2020-09-26 Welcome back to TNKR!

TNKR started in March 2013 with researchers Casey Lartigue and Eunkoo Lee introducing a few North Korean refugees to a few volunteer tutors.

Yesterday TNKR held Language Matching session number 108. We have now had more than 460 North Korean refugees and 1,060 volunteer tutors, coaches and mentors participate together in TNKR's three education tracks. Our Academic Team of Jade Kim (Academic Coordinator), India Meyers (Assistant Academic Coordinator) and Daniel Cashmar (Volunteer Advisor) along with TNKR's co-founders organized the session for six North Korean refugees and 10 volunteer tutors.

A bit about the six students:

* All previously studied in TNKR.

* They arrived in South Korea in

2012 (1)

2013 (2)

2016 (2)

2017 (1)

They joined TNKR in:

2014 (1)

2016 (2)

2017 (1)

2018 (1)

2019 (1)

On average yesterday, they chose 3.8 tutors (they can study minimum twice a month with each tutor)

5 (2)

4 (2)

Of the six students, only one expressed preference for online tutoring.

* * *

The 10 tutors were chosen on average 2.3 times.

7 tutors were each chosen by two refugees.

3 tutors were each chosen by three refugees.

All 10 tutors engaged in some type of fundraising for TNKR, either as donors or fundraisers. Four of them set up fundraisers.

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1604536383059766/

https://www.facebook.com/donate/1239038899771051/

https://www.facebook.com/carl.phillips.1232/posts/10158822262571543

https://www.facebook.com/donate/799986174147235/

TNKR's Fan Club is now raising money to buy school supplies for TNKR students joining a Language Matching session. The school supplies given to the students yesterday were donated by TNKR Fan Club Vice President Shannon Galloway.

You can donate for future Matching sessions at a fundraiser set up by Shannon and TNKR Fan Club President Eben Appleton. https://www.gofundme.com/f/tnkr-school-supplies

After yesterday's Matching session, TNKR's Academic Team got TNKR's next tutor orientation sessions will be held October 17 and 18 (noon both days), the Matching session will be held October 31st. www.lovetnkr.org/tutor

Park Chung-hee: Dictator or benevolent autocrat? (The Korea Herald, July 20, 2011)

The Korea Herald published my analysis of Willam Easterly's paper "Benevolent Autocrats." Check it out at the CFE Website . Easterly questions if "benevolent autocrats" really deserve credit for high economic growth. The Idiots' Collective calls it "a must-read" piece. I agree. [Casey Lartigue, Jr.] Park Chung-hee: Dictator or benevolent autocrat? It ain’t necessarily so. That’s what New York University economics professor William Easterly essentially says about crediting “benevolent autocrats” like South Korea’s Park Chung-hee for high growth rates. In “Benevolent Autocrats,” a provocative working paper posted in May, Easterly 1) argues that economists should be skeptical of the “benevolent autocrat” theory; (2) questions whether benevolent autocrats truly deserve credit for growth; (3) and concedes he is making a losing argument because cognitive biases lead many to believe in benevolent autocrats regardless...

2015-04-25 First-time TNKR speaker

When I hear people say that South Koreans don't care about North Koreans, I have three main responses. 1) North Koreans are one of many groups that South Koreans don't care about. 2) The ones who do care, care a lot! Let's focus on getting them more involved rather focusing on the ones not involved. 3) It may just be that those of us engaged in activism for NK refugees need to try different methods rather than dismissing or denouncing others for not getting involved... http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/01/626_155820.html Last night, Saturday April 25, 2015, I met with two South Koreans to help a North Korean refugee get ready for her first public speech. Thanks so much, TNKR co-director Lee Eunkoo and TNKR coach Clare JH Yun! It will be a challenge, will be this particular speaker's first speech in English. She is also a newcomer to English. But her determination, wow! She is studying with a few coaches in the Teach North Korean Refugees project. I wish...

Open door to N. Koreans (Korea Times, January 16, 2013) by Casey Lartigue, Jr.

Open door to N. Koreans By Casey Lartigue, Jr. Last Dec. 12, I fired off an opinion piece of about 1,500 words to the Washington Post. It easily could have been 1,600 words, but I deleted all of the curse words. The day before, I had learned that the United States government had rejected visa applications by three of the students at the Mulmangcho School for North Korean refugee adolescents. Mulmangcho (meaning, ``forget-me-not”) is a small alternative school located in Yeoju, more than an hour south of Seoul. It opened last September with 11 former North Korean children who are orphans or are disadvantaged in some other way. It was founded by former national assembly member Park Sun-young and a distinguished board of directors. Why were the youngsters rejected? The explanation I got: 1) The U.S. government is concerned that they might not return to South Korea and 2) there was a question about their refugee status because they didn’t have pr...

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...

복날

Tomorrow is 복날 ( bok nal ). It seems to mean that it is start of the dog days of summer. So we'll be eating 삼계탕 ( sam gye tang, which is chicken broth with ginseng) to celebrate the day before the rest of Korea does so. Update #1 : You must literally rip the chicken apart with chopsticks and a spoon. It helps to wear a bib so it won't get on your clothes. The food is cooked after you order it or call ahead with reservations . Update #2 : It is pronounced by me as bok nal , but when I say it Koreans around me don't understand until I pronounce it as " bok nallllllll ." This is a common problem with the little Korean that I can say. I'll say it, Koreans will say I speak Korean well, then ask each other in Korean, "What did he say?" Update #3 : James explains that I am probably pronouncing bok nal incorrectly. Instead, it is probably better to pronounce it "bong nahl ." I have the feeling I still won't be understood unless I say ...

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