Sohee Yang is a 29-year-old from South Korea. As a digital democracy activist, she has led a wide range of campaigns, public forums, research initiatives and organizational efforts to ensure that digital technologies serve democracy and social solidarity, rather than authoritarianism or fascism. In response to a recent state of emergency in Korea, Sohee and her colleagues designed and launched an AI-powered platform that allowed citizens to submit constitutional petitions with just a few keywords. It drew engagement from 2,459 citizens, reaching middle-aged users who are often difficult to attract and generated over 770 citizen-generated keywords envisioning the future of Korean society.
Sohee has responded to the crisis of disinformation by creating weekly, curated political briefings and online discussion spaces that are verified through fact-checking systems. She has organized over 20 local public forums in seven cities across the country. Drawing on insights from these conversations, she launched an open-source “Next Democracy Wiki” to systematically archive the visions, critiques and democratic values of Korea’s younger generation.
She has also represented Korea in major global convenings on democracy and sustainable development, including the 2021 Open Government Partnership Global Summit, the 2023 Athens Democracy Forum, the 3rd Summit for Democracy and the 2024 UN Democracy Platform.
