Happy Birthday, Sharon Jang!!! (2016-01-02)

Today is the birthday of a really special lady: Sharon Jang! She is absolutely adorable, one of the loveliest people I have ever met.

Sharon is one of the Ambassadors in (TNKR) Teach North Korean Refugees. I will never forget her birthday for one main reason: Last year on her birthday she contacted me, she wanted to join TNKR. Her English was at a very low level, she asked me something like, "Do you teach english me?"

It surprised me at the time, she was the first North Korean refugee to contact me directly.

She joined both Tracks 1 and 2 of TNKR, studying English but also started collaborating with coaches to engage in public speaking. Although many people are afraid to engage in public speaking in their native languages, she was willing to try even though her English was at a low level.

It turned out that she was great! Her first speech silenced everyone in the room and even caused one of the other refugee speakers at the event to start crying.

She was profiled by the Daily Mail UK last year.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3089313/North-Korean-refugee-forced-work-coal-reveals-journey.html

Every meeting with her something memorable happens. Before introducing herself at her first TNKR session, she messaged me in advance to ask me to check her self-introduction. TNKR Co-director Eunkoo Lee and I helped her, but then when she was introducing herself, she held onto her cheat sheet behind her back while introducing herself in Korean. Noticing this, I reminded her about her self-introduction in English. I gently encouraged her to try. She did, and I could see she was so proud of herself!

Even though she knew there would be higher-level speakers at our second speech contest, she joined anyway. She didn't win, but her speech so impressed our hosts that they invited her back again for a special event with their staffers.

She has given speeches at events moving the hearts of those who hear her story. I have now known her for a year, I have only seen her smiling, thanking everyone for caring about her and about North Koreans, and always doing her best to improve herself. I don't know her schedule now, but last year she was working daily from 9 to 6, and then studying at an institute from 7 to 11 pm (something like that).

Happy Birthday, Sharon Jang! I'm honored and delighted to have known you for a year!

Sharon's fundraiser for Freedom Speakers International

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...

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 ...

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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