assistant professor at the College of Economics and Commerce, Department of Economics.

 

 

 

 

1. Hello, thank you for interviewing with THE KOOKMIN REVIEW. Could you please introduce yourself to our readers?

 

Hello, I am Lee Go-Eun, a new assistant professor at the College of Economics and Commerce, Department of Economics. I was formerly an undergraduate student at Kookmin University (KMU). I was also one of the 31st reporters and served as the 33rd term Editor-in-Chief of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW. My main focus of study is Econometrics.

You may have not heard of it unless you are studying Economics. Before coming to KMU, I taught at Xi’an Jiaotong University in Xi’an, China, for five years. I was given an opportunity to come to
KMU to teach students beginning from this semester. I am very grateful and glad to be here.

 

 

 

2. How does it feel like to give lectures at Kookmin University (KMU), where you studied in the past?

 

 

I definitely consider being part of KMU and being able to teach students where I studied Economics to be a great opportunity and fortune. Generally, it is difficult for professors to give lectures at their alma mater. It is considered an honor in my field. So, when I came to KMU, a lot of other professors congratulated me for my work. However, it would be a lie to say that I am content all the time. I feel pressured to do well and a sense of duty to the students at the Department of Economics, as they are not only my students but also my beloved juniors.

 

 

 

3. After graduating KMU with an undergraduate degree from the College of Economics and Commerce, you continued your master’s degree at Korea University (KU). What was your study and research mainly about?

 

Additionally, what are your current research interests?I did an integrated master’s and doctoral degree at KU. My main field of study and research was Econometrics, and it remains the same. I mostly delved into the field of Panel Data, also known as Longitudinal Data. We can categorize the types of data into three big groups. Cross-Sectional Data, Time-Series Data, and Longitudinal Data. To simply explain, Cross-Sectional Data is tracking multiple individuals regardless of the time. And Time-Series Data is about tracking a singular individual at multiple time periods. Lastly, Panel Data is about tracking multiple entities at diverse time periods. Hence, there is information about both time and the individual, which may be people, a region, or a nation. For my thesis, I researched topics known as Sample Selection and Sample Attrition.

They are both about how data was collected and gathered. These days, I have gotten myself into the field of Policy Effect Analysis. It is my current interest. It is commonly known as Treatment Effect Analysis. It involves comparing the before and after of implementing a treatment to measure its effectiveness.

 

 

 

4. Could you explain the lectures you are teaching this semester? What area of Economics and Commerce would you like to teach in the future?

 

There are two lectures that I am conducting this semester. One is ‘Big Data Economics’ and the other is ‘Econometrics’. For the ‘Big Data Economics’ class, students learn how to analyze big data using machine learning methods. Since big data continues to grow with more information in real time, it is difficult to process the entirety of it. Thus, we divide the data into groups and analyze them. The goal of machine learning analysis is to achieve correct estimation of data, not inference.

For the ‘Econometrics’ class, I mostly focus on regression analysis. Specifically, it is about analyzing cause and effect relationships of the data, which is known as causality. I would be happy to give lectures on any field of Economics. However, if I had to choose, I would love to teach the basic courses of Economics such as Statistics. Since Econometrics is a concentrated field of study among the subjects of Economics, a lot of students find it uninteresting and difficult to comprehend.

Therefore, it would be great to teach lectures on something that students are generally interested in, and I can possibly lead them to be more attentive towards Econometrics through those classes.

 

 

 

5. When you were an undergraduate student at KMU, why did you decide to join THE KOOKMIN REVIEW?

 

I joined THE KOOKMIN REVIEW during my first year of university. And there are two reasons why I joined. The first reason is more of a personal story. When I was in high school, I had a very close friend. One day I went to her house to hang out and there I found a pile of English news articles. They had those English news articles because my friend’s older sister, who was at the time attending Hanguk University of Foreign Study, was part of the English press at her college. The younger version of myself found it very inspiring and admiring, and I wanted to become like her. So, I made up my mind that I would be part of an English press once I entered university.

Additionally, when I was preparing and studying for my College Scholastic Ability Test, I really enjoyed Mathematics and Korean Language and Literature. However, I was not the best at English. I wanted to become better at English. Thus, entering THE KOOKMIN REVIEW was for me to get better at writing in English, which was a challenge for myself by going out of my
comfort zone.

 

 

 

6. What are the aspects you acquired from being part of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW that still play a huge role in your life right now?

 

One characteristic that I built while being part of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW is continuously breaking my limit and getting out of my comfort zone to challenge myself. Many people might think that being part of a school’s press may not be so helpful and practical once you put it on your resume to get a job. However, I think that there are so many more depths to it. This is because it is simply the experience that you cannot otherwise attain. It is the once in your life time opportunity that you will be granted a chance to form special friendships that last long and experience what it is like to manage a team and cooperate with others towards the same goal. The resilience and perseverance that you can acquire through writing articles, interviewing, editing, and typesetting process is crucial. It may not be happy and fun all the time but through the hardships, you learn to face and manage the difficulties. Also, you learn to stand firmly in the midst of failures as you cannot bypass them in life.

 

 

 

7. What was the most difficult thing that you had to endure working as the Editor-in-Chief of THE KOOKMIN REVIEW? And how did you overcome the hardships?

 

Well, to be honest, I do not recall any of the hardships. Maybe time has done its work because it has been so long since I worked for THE KOOKMIN REVIEW. I am certain that I did have a lot of struggles working as the Editor-in-Chief and I am sure that there were some serious issues and problems back then. However, the only thing that I remember now is how much I enjoyed and loved spending time with my team, building strong relationships with each other. Going out to have lunch and dinner together after work and just talking about life are my memories now.

 

 

 

8. Have you seen THE KOOKMIN REVIEW around campus? What are the differences between THE KOOKMIN REVIEW then and now? Please give some feedback on THE KOOKMIN REVIEW.

 

Well, since I came back to KMU I have not read THE KOOKMIN REVIEW yet. Please do not get me wrong, there are multiple reasons for this. I think I will need a very strong courage to even read this particular issue since it will contain my interview, I tend to be very shy. However, the big reason why I have not picked one up and read it yet even though I have seen them around the campus is because I do not want to be evaluating and interfering with current reporters’ work for THE KOOKMIN REVIEW. Maybe you would understand me once you are in my position as a graduated senior reporter.

Since I am a working assistant professor writing my thesis in English, it would be very easy for me to give an evaluation of your English news articles. It is actually my job to grade students’ writing. Thus, I wanted to be careful with reading THE KOOKMIN REVIEW because I do not want to be disrespectful. I am sure that reporters at THE KOOKMIN REVIEW right now
are working as hard as they can to continuously publish great news articles.

 

 

 

9. Lastly, could you give some advice to THE KOOKMIN REVIEW to improve and deliver consistently good news to the students at KMU?

 

In Economics, there is a common conception that to achieve the optimization of a society, every individual must do their best at their part. Doing what you can do the best is naturally a process of forming a better community. If we implement thi theory to THE KOOKMIN REVIEW, it is important to make THE KOOKMIN REVIEW the best version of it, but it is far more crucial for you to be the best version of yourself. That is the best way for THE KOOKMIN REVIEW to continue its legacy. It is tje same for KMU. If all the KMU students and its community try their best at their own individual work, the entire KMU moves for the better. Lastly, I would also like to comment to the readers, I hope that you find your own color through trying your best and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. The result may be a failure or a success. What is important is for you to form your identity and learn about who you are.

 

 

 

 

songleelee@kookmin.ac.kr

 

Lee Song-Lee
Editor-in-Chief