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2014-09-06 "North Korea Today," live recording in Hong Kong


2014-09-06, I was in Hong Kong for an Atlas Network conference. I gave a speech about my activities in South Korea, then the highlight of the conference was the live recording of the TV podcast I then had with Yeonmi Park. As I mentioned after we first launched the show, in March, I was the main host and producer, but the show would depend on Yeonmi.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsOPQVJKvSc&list=PLn7xtnmarHFrAyIoF6t2PNrrE1LzZp2G8&index=1

It was a bit awkward for us doing the show in front of a live audience, without the OTV team with us, and with the cameras so far away that (at least I) couldn't focus on which one to look at.

Anyway, we had a great time, and the audience was really responsive and seemed to enjoy it. We opened the floor to questions, that was a lot of fun responding to questions..

* * *

2020 reflection. Looking back, this recording almost didn't happen. Before Yeonmi flew from South Korea, she had gotten a warning from South Korean police that she could be at risk if she left the country. North Korea had taken notice of her, put her on the target list, and had even named her and our company Freedom Factory in one those ranting screeds about all of the people in the world North Korea hates at that particular moment.

If you watch the clip from the 8 minute mark, Yeonmi mentioned that she had been warned about North Korea initiating "activities" against her. This had started back on May 1st, when she received a call from a South Korean police officer warning her that North Korea had put her on top of the target list. 

I was the podcast creator, but I was also Yeonmi's mentor and big brother. When she apologized about possibly causing me trouble, my response to Yeonmi? "You're fired." 

That's right, I fired Yeonmi from the podcast! I told her that she had to think about her life and consider her next steps. She was only 20 years old, but her words were provoking a COUNTRY into targeting her entire family. She wanted to continue with the podcast, and confirmed it the next day when we talked.

As the context for the recording: Yeonmi was then 20 years old, a student, but also really busy (South Korean TV show commentator, co-host of the podcast with me, working with Freedom Factory, and others who were already chasing her for interviews and job). She had some uncomfortable secrets about what happened to her in China that she wasn't ready to reveal, although researchers and reporters wanted and demanded immediate answers. And she was being warned by South Korean police that the North Korean regime was after her.

I think back to when I was 20 years old, also a student--reading, hanging out, playing hoops, not thinking much about the world, and certainly not being threatened by a psychotic country.

At the 8 minute mark of our recording in Hong Kong, it all seemed to hit her when I asked her, "Do you feel like you're free today?" She had told me after she arrived in Hong Kong about the drama before she left South Korea, so that was the context of the question. 

She lost her composure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsOPQVJKvSc&feature=youtu.be&list=PLn7xtnmarHFrAyIoF6t2PNrrE1LzZp2G8&t=468

As I recall, we took two short breaks for her to recover (edited out of the podcast) and you can see that her eyes were a bit red from around the 9 minute mark after we returned from a break.

I then changed the conversation to the black market generation and the interview resumed.

* * *

Photos from the conference.










The trip was fantastic, one of the most memorable in my life. Freedom Factory seemed to be getting a bit stronger. I had brought TNKR over to Freedom Factory, and we were also starting to develop that.

I was assembling a dream team (Yeonmi was Freedom Factory's Media Fellow and ambassador of TNKR, TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee and TNKR Academic Advisor Sodam Jeong). 

A month later, Yeonmi would give a speech that has been viewed more than 80 million times.

* * *

Yeonmi Park's fundraiser for TNKR


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