Myoung-ja Lee Kwon was born in 1943 on the grounds of the Kyongbok Palace in Korea. Her father’s occupation as a university professor which gave the family a higher status and allowed them to live in a state of prosperity. But war changed these circumstances. In 1965, after graduating from Seoul National University, Kwon got married and moved to the United States of America, where a year later she earned a Master’s degree in Library Science from Provo, Utah.