Skip to main content

2015-06-18 Skype interview--Canada

2015-06-18 Invitation

In recognition of International Refugee Day, the U of A and Edmonton chapters of Amnesty International are teaming up with the Teach North Korean Refugees Project (TNKR) and Liberty in North Korea (LiNK) to bring you a one-of-a-kind event that will give you a direct window into the human rights abuses in North Korea from people who’ve lived there, as well as sharing the hope they have for their lives now that they're free.

Two North Korean refugees will be speaking (via Skype from Seoul) about their experiences escaping North Korea and transitioning into a life of freedom, as well as several other speakers discussing the human rights situation in North Korea and their work helping North Korean refugees.

Our speakers will be:

• Sharon Jang, a 24-year-old North Korean student who fled North Korea in 2011. Sharon travelled for two months, covering 2300 miles through China and Laos, in order to reach safety at the South Korean embassy in Thailand. She had previously worked 15-hour days in a coal mine only miles away from the Hoeryong concentration camp (also known as Camp 22).

• Ken, who served for 10 years in the North Korean military, before escaping the country in 2010.

• Casey Lartigue, Jr., co-founder and co-director of the Teach North Korean Refugees Project, which provides North Korean refugees with English-learning opportunities and helps them determine their place in society, free of charge. Casey will be joining us over Skype from Seoul with Sharon and Ken.

• Dr. Kyungsook Kim, Korean Program and Language Coordinator for the U of A Department of East Asian Studies

• Esther Park and Dani Lichota, regional managers for Liberty in North Korea, a US-based organization that works to rescue North Korean refugees who are hiding in Asia and resettle them in South Korea. Esther and Dani are in charge of LiNK's Nomad program, which has representatives travel around the US educating about North Korean human rights. Esther and Dani will be speaking via Skype from Los Angeles.

After the speakers, there will be time for a Q&A with the audience.

The event will be in the Natural Resources Engineering Facility (NREF) room 1-001 on the U of A campus (right next to ETLC).

In the interest of keeping things affordable, tickets will be $5 at the door for the general public, and free for students with student ID. All proceeds will be donated to the Teach North Koreans Refugees project in order to fund their programs and help North Korean refugees learn English and get accustomed to life in South Korea.

All money raised will be matched by the Atlas Network! Therefore, any additional donations to the TNKR program will also be accepted at the door (and online...see comments section) and are greatly appreciated. Founded in 2013, TNKR is a young and growing program, so we're trying to promote them and get them all the support we can.

****************************************************************

Below are photos from a preparation session we had with Sharon to help her get prepared for the Skype session. Christine Kim, our first intern, translated her speech.










Popular posts from this blog

2022-12-09 Seoul Honorary Citizenship (ceremony & media roundup)

  On September 29, 2022, I was informed that I had been awarded Seoul Honorary Citizenship. December 9th, I was one of the 18 non-Koreans to receive Seoul Honorary Citizenship.  I was delighted to have several colleagues and supporters join me at the ceremony. They all have had a special role in my activities here. Here's the media roundup so far: The Korea Times (English) https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2022/12/113_341484.html Yonhap (English) https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20221211001200320 (Korean) https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20221210022100004 (French) https://fr.yna.co.kr/view/AFR20221211001000884 (Spanish) https://sp.yna.co.kr/view/ASP20221211000900883 K-Odyssey https://m.k-odyssey.com/news/newsview.php?ncode=179556481389320 Newsis https://www.newsis.com/view/?id=NISX20221209_0002118460 Chosun https://www.chosun.com/national/national_general/2022/12/11/S2OA76535FCBHFIQI7R5P7HYYM/ Daum News https://v.daum.net/v/20221211111512898 MSN https://www.msn.com/ko-kr/news/n...

"Who would be free themselves must strike the blow?" --Lord Byron

Frederick Douglass loved that quote. Booker T. Washington would say it sometimes, too. I recently met two women from North Korea. That's right, that North Korea. I asked them many questions but held back somewhat. I suppose they still must be careful and I don't want them to think I'm a spy. Hey, I used to be a host on black talk radio, I was accused of many things then. Plus, if North Koreans are trying to track those folks down I suppose the last thing they'd want would be to have their photos posted on a blog. At some point I will write about meeting those ladies. * * * Yesterday I got interviewed by a Korean reporter about various political and social issues. After I confirm that my interview made it past the station's producers then I'll post the info here. CJL

Race, race, race

On the issue of race: Clinton goes first, (surprisingly) without her Selma accent. Biden doesn’t mention that there is a clean and article black person on the stage. Richardson says the next president must talk about race…we need less talk about race, and more about individual action. Edwards said something, apparently to help us transition to the only somewhat black candidate on the panel. Obama has the home field advantage being at Howard, but doesn’t do much with the initial question. Kucinich says that people are told to raise themselves up by their own bootstraps, but then they steal the boots. He gets the loudest cheers. This will be a long night if that continues... Gravel —who? Dodd —like the 64th team in the NCAA basketball pool, Dodd should be one and done. Brb, I’m checking on the NBA draft… CJL

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 ...

Breen's column that outraged Samsung

“What People Got for Christmas” Michael Breen The Korea Times December 25, 2009 At this time of year when Seoul’s bare winter trees are wrapped in beckoning lights ― blue and white are the in colors ― and Merry Xmas signs at hotels and department stores are really saying come-hither-gentle-reveler-and-empty-your-purse, and when expensive restaurants belch noisy year-end office party groups onto every street and the karaoke rooms are full, it is tempting to declare that Christmas has lost its soul. But that would be a mistake. Christmas is a time for giving, and, before they can be given, gifts have to be bought. Commerce is good. Here, as proof, is a round up of some of the gifts given and received today by people in the news. Samsung, the world’s largest conglomerate and the rock upon which the Korean economy rests, sent traditional year-end cards offering best wishes for 2010 to the country’s politicians, prosecutors and journalists, along with 50 million w...