Accomplishments (1996 - present)

An independent and non-partisan organization, the ISR Foundation was established in 1996 by Dr. Asaph Young Chun (an interdisciplinary research scientist), the late Venerable Dr. Gemma Doyim Koh (former dean of Sacred Heart College), Rev. Dr. Syungman Rhee (former Moderator of Presbyterian Churches USA), Mr. Kwangdong Jo (a prominent journalist based in Chicago), and their colleagues in academia, governments, and private institutions across the Pacific, to advance reconciliation and promote health and education in conflict regions. A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, ISR has promoted health diplomacy with DPRK by implementing large-scale humanitarian medical programs,  conducting interdisciplinary research to benefit the disadvantaged people, and developing innovative education programs to address difficult problems in hard-to-access regions. Below are major accomplishments in health, humanitarian advocacy and education.

Global Health

• Providing essential medicine to children and women (1996-present). The ISR Foundation has provide since 1996 over $36 million value of essential medicines and medical supplies in scores of shipments to DPRK hospitals across the country. Target beneficiaries of medical aid were children, elderly, pregnant/nursing women, and the disabled. The ISR "Reconciliation Ambassadors with Medicines" (RAMs) have made periodic visits to DPRK to confirm beneficiaries of medical aid, and assess the nation's changing needs for sustainable health and effective education.  Confirming reports have been periodically documented in the UN relief website.
• Giving hope to the disabled (1999-present). The ISR foundation launched the program for the disabled by sending wheelchairs and crutches since 1999 and manufacturing prosthetic limbs since 2007 in DPRK.  Beginning with 150 wheel chairs and 500 crutches shipped in 1999 to DPRK in collaboration with the America Wheat Mission, Inc., the ISR has advanced the programs for the disabled by sending orthopedic supplies and becoming the first American NGO that helped produce prosthetic limbs in DPRK in collaboration with a European NGO.  The ISR has helped rehabilitate over 21,000 people in DPRK with physical disability by today.

Humanitarian Advocacy

• Advocating humanitarian cause (1998-present). The ISR foudation coordinated a national advocacy campaign in 1998 in partnership with various NGOs to appeal the US government to send 500,000 tons of American wheat surplus to DPR Korea. The US government provided 300,000 tons of wheat aid to DPR Korea. The Founaton also appealed in 2003 to the US government by coundcting a national campaign for sustaining humanitarian aid to DPR Korea. The ISR Foundation is a founding member of the InterAction North Korea Working Group, a consortium of scores of international NGOs providing humanitarian aid to people in DPRK.
• Washington North Korea Forum (1999-present). The ISR Foundation has hosted a score of forums since 1999 on critical issues on
  Korea policies, presidential summit between North and South Korea,  American policies towards Korea, economic development, public health, long-term relief  and development, and energy rehabilitation, among others. The  forum featuring influential senior governmental and non-governmental  policymakers is the meeting place of all concerned about Korean  issues, encouraging frank discussions on Korea policy options.
  As an extension of the  Washington North Korea Forum, the ISR  Foundation hosted the first Korean  Peninsula Reconciliation Forum in
  2004 in Seoul, South Korea. In contrast to  the Washington North Korea  Forum's focus on discussing DPRK policy options  in the United States,  the Korean Peninsula Reconciliation Forum  focused on encouraging  humanitarain policy deveopment shielded from any  political spill-over  effect, among South Korean policy makers, think tanks, and NGOs.

Education for Emerging Leaders of Innovation and Global Impacts

• Providing computer education for North Korean Teens (2001-present).  The ISR Foundation has agreed in 2001 with DPRK to provide computer education to teens in high schools on the humanitarian ground. This pilot computer education program had been gradually expanded. In the summer of 2008, the ISR Foundation helped establish a computer lab in DPRK's high school. It was known to be the first computer education cooperation between DPRK and the international community to engage high school students in DPRK.
• Promoting conversational English program in high school (2005-present)  The ISR applied a computer-assisted system to teach conversational English to North Korean teens.  The ISR Foundation was known to be the first American NGO to bring English educators to North Korean high school classrooms. In the summer of 2008, five American professionals of the ISR delegation taught conversational English to DPRK high school students.
• Nurturing emerging leaders via Global Research Internship Program (1998 - present). As a think tank and international relief and development organization headquartered in Washington DC, the ISR Foundation recruits high school and university interns every year. These interns make contributions to programs ISR Foundation is undertaking in North Korea in close consultation with the U.S. government, United Nations, and non-governmental organizations. The goal of the ISR Global Internship Program is to help develop capable emerging leaders and researchers advancing reconciliation in conflict regions, improving health, and enhancing innovative education.  As an integral part of the ISR programs, GRIP interns are offered with opportunities to use and enhance their talents by working closely with subject experts in the field.
• Advancing interdisciplinary research in higher education (2012 - present). The ISR Foundation launched in 2012 the Pyongyang Summer Institute in Survey Science and Quantitative Methodology (PSI), the first of a kind international summer program of survey statistics in DPRK. PSI has been supported by the international scholarly community, such as members of Statistics without Borders of the American Statistical Association, American Association for Public Opinion Research, American Evaluation Association, American Association for the Advancement of Science, World Association for Public Opinion Research and European Survey Research Association.  In collaboration with the DPRK Ministry of Education, the first PSI launched in July, 2012.  PSI programs included courses on statistics, sampling, computer-assisted survey data analysis, survey methodology and interdisciplinary research methodology.
• Developing creative minds via the da Vinci Grant Program (2012 - present).  The ISR Foundation supports highly promising university students and emerging leaders committed to innovative interdisciplinary research in health sciences, technology, arts, humanities, social science and related disciplines. The DVG program aims to invest not only in creative research relevant to the isolated countries like the DPRK, but also in the students as future scholars and leaders of countries in transition and the global interdisciplinary research community.