredible experiences you can have if you're open to them! Anything ranging from attending sports games and concerts, to incredible museums and some of the most diverse array of restaurants you can find (any other foodies?), it really is a fun city filled with beautiful parks, monuments, and interesting people. I'll be the first to admit I took much of it for granted while in school, but better late than never when it comes to appreciating just how much there is to do, including all the new friends you can make here!

4. Why did you decide to serve as a KABA officer? 

The career trajectory I've had has been unconventional but rewarding, and where I am today both professionally and personally is due in significant part to the incredible mentors I've been lucky enough to have along the way. One way I can give back all of the benefits I've been given as a result of the time and efforts of far more experienced professionals, is to use the network of a great organization like KABA and match its professional members together, who are already on board with the idea of community, mentorship, giving back, and learning from each other!

5. What was your greatest moment for the past year or so? 

I think finding my niche and place in the world that allowed me to balance a fulfilling career along with a meaningful personal life felt like a great victory to me! I've been at my current position for about a year now after moving back to the US from living abroad, and I've been lucky to be surrounded by a great team, a worthy mission, and leadership that cares about its people and the work we do. Coupled with the ability to pursue my own passions and interests outside of work, I feel like I'm in a great spot in my life right now! 

6. Please tell us about your non-work passion, whatever it is! 

I love spending time outdoors, traveling, and eating great food. I feel like having a variety of different experiences, and being exposed to different places, cultures, and foods really makes you have a greater appreciation for life. One of my biggest inspirations is Anthony Bourdain, and my sense of adventure also stems from a heightened curiosity about the world and its hidden places. On a different note, I also am a strong believer in service from a young age, and giving back to the communities that raised you/imparted its influences on your character. I often volunteer my time with various organizations in the DMV area, through cultural awareness events, civic engagement, and community service, and it's been a rewarding experience every time.

7. What is the weirdest/quirkiest thing about you? 

I love music, and I feel like I associate everything I do day-to-day with a certain soundtrack! Whether it's working in front of my computer, cooking, driving around, or exercising, I always have some music playing in the background, unless I'm intentionally seeking out some quiet. I also have many incredibly specific playlists tailored depending on the activity I'm doing, and one of my biggest fears is that something will happen to them since they're all unfortunately stored online as with all digital services nowadays.

8. What was your favorite trip in the past? 

I think every trip I've taken back to visit my hometown and family back in Korea have been meaningful and of course, fun. Although I moved to the US back in elementary school and much of my childhood development was westernized, I felt like I was between worlds, where I was too American to be Korean, but too Korean to be American. However, every visit I was able to make back to my home country, to reconnect with family, culture, and food, reaffirmed my beliefs that being Korean-American was a unique thing, meant to be celebrated, and I didn't have to choose to identify specifically as one over the other. Each trip back to Korea has a special place in my heart, and will always top my list in terms of familiarity and of course, fun.

9. What is your favorite movie or book (comic book included)? 

"A Walk in the Woods" by one of my favorite travel authors, Bill Bryson. His sense of humor, combined with some of my most-loved hobbies in hiking and camping make for a hilarious book I can return to over and over again as a comfort read. There's also a movie based off of it starring Robert Redford, but like many adaptations, I think it falls short of the book (and my imagination). It's about his journey of hiking through the Appalachian Trail with a friend he's reconnecting with after a long time, and I find myself making deeper connections with his hike and my own life - between laughing fits at his commentary.

10. What do you look forward to the most in the next 5 years?

I look forward to growing both my village, and myself. I would really like to develop and succeed together with my community of family, friends, and my professional network, while also remembering to stop and smell the roses. Whether that will come in the form of promotions at work, or assisting in the great work that KABA and other organizations do remains to be seen, but I look forward to not only flourishing alone, but together. We Koreans can sometimes be focused on individual success, but our competitive energy can lead towards a greater good together than alone, and I'm already seeing the incredible effects of that sense of community at KABA.