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

Get rid of that watermelon!

Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

Last weekend: Suicide, Kim Young Ha, NK

Credit: Joanne Cho Event 1: Friday night I went to a talk given by Fulbright junior researcher Joanne Cho. She did a great job putting together statistics about some of the most commonly cited reasons that so many Koreans commit suicide. Probably the most provocative tidbit: Cho watched 86 dramas from the spring of 2012 to now, she says that 63 had "scenes depicting or discussing suicide" in a favorable light (as a way to solve problems, that troubled people can be forgiven for their sins and are even seen as sympathetic). Another interesting tidbit: While it is often cited that Korea is number one in the world in suicide (among countries reporting reliable statistics), what I had not realized or had forgotten is that Korean men are number 8 in the world compared to men in other countries with reliable statistics, Korean women are #1 in the world when compared to women in other countries. My questions for the speaker: 1) What was a finding in your research th...

Common Sense on North Korea (Korea Times, April 2, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. As interesting as Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov’s writings are, there is nothing quite like attending one of his lectures. He can barely restrain himself behind the podium, often pointing and waving his arms. I also enjoy his unscripted speeches, but his answers in Q&A sessions are like the difference between watching Michael Jordan shoot baskets in warm-ups and an actual game. I have finally discovered the secret behind Lankov’s consistently solid analysis about North Korea: Use common sense. At an Asan Institute conference last summer, he argued that North Korea watchers should try to understand North Korea from its perspective. Don’t most people know that you must understand the mindset of others you are dealing with? Yet, common sense in theory gets ignored politically. From the North Korean perspective, nuclear weapons are the best thing they’ve got going. They will NOT give them up easily, even if President Obama ...

Why I won't go to North Korea (Korea Times, December 27, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. “Have you ever been to North Korea?” This is the question I am almost always asked here in South Korea when people learn that I have become an activist for North Korean escapees. My response is curt: “No.” “Do you plan on going?” they ask next. My answer remains the same: “No.” When they start to ask a follow-up question, I cut them off: "No." People are often just trying to make conversation, I know, but I am blunt for a reason: I am not interested in going to North Korea as long as North Koreans are held captive. I could go one day, but for now, I can do without a government-guided tour by " men-stealers and women-whippers ," to borrow a phrase from American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. I don’t mean to criticize people who have gone to North Korea for political, educational, business, religious reasons or just plain curiosity. However, some people push me on the issue, ― and I push back. A good friend wh...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

Search This Blog