Unshin Lee Harpley
Unshin Lee Harpley is a reporter at the Air and Space Forces Magazine. Previously, Unshin was a multimedia journalist at Voice of America where she covered local and national stories, including the 2020 Presidential Election. She hosted a weekly program promoting the English language and American culture, targeted at South Korean viewers and North Korean senior officials.
Prior to Voice of America, Unshin was in Seoul at Arirang TV and TBS eFM for three years where she reported on some of the region’s major political, social, and cultural events.
Unshin graduated from Iowa State University where she studied journalism at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. Her grandfather, who named her, was a lieutenant colonel served in the Korean War, and she spent half of her life in the States and the other half in South Korea. With her unique background, she has always been eager to explore the dynamics at play within the U.S. military and its profound impact on both domestic and global polices.
She is also passionate about establishing connections within the DMV community and advocating for the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) voices. Unshin can be reached at uharpley@afa.org
Recent stories by Unshin Lee Harpley
May 19, 2025
McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., conducted a major relocation of its tanker fleet ahead of the severe weather impacting the Midwest and Southern United States through May 19.
May 19, 2025
There is a new capability to repurpose a damaged F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter after the U.S. military, the South Korean Air Force, and Lockheed Martin helped remove and reattach its wings.
May 14, 2025
Missile Defense Agency is building Discriminating Space Sensor to place its prototype on orbit by 2029. The DSS will track ballistic missiles, and be operated by the Space Force. The DSS, along with the agency's Hypersonic Ballistic Tracking Space Sensor (HBTSS) satellites are expected to ...
May 12, 2025
The Air Force will rotate fighters through Misawa Air Base, Japan starting this summer to bridge the gap between the F-16 drawdown and the F-35 delivery, expected to start in Spring 2026.
May 9, 2025
The Air Force is in talks with Boeing to modify requirements for its new VC-25B presidential aircraft in a push to get them into service by 2027.
May 8, 2025
The Pentagon cannot afford to lose access to certain parts of the electromagnetic spectrum if it is to proceed with the “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative, a top official told lawmakers. And with the telecommunications industry and some lawmakers pushing to open military radio waves ...
May 7, 2025
The Air Force announced a successful ejection seat test for its T-7A trainer, and an official told lawmakers the service expects the jet to achieve initial operating capability by November 2027—two signs of progress for the program.
May 7, 2025
The Air Force has added new self-guided gliders to deliver cargo to “high-risk environments” without putting a manned aircraft in danger. Contractor DZYNE and the Air Force Research Laboratory unveiled the new “Grasshopper” gliders, which can be dropped out of a C-17 or C-130 and ...
May 3, 2025
The U.S. has approved a $310.5 million Foreign Military Sale to provide Ukraine with maintenance and training for its F-16 fighter jets, the State Department announced May 2. Meanwhile, the U.S. Air Force has been sending retired F-16s to Ukraine to be used for spare ...
May 1, 2025
Air Force exercises in the Indo-Pacific may soon get even bigger and more robust, as lawmakers move to invest more than $620 million in such efforts. The bulk of that money, contained in a $150 billion reconciliation package currently making its way through Congress, is ...
April 29, 2025
Lawmakers in Congress are working to inject tens of billions of dollars into President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Golden Dome” plan for comprehensive missile defense of the U.S. homeland in the coming months.
April 25, 2025
The Air Force deployed a second group of F-35s to Kadena Air Base this month, reinforcing its fighter presence at the key base in the wake of retiring all operational F-15C Eagles from the installation. The stealthy jets and Airmen from the 421st Fighter Squadron, ...
April 24, 2025
The U.S. Air Force will ramp up its fighter presence near North Korea by sending more than two dozen additional F-16s and 1,000 Airmen from Kunsan Air Base to Osan Air Base, South Korea.
April 23, 2025
A dozen F-16s from Misawa Air Base are joining back-to-back exercises across the Philippines’ vast archipelago, including the northernmost major island less than 200 miles from Taiwan.
April 22, 2025
The Air Force has launched yet another new squadron dedicated to electronic warfare as part of its effort to expand expertise in the field. The 23rd Electronic Warfare Squadron stood up at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., home to the service’s sole wing focused on ...
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