2019-06-29 Another Special Saturday

"When are you going to wrap this up?" That's what a whippersnapper asked me near the end of Q&A yesterday, after I had given a speech to North Korean refugee adolescents and their mentors. Thanks to Prof. Shin Hye-young for arranging the session.

I'm a man with a lot of self-esteem, but it was tested on Saturday by those kids

(more photos below)

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* Saturday evening, was I dreaming? Or delirious after surviving those kids? We met with South Korean and Korean-American parents and students who are forming TNKR Valor International Scholars. TNKR has definitely come a long way from the days when it was just me and Eunkoo, and many times over the years we haven't been sure if TNKR would survive. (more photos below)

* In-between those two meetings, we met with Jackie Cole, TNKR's volunteer Manager of Publicity and Marketing. She is preparing the Annual Report.

* Lovely Sharon dropped by to work on budget issues with Eunkoo.

* A high schooler visited to talk about how he could volunteer with TNKR. His father joined him, at our request.

* It was too late for my previous update, we had another interview with a North Korean refugee seeking to join TNKR. Crying and laughter during the interview.

More photos below!

TNKR Valor International Scholars

Tears of a refugee

Lovely Sharon comes for a visit

Talking publicity with Jackie Cole

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

Mentoring while Black (Korea Times 2/16/2023)

Mentoring while Black by Casey Lartigue Jr. February 16, 2023 www.patreon.com/caseylartigue

North Korean defector seeks justice (Korea Times)

It was international news when 12 North Korean waitresses and a male manager who worked at a restaurant operated by the North Korean regime in China arrived in South Korea in 2016. The waitresses have mostly maintained a low profile. There have been numerous accusations and assertions, with some saying the waitresses didn't want to escape, some accused the Park Geun-hye administration of playing politics by releasing details of the case, etc., etc., etc. My blog at the Korea Times today features an exclusive interview with one of the former North Korean waitresses who filed a criminal case against the former manager. You can read about it here on the Korea Times website. https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2023/02/728_345165.html Keep in mind that there are many more facts to the case and that it is much deeper than this brief excerpt of her comments. She also shared legal documents that I shared with the Korea Times well in advance to give them time to review t...

From nothing to something super special (2023-02-10)

FSI has moved into a better institutional neighborhood where we are the poorest in the area. In August 2022, I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and in January 2023 FSI achieved incorporation status in South Korea. This has meant that FSI must upgrade operations and structure and I am the one, as chairman and co-president, who will be blamed if it doesn’t happen. I really should not be the chairman, for a variety of reasons, but anyway I am. Eunkoo and I are not the typical executives of a growing organization. In addition to being mainly responsible for building and fundraising for the organization, we are the hands-on leaders who are constantly in contact with North Korean refugee speakers. We look forward to the day we can afford staff to handle many tasks. Until then we can expect to continue having more days like yesterday, even on Eunkoo’s birthday. 2023-02-10 Meeting #1: planning We started Eunkoo’s birthday with a planning...

Is the SOTU over?

Some people asked me if I watched President Biden’s State of the Union. Haha! I have seen enough of them. Not just Biden’s SOTU, but SOTUs by US presidents! Back in 1999, I not only watched President Clinton’s SOTU, but the Cato Institute gave me the task of keeping track of all of President Clinton’s proposals and promises. Since then I have watched few SOTUs, once as a blogger at the invitation of National Public Radio. https://tinyurl.com/3dv5y452

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