Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2014

Man in the mirror, not the magnifying glass (The Korea Times, April 22, 2014) by Casey Lartigue, Jr.

Man in the mirror, not the magnifying glass By Casey Lartigue, Jr.  In the 1988 song "Man in the Mirror," the late Michael Jackson encouraged people who want to make a change in the world to start by changing themselves. Nice thought, but the reality is that most people prefer to use a magnifying glass to examine others. This is especially true of my fellow social activists imploring people to "wake up." A handful of activists will rally in a circle, but hundreds of fun-loving people show up, with very little notice, to join a snowball fight or mud wrestling festival. Fans fill up huge sports stadiums to support their teams. Two million people, mostly from South Korea, rushed to sign a petition denouncing the judging of an Olympic figure skating competition involving Kim Yu-na. Shaking their heads, regardless of ideology or issue, many activists ask: "Why don't more people care about (fill-in-the-blank impor

2014-04-21 Mulmangcho book party, award

Yesterday was incredibly hectic...work...serious meeting about canceling the rally and then having some distinguished people looking at me to make the final decision...BBC radio interview....booking a studio, unseen, and dealing with communication issue... one bad experience I won't talk about because it is ongoing...and almost everything coming together at the same time, for an incredibly hectic two hours with so many Kakao, texts, emails and phone calls that it seemed my ph one might explode as I was holding it... but there was something that was pure joy yesterday--receiving a very nice "Certificate of Appreciation" from Mulmangcho...

The Casey Lartigue Show with YeonMi Park! (Korea Times, April 8, 2014) by Casey Lartigue, Jr.

The Casey Lartigue Show with YeonMi Park! By Casey Lartigue, Jr. Greetings! You are tuned to the " Casey Lartigue Show with YeonMi Park ," a new TV talk show online at JKJ TV. I am delighted to welcome you to our lovely bi-weekly show that will focus on North Korea and North Korean refugee issues. My name is Casey Lartigue and I am the main host of the show, but the success of the show will depend on my co-host, YeonMi Park, a North Korean refugee who has lived in South Korea for five years. As far as we know, this is the first regular podcast or talk show featuring a North Korean refugee speaking English. YeonMi, a junior concentrating in Criminal Justice at Dongguk University, will be our guide. When she isn't studying like her life depends on it, she is doing everything else like her life depends on it. She is a regular guest on a weekly Korean cable TV show that features female North