Skip to main content

2014-07-18, Day 1: Shanghai Austrian Economics Summit

I had an INCREDIBLE time at the Shanghai Austrian Economic Summit 2014, organized by Kenli Schoolland and Li Schoolland. Thanks to them for inviting me again. The conference was extra special this time because I was joined by three of my Freedom Factory colleagues. We had so much fun getting lost in Shanghai, bonding, and meeting and greeting so many people.

Yeonmi Park definitely stole the show. As several people at the summit mentioned--they talk about freedom, but she actually had to escape to it, at the risk of death. It was a busy week for her, with three speeches in seven days (Freedom Factory's "A Change is Gonna Come, a speech at Korea University, and the summit in China). She loves the many opportunities she has to travel abroad to speak, but this one was especially poignant because she was an illegal alien in China during 2007-09 after her immediate family escaped from North Korea. This time, she was a free woman, and loving it!

As for me, it was wonderful. I also gave a speech on the main day as I shared the stage with Yeonmi. I was co-host of the talent show, during which I rapped to Salt N' Pepa's Whattaman with my own version of the song, then showed off my intermediate level swing dance skills while dancing with Kenli and Yeonmi.



Yeonmi and I also got invited to give speeches in other parts of the world. So there could be more adventures coming up. Many more photos coming later.

Yeonmi and I spoke together on a panel, as I recall, we were featured presenters.


I did the warmup act presenting background info about North Korean refugees, then Yeonmi spoke.






But of course, she was the key person, even though she was a late invite.






With the welcoming party! Kenli Schoolland and Renee Cai!


Yeonmi Park talking--in English and Chinese--with Mao Yushi, the winner of the 2012 Milton Friedman Prize from the Cato Institute and an outspoken spokesman for freedom. 
His criticisms of chairman Mao almost landed him in prison. 


With Yoshida Hiroshi, our good friend from Japan! Eventually, we will make it to Japan, too!


Thanks, Kenli Schoolland, for putting together such a great conference!


Yeonmi Park holding a One Hundred Trillion dollar bill from Zimbabwe... courtesy of one of my favorite people, Ken Schoolland! 



Bitcoin never looked so good! Several of these ladies work with a Bitcoin company. Wang Qijun will be coming to Seoul and probably speaking at an event I will co-organize with Yoojin Lee.


She spoken at the opening banquet about Bitcoin.


With Riya Basnet, who insisted that she is my #1 fan.


Feng Xingyuan is a pro-market economist and professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and Vice Director of Uniurle Institute of Economics in China. I swear, he can connect any topic to the benefits of the invisible hand...



With TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee, Ami Chheda and Riya Basnet



With Li Schoolland and Xingyuan Feng


With Ami Chheda 


With Arpita Nepal



with Dr.Kriengsak Chareonwongsak เกรียงศักดิ์ เจริญวงศ์ศักดิ์, President of the Institute of Future Studies for Development in Thailand.


at the opening banquet, with the Freedom Factory team, a student from Korea and her mother, as well as my good buddy Ken Schoolland



Barun Mitra...we meet again, in yet another country...India, Korea, Malaysia, China... He can discuss almost any issue in the world, and does so often.^^


With Deependra Chaulagain

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


Traveling with Yeonmi, Eunkoo and Yoojin was a great experience--but one that I may never want to do again. We got so lost on the subway. Looking at those photos, I am not surprised we got lost a few times.


Don't battle with Yeonmi Park, she wants to win, and will punish you harshly when you lose... but will remind you that she is a tiny young lady when it is her turn to get punished...



Gotcha! 





Eunkoo was better at the games than I was, so she was able to get revenge for the last 16 months we have been working together..


Buying subway passes, probably after we had wasted money getting lost.






There was a minor controversy with an promotional photo. A MANEL! Only men on the panel. I had recommended Yeonmi as a speaker, but she wasn't confirmed as a speaker until she published a great article in the Washington Post, written with her radio co-host. Then later, I did such a great job recommending her, they deleted my photo from the lineup.




Various photos taken during our travels.









Popular posts from this blog

Eunkoo Lee: TNKR's #1 Settler

If I could convince TNKR co-founder Eunkoo Lee that we needed to start executing volunteers, then she would quickly come up with a schedule with their names and execution times. She would do it fairly and orderly, accepting no exceptions or changes. If I suggested a change, then an argument would start about me being "Mr. Changeable" interrupting the schedule. That is how I have worked with Eunkoo Lee over the past seven years. She must be convinced, but once she believes in something, she charges ahead. What she is NOT interested in is public relations or dealing with media. I say this to people, but they don't believe me. But like the minister said after witnessing a baptism, "Not only do I believe in baptism, but I've seen it done!" * * * It has happened again! Someone noticed that my bio is much longer than Eunkoo's. I have heard a number of gripes from people over the years, ranging from Eunkoo should be featured more to I should step aside
Read more

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 the case. *
Read more

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
Read more

2014-02-14 Yeon-Mi Park`s debut

Yeonmi Park, February 14, 2014, making her debut! Yesterday I was one of the speakers at a special session on North Korean refugees at the Canadian Maple International School. Wow, it was a wonderful time! * Yeon-Mi Park delivered her first major speech in English. She was wonderful! She told her story (35 minute speech without notes), discussed different aspects of North Korea, and then handled questions from students for more than an hour. She did seem to be nervous at the beginning-she took a deep breath just as she started, looked at me, then told her story from her heart. * Returning from the speech, I told Yeonmi that she had star potential. She told me that she didn't believe it, but I told her that the way she handled Q&A and told her story, I would be lucky to have her still returning my phone calls within a year. * The students had many questions. They have been learning about North Korea. They are now reading "Escape from Camp 14" featuring Shin Dong-h
Read more

Helping North Koreans 'strike the blow' (Korea Times)

H ave you ever engaged in action not because you were sure it would change the world, but to satisfy your own heart? That, I emailed to an American friend, is why I have joined the effort to help North Koreans who are trying to escape from their homeland. I can’t change the direction of policy in North Korea or China but I can row the boat I am sitting in rather than lamenting that I can’t steer the yachts somewhere else. So I have tried to do what I can: Attending protests in front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul (and I plan to do so when I visit America in April); donating money to the Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights ( www.nkhumanrights.or.kr ); educating myself, writing articles and emailing friends; and, as a member of the board of trustees, I recently submitted a resolution to the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association (FDMHA) in Washington, D.C., to try to call attention to the plight of North Koreans. Our organization’s missi
Read more