Skip to main content

2021-02-08 Happy Birthday, Freedom Rapper Professor Kim!

 


Happy birthday Freedom Rapper 김 정호! 


Eunkoo Lee and I are the co-founders of TNKR (now FSI)--but Prof. Kim is the godfather of TNKR! Eunkoo and I had started TNKR, no office, no phone, no infrastructure, no budget, no nuthin! 

We weren't sure about the future of our little project. When I joined Freedom Factory in late 2013 as the Director for International Relations, Prof. Kim welcomed TNKR as a project. 

My desk at Freedom Factory became TNKR's office. 

Even though Freedom Factory itself was fledgling, Prof. Kim welcomed TNKR, allowing us to incubate and marinate our project. We grew from English Matching to TNKR to Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center (to now Freedom Speakers International), with him cheering us every step along the way. When people say Koreans don't care about North Korean refugees, I think about Prof. Kim, who helped TNKR survive at a time that our future was uncertain. He has remained a friend and ally. 

These days he is busy with a very successful YouTube channel, not very active on Facebook either, but we stay in touch. Most recently, he was one of the judges at our English speech contest. Happy Birthday to 김 정호, the godfather of TNKR! 




* * *

Prof. Kim had been after me for a few years to have a YouTube channel or podcast. I kept finding excuses, I really wasn't interested. Then after I asked Yeonmi Park to work with me, I told Prof. Kim that I could try doing a YouTube channel, but I wanted a co-host and wanted to hire her part-time. He agreed with the idea even more than I did! A month later, we were on YouTube.



* * *

I had mentioned that I never do the peace sign in photos, but in this case, I did. It is a reminder that a picture may say a thousand words, but they may not always accurately represent the situation. Prof. Kim and I are with Prof. Park Sun-young, the lady who inspired me to get more deeply involved with NK refugee activities.



I had been hired by professor Kim at the Center for Free Enterprise in 2011 after being a Visiting Fellow the year before. I was then in the busy of other projects, such as with bringing the soccer team from Harvard University to South Korea. Prof. Kim was delighted to see I was active with outside projects.


I think later the same day that I joined an event with Korean politicians and comedians.



* * *

These two screenshots are from the rap video we were in together. I had suggested it, and he got it done!


* * *

I don't remember what this particular party was about, but I got to meet singer Kim Nahee then (she had sung the vocals on our rap video).




* * *











* * *

When I was hired at CFE, I was extremely active. So active, Prof. Kim thought it was great when I said that I needed a research assistant.




* * *

I was free at the Center for Free Enterprise to engage in various projects. One of them: the development of markets in North Korea. I held a forum in late 2011, then began reading more about North Korea, then got involved forever six months later.




Popular posts from this blog

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...
Read more

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

  National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube
Read more

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.
Read more

"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 ...
Read more

From nothing to something super special (2023-02-10)

FSI has moved into a better institutional neighborhood where we are the poorest in the area. In August 2022, I was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and in January 2023 FSI achieved incorporation status in South Korea. This has meant that FSI must upgrade operations and structure and I am the one, as chairman and co-president, who will be blamed if it doesn’t happen. I really should not be the chairman, for a variety of reasons, but anyway I am. Eunkoo and I are not the typical executives of a growing organization. In addition to being mainly responsible for building and fundraising for the organization, we are the hands-on leaders who are constantly in contact with North Korean refugee speakers. We look forward to the day we can afford staff to handle many tasks. Until then we can expect to continue having more days like yesterday, even on Eunkoo’s birthday. 2023-02-10 Meeting #1: planning We started Eunkoo’s birthday with a planning...
Read more