 An itinerant traveler, Jeppesen made his first visit to North Korea in 2012.His fascination with the country led him to enroll in a Korean language program at Kim Hyong Jik University in Pyongyang in 2016, becoming the first American in history to ever study at a North Korean university.Between 2012 and 2017, Jeppesen made five visits to North Korea, and was one of the last Americans to visit before the United States instituted a travel ban to the country.