Skip to main content

2015-10-22 Even the interpreter cried!^^ TNKR@Osan Air Force base


Teach North Korean Refugees presented today at the Osan Air Force Base to an overflow crowd of at least 500 air force personnel and spouses (more than 300 were military personnel).
  • One speaker delivered his talk in English, another speaker spoke in Korean. It was quite a sight to see the interpreter lose his composure while he was translating. Then I looked in the audience, and many of those tough soldiers were also crying.
  • Getting it done! An awesome lieutenant got this done. Many people talk about arranging events for us, then, nothing happens, or we keep talking. The first time was slightly smaller scale, maybe 150 to 200 attendees. But today, it was an overflow crowd, at least 500, plus some high-ranking people joined us.
  • Many people came over to thank me for TNKR presenting their stories. They are military people, so they appreciated hearing the human side about North Korea, about the people inside the country, about their escapes and adjustment.
  • For our speaker who was in the North Korean military, he admitted that was a bit nervous looking at all of those U.S. military people. He had been taught in North Korea that he must try to kill U.S. soldiers anytime he saw them. But he met the “enemy” today, and they were friendly, respectful, gave him congratulations, and even gave huge gift baskets to both of the speakers.
  • * If he is ever questioned by North Korea about the event:
Q: Comrade! Is it true that you gave a speech before the enemy US soldiers?
A: Yes! I made them cry, that’s how tough I was.
Q: Then what happened next?
A: Oh… they applauded me, hugged me, and gave me gifts… But I made them cry, I promise…
  • After the speeches, we joined them at a casual discussion over pizza and soft drinks. So many people wanted to talk with our two speakers today, take photos with them, and also asked me how they could volunteer for TNKR. I recommended a couple of things, and they are military people, so one thing they apparently believe in is following up, getting it done!
  • I will post more photos, I will need to mosaic them first…  
www.lovetnkr.org/donate



















French version, translated by Alexia Andrieux
TNKR à la base aérienne d’Osan : même le traducteur a pleuré ! ^^
Aujourd’hui TNKR a pris la parole à la base aérienne de Osan devant plus de 500 soldats et épouses.
  • L’un des intervenants a pris la parole en anglais et l’autre en coréen. C’était impressionnant de voir le traducteur perdre son sang froid au fur et à mesure de sa traduction. J’ai donc regardé dans  l’assemblé et un grand nombre de ces soldats étaient, eux aussi, entrain de pleurer.
  • Agir ! Un formidable lieutenant a permis que cela se fasse. Beaucoup de personnes nous disent qu’elles vont organiser des événements pour nous, puis rien ne se passe, ou nous nous contentons de parler. La première intervention avait été réalisé à plus petite échelle, quelque 150 ou 200 personnes étaient présentes. Mais aujourd’hui, un grand nombre de personnes étaient présentes, au moins 500, dont quelques personnes haut placées.
  • Beaucoup de personnes sont venues à ma rencontre pour me remercier du fait que TNKR ai partagé leurs histoires. Etant militaires, ils apprécient d’entendre évoquer par des nord-coréens les conditions de vie dans leur pays, l’histoire de leur fuite et de leur adaptation à leur nouvelle vie.
  • Notre intervenant qui faisait partie de l’armée nord coréenne nous a confié qu’il était un peu nerveux en voyant tout ces militaires Etats-Uniens. En Corée du Nord on lui a appris qu’il devait essayer de tuer chaque militaire Etats-Unien qu’il voyait. Mais aujourd’hui il a rencontré l’« ennemie », un « ennemie » amicales et attentionné le félicitant pour son intervention, et offrant même un énorme panier cadeau à chacun des orateurs.
  • Si le gouvernement Nord coréen l’interroge un jour au sujet de l’événement :
Q : Camarade ! Est-il vrai que tu as prononcé un discours devant nos ennemies les soldats Etats-Uniens ?
A : Oui ! Je les ai fait pleurer, voici à quel point j’ai été pénible. Q : Que s’est-il passé ensuite ?
A : Euh … Ils m’ont applaudi, m’ont serré dans leurs bras, et m’ont donné des cadeaux … Mais je les ai fait pleurer, je vous le promets …
  • Après les discours, nous avons rejoint les soldats afin de discuter autour de pizzas et de sodas. Aujourd’hui, beaucoup de personnes voulaient parler avec nos deux orateurs, prendre des photos avec eux, et même leurs demander comment ils pouvaient aider TNKR.
  • Je leur ai donc adressé plusieurs recommandations et comme ils sont militaires, l’une des choses en lesquelles ils semblent croire est : agir !
  • Je posterais plus de photos une fois que j’aurais terminé d’en faire une mosaïque.

Popular posts from this blog

The Casey Lartigue Show

Guests scheduled for May NOTE: Check here for updates on Memorandum 46! Future Shows Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution This is my first attempt at putting together my own promo , it was rejected because of the sound quality May 19 edition of the Casey Lartigue Show We had a great show yesterday, probably the best so far. The topic: Malcolm X. The occasion? Anniversary of his 82nd birthday. Eliot Morgan and I had a great time talking with the callers. Deneen Borelli called in on our special guest line. You can download the file here. We posed the question: What did Malcolm X do? We contrasted the viewpoint and legacies of Malcolm X and Thurgood Marshall. The one mistake I made was not to focus on the question that Marshall asked: What was the one concrete thing that Malcolm X did. In segment 3, callers begin to get personal with us. May 12 edition of the Casey Lartigue Show Featured guest: Don Boudreaux of George Mason University Promo for the May 12 show May 5 edition of the C...
Read more

Does a flower turn to the sun?

I tend not to address points raised by people commenting on posts. In the back-and-forth of such discussions, people sometimes say things they don't mean or take extreme positions. In other cases they are just trying to be provocative, especially when they can remain anonymous. But a discussion on Greg Mankiw's blog caught my attention. That's because a couple of the folks suggested that parents don't really have the knowledge to make decisions about the quality of schools. Between 2002-2004 I was actively involved in the fight to get school vouchers for families in DC. I often heard the argument that parents don't know how to choose between good and bad schools and that, anyway, parents had enough choices with the school system's "out-of-boundary" options and charters (that had also been opposed). Without getting too deep into the out-of-boundary program, I'll point out that Woodrow Wilson HS, considered one of the best schools in the city, recei...
Read more

Korea Fighting!

Years ago I read an article about a man who kept a detailed diary about his life. I think it was 70 years of diaries. Nothing was too insignificant for him to mention. I remember reading it and wondering, "Yeah, but will anyone ever read those boxes of diaries about him going to the bathroom?" I guess he often wrote about himself writing... These days I'm having the opposite problem... I'm living it up so much that I don't have time to write... Can you really enjoy life and record it all? If I had time I would blog about... * going swing dancing * getting treated at the Kkunnori restaurant in Jamsil by two friends who insist I'm the luckiest man alive because I know them. * then getting treated to an hour or two at the Luxury noraebang near Kkunnori . * the "call" button in Korean restaurants * Koreans ordering too much food whenever they eat together * Meeting with Gong Byeong Ho (공병호) for the first time in 10 years. * how damn energetic Seoul i...
Read more

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 ...
Read more

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
Read more