2017-02-20 Blast from the Past

We were visited yesterday by one of the first refugees to study in TNKR! She has remained a good friend of TNKR, and of course I love her because she constantly praises me as a hero of North Korean refugees. Well, that's the official reason I love her.

The unofficial reason is that she always says I am so handsome.

TNKR National Director Eunkoo Lee is now volunteering at TNKR full-time. That means she is now available to counsel refugees who visit us and to also answer phone calls from refugees asking to join TNKR. This was a turning point in TNKR (now FSI) history. After four years of running TNKR part-time as volunteers, Eunkoo Lee and I both quit our jobs to volunteer full-time. It was clearly among the dumbest financial decisions either one of us had ever made. However, for the organization, it was the moment we could start to grow and stabilize. I would laugh out loud at people who were comparing us to LiNK and larger organizations--we were all volunteers, working together on weekends or evenings, with no committed sponsors and relying on online donations.

I had told Eunkoo that either this organization was going to become something special or we should downsize it and treat it like a hobby. I quit my job at Freedom Factory first, then the day after I published this Korea Times column about her, she decided to quit her job too
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2021/01/626_222156.html

(As an aside, for the stupid chattering class of expats who live in the world of "gotcha! media", yes, I showed her the column in advance, and she approved it. I say that because when I was interviewed on the radio months later, a host accused me of blindsiding Eunkoo. Thankfully I had pushed for her to join me to be on the radio, she was there to dismiss the host's accusation.)

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2021 update: Thankfully, we are no longer volunteering. TNKR would not have survived to this point. The Korean government intervened on my behalf againstTNKR, demanding that TNKR pay me. The first year, TNKR could not survive my government-mandated salary.

Well, the government can force me to be paid, but it couldn't force me to keep the money! The first year, I donated 56% of my salary to TNKR so we wouldn't go bankrupt. I still laugh out loud and try not to curse when people ask me if I have ever donated to TNKR.

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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

Still writing (Korea Times, 2023-12-19)

Still writing by Casey Lartigue Jr. The Korea Times December 19, 2023 https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/opinion/2023/12/626_365284.html

[Video] "Author Spotlight" by Harvard

On February 2nd from 2-3 a.m. (Korea time), I was the featured speaker at an "Author Spotlight" by the Harvard Division of Continuing Education (DCE) and the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) . Watch, like, share, and comment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmRgP3q7rQg&list=PLn7xtnmarHFq6kVvq3PxOgC8nwjn8ioBO * * * I will be in the USA for two weeks in March, I will kick off the trip with a speech on the campus of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HSGE) for its annual Alumni of Color Conference (AOCC). It will be a bit of a homecoming reunion, I was one of the speakers at the first HGSE AOCC in 2003. Stay tuned, this will be preparation for a larger event later this year. Thanks to everyone who has helped make FSI's work possible. ( Stripe ) ( PayPal ).

Chosun Monthly magazine [Korean language]

Chosun Monthly Magazine has made an announcement (in Korean) about the Seoul Honorary Citizenship award that I received on December 9, 2022. Our Korean staffers say that the magazine is a big deal in South Korea. Here's the overall roundup of media about the award. In the next two months, I have extended interviews coming up in two different magazines, one in the USA and one in South Korea. Both articles will be in respected publications so they should raise awareness of FSI's work that your support makes possible. * * * Support FSI via Stripe or PayPal . https://donate.stripe.com/3cs28F5IAcc85IAaEF or PayPal .

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...

The Casey Lartigue Show!

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