Skip to main content

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.

Support TNKR: www.lovetnkr.org/donate or https://linktr.ee/caseylartigue


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. 


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.

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

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. *

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

Earth Hour 2013 Man of the Year!!!

In case you missed it, last night was Earth Hour. That's when people around the world turn off their lights for one hour to show concern for the Earth. The idea originated from the World Wildlife Fund. Bouncing off Don Boudreaux, I would like to announce that Kim Jong-Un is the Earth Hour 2013 Man of the Year. Kim Jong-Un, Earth Hour's 2013 Man of the Year I won't read through his resume and accomplishments to make my case, I will point out this satellite photo showing the difference between the two Koreas. North Korea, where every day is "Earth Hour." Not only is the dashing young dictator's regime focused on keeping North Koreans in the dark more than just one hour a year, but he is now leading a government that is threatening to blow up other countries for various reasons. He has ordered his military to strike with "lightening speed"--apparently confusing lightening speed with lightening, and thinking that lightening can bring ligh

2020-05-21 Goodbye, Katty Chi

I had heard through the grapevine and now it has been verified: Human rights activist Katty Chi has passed away. She is one of the first people that I met when I got involved in this cause. The first time was in 2012, at an event at the South Korea's National Assembly. She was super cool, one of my favorites as I used to say even when she was alive. And that is the important time to say such things, when people are alive. Whenever we met, I would say to her, "You know what happens when you meet me?" She would say, "Yeah. Time to take a photo?" I'm glad we did. And from Hyun S. Song, a close colleague of hers: And from Liberty in North Korea, the definitive announcement, August 4, 2020