Jun Yoo

Advocacy · Public Health · Writing · 2024

35분 완전무장 explains the kinds of drugs a young person might encounter and, through short fiction, imagines a future South Korea where drug use has become far more visible. We wrote it because most anti-drug material felt too clinical for the people who actually needed it, and we wanted something a curious teenager would pick up on their own.

Seeing it catalogued and shelved at the Los Angeles Public Library was the moment the project stopped feeling like a personal effort and started feeling like it belonged to a wider community. The time and effort had turned into something anyone could borrow and read.

Public Health · Harm Reduction · Outreach · 2024

The first brochure explained how to use Naloxone, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose, along with overdose statistics and what to do if someone is unconscious. The second was written for parents, covering the warning signs of drug use and the steps a worried parent could take. I wanted practical information, not fear.

Over the summer I placed them where families already gather. I left them at the front desks of the Ketchum-Downtown and Koreatown YMCAs, and went door to door at the Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC) and Korean American Family Services (KFAM). Introducing myself and explaining the campaign made me nervous, but both organizations welcomed the brochures, which meant they would reach more Korean American families.

Harm Reduction · Youth · Donation · 2024

Nanum Mission works directly with young people the drug crisis has already touched, so it felt like the right place to bring everything we had made. We donated our book 35분 완전무장 and our brochures on Naloxone, overdose response, and prevention.

I spoke with a missionary who explained how some students first come into contact with drugs and how quickly use can spread among young people. Beyond the printed materials, we donated cans of Narcan, a Naloxone nasal spray, along with boxes of cereal, instant ramen, and snacks for the children at the facility. It was the clearest picture I had gotten of who the campaign was really for.

Press · Radio · Advocacy · 2024

The Korea Times, Chosun Media of Los Angeles, and The Korea Daily each interviewed us about the anti-drug campaign. Reporters asked what inspired us, what we had actually done, and how serious the overdose problem was becoming in both South Korea and Los Angeles. Two of the interviews ran as full news articles.

We were also invited onto RadioKorea, a major Korean-language station in Los Angeles, where my brother and I answered questions live about prevention and why it matters for Korean and Korean American communities. I was proud that the campaign had grown past individual donations and brochures into something that could reach people through the media they already trusted.

Civic · Advocacy · Chapter · 2024

We explained our chapter’s past community service and the initiatives we hoped to fund next. Speaking directly to public officials was intimidating at first, but it pushed me to articulate clearly why our work mattered and what we would do with support.

The ₩420,000 in funding was modest, but the amount was not really the point. It meant a local government had looked at what a group of students was doing and decided it was worth backing. That recognition changed how seriously I took the work.

Civic · Public Safety · Environment · 2024

Walking through the community, we documented harmful or hazardous conditions: illegal alcohol and cigarette advertising, dangerous hanging electrical wires, and broken sidewalks. Seeing how many small hazards accumulate in one neighborhood was its own lesson.

We uploaded our findings to a website run by the Seocho-gu district government. Watching some of the problems actually get addressed showed me that even simple actions, taking a photo and filing a report, can feed directly into how a community gets safer.