Adrian Hong

Who is Adrian Hong?

Adrian Hong is an sociopolitical commentator and human rights advocate based in the US. He serves as managing director of Pegasus Strategies LLC, an advisory firm for governments, corporations, and NGOs. His commentary has appeared in the Christian Science Monitor, International Herald Tribune, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and the Washington Post and on Fox News.

Hong was the co-founder and Executive Director of Liberty in North Korea, an international NGO devoted to human rights in North Korea. In May 2006, LINK helped arrange the first asylum to be given to North Korean refugees by the US.

Hong was arrested and deported from China for his efforts to help North Korean refugees living in the country illegally. Columnists for The New York Times described the deportation as a sign of "a gradually hardening Chinese posture" toward the growing number of North Korean refugees.

In 2009, Hong was selected as a TED fellow and an Arnold Wolfers Fellow at Yale University.

In 2011, he co-founded the group Street Symphony with another TED fellow, Robert Vijay Gupta. The group's mission is to deliver "live classical music to mentally ill individuals living in deeply impoverished, disenfranchised communities in Los Angeles".