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.

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

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.

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...

2020-04-26 "May I choose more teachers?" TNKR Matching session #102

2020-04-26, TNKR Matching session #102 The Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (TNKR) humbly began in March 2013 with 5 tutors and 5 NK refugees being matched together. We held that first session at a TOZ business center in Gangnam. Seven years later, TNKR has now matched 455 North Korean refugees with 1,027 tutors, coaches, and mentors. Today we held our 102nd Language Matching session at our slightly expanded office near the Sangsu Subway Station. Instead of just being something that Casey and Eunkoo did short-term, TNKR is now an official organization in both South Korea and the USA, we have been featured in media and by other organizations (just yesterday, we were featured by KOTESOL), and we have fans and donors from around the world.

Chang Ha-Joon's foolish consistency (Korea Times, January 1, 2013)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. Is the sky blue? Is the ocean water? If you suspect those are trick questions, you are right. The sky isn’t always blue ― it is reddish at sunset, dark at midnight, gray on an overcast day. The ocean isn’t water ― there’s also fish, plant life, submarines, dissolved minerals, surfboards, sunken ships, even people swimming in it sometimes. As Hoover Institution scholar Thomas Sowell wrote in his 1996 book ``The Vision of the Anointed,” people who use “all-or-nothing” reasoning can deny a statement because it is not 100 percent true in every circumstance. Such word games might be fun for college students or debaters, but there are some distinguished people who are respected for making such childish arguments about serious issues. In his book ``23 Things They Don’t Tell you About Capitalism,” Cambridge University economist Chang Ha-Joon argues that 1) “[T]here is really no such thing as a free market” and 2) “The free market doesn’t exis...

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

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