2015-08-03 Korea University double-header

Today I gave two speeches about Teach North Korean Refugees at Korea University. I was joined by a different refugee speaker at each event. I am getting better at handling these speeches. I do an overview about North Korean refugees escaping to South Korea, then lead into a discussion about TNKR, then introduce the speaker, then during Q&A I try to fill-in the gaps with some extra information and anecdotes.

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2015-08-03 Speech 1

Speech number 1, one of our speakers showed just how much he has improved. He's a guy who says what he thinks and shows how he feels. His coaches have helped him channel those things, to be more structured in telling his story.

When he gave his first speech a few months ago, we talked with his coaches about ways he could improve. Today he was funny, emotional, poignant, thoughtful. I really felt proud watching him speak today. It was also his first time as a solo speaker.

* * *

It was really an honor, we were speaking at the class of Prof. Kathryn Weathersby. She's a scholar about North Korea and an expert on North-South Korean relations. We had a lively discussion during Q&A, thanks so much to our first speaker today.

2015-08-03 Speech 2

In the morning, I spoke along with a refugee at the class of Prof. Kathryn Weathersby. In the afternoon, I spoke along with a refugee at the class of law professor Marcus Cole. He's a scholar in several fields, a resume that makes it seem like he is three different people, and he still gets involved, such as his work with a charter school in California.

I spoke at his class last year along with Yeonmi Park, when she was on her rise to stardom. This is now the fourth time I have spoken at Korea University.

Today's second speaker prefers to remain anonymous so I will stop writing.

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2020 comment: Speaker 1 is Ken Eom. He had joined us a few months earlier. He improved quite a bit in just a few months. At that time, we were still being very careful about naming speakers.

Speaker 2 is currently active in TNKR, but he visits TNKR about once a year to update us about his life and to thank us for the boost his English received when he studied with us during 2014-16.

Get rid of that watermelon!

Part 1: When I was a youngster I used to collect Confederate money, posters and photographs with caricatures of blacks, and "No blacks allowed signs." I loved the money because it was a reminder of how far the sorry Confederacy had fallen. I had one poster of a dark-skinned black boy munching on a watermelon. I would look at that small poster and wonder, "What in the world is wrong with anyone wanting to eat watermelon?" Yes, white people, I'm talking to you. Your parents, grandparents, and other ancestors who thought making fun of blacks for eating watermelon were crazy ! Even people who say that nothing has changed in race relations must acknowledge that the many stereotypes of blacks are no longer prevalent. But then, there are also some ready to remind us of days-gone-by by debunking stuff that doesn't need to be debunked today. According to the Washington Post: The sound you just heard was yet another racial stereotype going kersplat ! Some ...

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

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 ...

Why I won't go to North Korea (Korea Times, December 27, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. “Have you ever been to North Korea?” This is the question I am almost always asked here in South Korea when people learn that I have become an activist for North Korean escapees. My response is curt: “No.” “Do you plan on going?” they ask next. My answer remains the same: “No.” When they start to ask a follow-up question, I cut them off: "No." People are often just trying to make conversation, I know, but I am blunt for a reason: I am not interested in going to North Korea as long as North Koreans are held captive. I could go one day, but for now, I can do without a government-guided tour by " men-stealers and women-whippers ," to borrow a phrase from American abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison. I don’t mean to criticize people who have gone to North Korea for political, educational, business, religious reasons or just plain curiosity. However, some people push me on the issue, ― and I push back. A good friend wh...

Last weekend: Suicide, Kim Young Ha, NK

Credit: Joanne Cho Event 1: Friday night I went to a talk given by Fulbright junior researcher Joanne Cho. She did a great job putting together statistics about some of the most commonly cited reasons that so many Koreans commit suicide. Probably the most provocative tidbit: Cho watched 86 dramas from the spring of 2012 to now, she says that 63 had "scenes depicting or discussing suicide" in a favorable light (as a way to solve problems, that troubled people can be forgiven for their sins and are even seen as sympathetic). Another interesting tidbit: While it is often cited that Korea is number one in the world in suicide (among countries reporting reliable statistics), what I had not realized or had forgotten is that Korean men are number 8 in the world compared to men in other countries with reliable statistics, Korean women are #1 in the world when compared to women in other countries. My questions for the speaker: 1) What was a finding in your research th...

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