Brett tours South Korea

Boilermaker rep serves as delegate for international exchange group

Shannon Brett places a hand on the Reunification Sculpture at the Demilitarized Zone in South Korea.

“STANDING AT THE Demilitarized Zone and looking into North Korea, a communist country, was one of the most striking things we did on our trip,” said Shannon Brett, assistant to the director of the Boilermakers government affairs department. “It makes you fully realize that tense, Cold War-style relations are still going on in the world.”

Brett was describing her trip to South Korea May 11-25 as a delegate of the American Council of Young Political Leaders. The ACYPL is a bi-partisan, not-for-profit international exchange organization. Brett and five other delegates made the trip to learn more about the culture, politics, and economy of South Korea and to develop professional relationships.

“I was surprised to learn that people there don’t think of themselves as South Koreans,” Brett noted. “They think of themselves simply as Koreans who, for the time being, are having a disagreement with another part of their country.”

Brett said one of the most valuable things about her trip was developing relationships with the other delegates, many of whom had no exposure at all to unions. “I had the opportunity to educate people about organized labor and what we do in government affairs. One of the delegates was a Republican businessman. His company encourages foreign businesses to bring jobs to America — sort of reverse outsourcing. We were able to share our perspectives about labor and jobs.”

Based in Washington, D.C., the ACYPL was founded in 1966. The organization has conducted programs and exchanges with more than 90 nations, producing a global network of several thousand alumni.