# MJ Lee

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This article is about the American reporter. For the South Korean actress, see [Lee Min-jung](/source/Lee_Min-jung).

**Min Jung "MJ" Lee** (born March 5,[1] 1987) is a South Korean-born American political correspondent for [CNN](/source/CNN) and is currently a White House correspondent for the network.

She has previously worked for *[Politico](/source/Politico)*.

## Early life and education

Lee was born in [Seoul](/source/Seoul), South Korea and raised in [Hong Kong](/source/Hong_Kong), where she and her brother attended Hong Kong International School (an American-system style school). In her junior year of high school, she moved to the United States to attend a boarding school and has never returned to South Korea since.[2] In 2009, she graduated from [Georgetown University](/source/Georgetown_University) with a degree in government and Chinese.[3] During college, she interned for *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)* and *[South China Morning Post](/source/South_China_Morning_Post)*.[4] Lee was offered an entry-level journalism position, but was then rejected due to being on a visa.[2]

## Career

Months after graduation, Lee began working at *Politico* as a web producer.[1] By 2012, she was a finance reporter after a year on the breaking news desk. In 2014, she started working at [CNN](/source/CNN).[5] Since working at CNN, she has covered the [2016 United States presidential election](/source/2016_United_States_presidential_election) (both [Trump](/source/Donald_Trump_2016_presidential_campaign) and [Clinton](/source/Hillary_Clinton_2016_presidential_campaign) campaigns);[6] as well as how the [Me Too movement](/source/Me_Too_movement) has affected Capitol Hill, covering the allegations against ousted U.S. Senator [Al Franken](/source/Al_Franken) (D-MN), former [White House](/source/White_House) aide and [Staff Secretary](/source/White_House_Staff_Secretary) [Rob Porter](/source/Rob_Porter), and former U.S. Representative [Blake Farenthold](/source/Blake_Farenthold) (R-TX) (all of whom resigned from their positions as a result of abuse or sexual misconduct allegations).[7] She has also covered the Republicans' contemporary attempts to repeal the [Affordable Care Act](/source/Affordable_Care_Act).[8][9] Lee covered the [2020 Democratic presidential primary](/source/2020_Democratic_Party_presidential_primaries) with a focus on the [Elizabeth Warren campaign](/source/Elizabeth_Warren_2020_presidential_campaign), and the [2020 United States presidential election](/source/2020_United_States_presidential_election) with a focus on the [Joe Biden campaign](/source/Joe_Biden_2020_presidential_campaign).

In January 2021, Lee was promoted to White House correspondent under the [Biden administration](/source/Presidency_of_Joe_Biden).[10]

At [APEC United States 2023](/source/APEC_United_States_2023), she asked [US president](/source/US_president) [Joe Biden](/source/Joe_Biden) if he considered [General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party](/source/General_Secretary_of_the_Chinese_Communist_Party) [Xi Jinping](/source/Xi_Jinping) a [dictator](/source/Dictator). Biden replied yes.[11]

## Personal life

Lee became an American citizen on September 17, 2016, on [Ellis Island](/source/Ellis_Island), coinciding with her coverage of the 2016 US presidential election campaign.[2] She is married to fellow journalist [Alex Burns](/source/Alex_Burns_(journalist)).[3] They have two children.[12]

In 2022, Lee was named by [Carnegie Corporation of New York](/source/Carnegie_Corporation_of_New_York) as an honoree of the [Great Immigrants Awards](/source/Great_Immigrants_Award).[13][14]

## References

1. Lippman, Daniel (March 5, 2018). ["BIRTHDAY OF THE DAY: MJ Lee, CNN national political reporter"](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/03/05/playbook-birthday-mj-lee-435790). *[Politico](/source/Politico)*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. Lee, MJ (September 23, 2016). ["The day I became an American citizen"](https://www-m.cnn.com/2016/09/23/politics/the-day-i-became-an-american-citizen/index.html). *[CNN](/source/CNN)*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. Pappu, Sridhar (March 5, 2016). ["Millennial Reporters Grab the Campaign-Trail Spotlight"](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/06/style/election-2016-millennial-reporters.html). *New York Times*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. ["Success Stories: Class of 2009"](https://journalism.georgetown.edu/class-2009/). [Georgetown University](/source/Georgetown_University). Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. Wemple, Erik (December 19, 2014). ["Politico editor Susan Glasser: We're in a 'period of growth and rising ambition'"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/12/19/politico-editor-susan-glasser-were-in-a-period-of-growth-and-rising-ambition/). *[The Washington Post](/source/The_Washington_Post)*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. Wemple, Erik (December 8, 2016). ["CNN reporter felt like a 'new person' after switch from Trump to Clinton"](https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2016/12/08/cnn-reporter-felt-like-a-new-person-after-switch-from-trump-to-clinton/). *The Washington Post*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. ["MJ Lee - Correspondent"](https://www.cnn.com/profiles/mj-lee#about). *CNN*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. Lee, MJ (March 9, 2017). ["Nobody wants their name on the Republican health care bill"](https://trib.com/video/featured/nobody-wants-their-name-on-the-republican-health-care-bill/article_ffd492e2-e59e-55c0-b3b0-60ac7dcc837e.html). *Casper Star-Tribune*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. Lee, MJ (January 9, 2017). ["How the tables are turning on Obamacare"](https://www.cnn.com/2017/01/09/politics/tables-turning-on-obamacare/index.html). *CNN*. Retrieved October 5, 2019.

1. Brian Stelter (January 11, 2021). ["CNN announces promotions for Jake Tapper, Abby Phillip, Dana Bash and others"](https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/11/media/cnn-washington-dc-anchors-correspondents/index.html). *CNN*. Retrieved 2021-01-11.

1. Donald Judd (November 16, 2023). ["Biden says he still believes Xi Jinping is a dictator"](https://edition.cnn.com/2023/11/15/politics/joe-biden-xi-jinping-dictator/index.html). *CNN*. Retrieved 2023-11-20.

1. ["MJ Lee - Senior White House Correspondent"](https://www.cnn.com/profiles/mj-lee#about). *CNN*. Retrieved May 9, 2024.

1. ["MJ Lee"](https://www.carnegie.org/awards/honoree/mj-lee/). *Carnegie Corporation of New York*. Retrieved June 10, 2024.

1. Candid. ["Carnegie Corporation names 2022 cohort of distinguished immigrants"](https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/carnegie-corporation-names-2022-cohort-of-distinguished-immigrants). *Philanthropy News Digest (PND)*. Retrieved 2024-06-18.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [MJ Lee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MJ_Lee) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MJ_Lee?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.