Skip to main content

FSI's Week in Review (9/12-9/18)

 


North Korean refugee authors

Youngnam Eom visited the office to discuss his book. He first joined us in 2015 even before we had established an official organization. 



Eunmi Park visited the office to discuss her book. She first joined us in 2014 shortly after she arrived in South Korea. When she was ready to publish her book she came to us even though we are still newbies in the publishing world.


Eunmi even publicly announced that she was publishing her book with us. She comes to our office often to work on her book. It helps that she can spend time discussing it in Korean with FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee.



Others can help with discussing the outline, structure, which things to emphasize, etc. But still, being an author means spending a lot of time by yourself. When it is a memoir, it means reflecting on yourself, your life and others who have been harmful or helpful.



YouTube recording 

Eunkoo Lee and I did a recording with FSI keynote speaker Yusung Park for a huge organization. I don’t enjoy such recordings but will do them when asked. We should be posting the link soon.





Songmi Han updates

She published a lovely excerpt from her memoir Greenlight to Freedom at the Voices from the North blog at the Korea Times.



Songmi did an interview with North Korean refugee influencer Kang Nara which so far has been uploaded in three different parts. Of course, I was delighted when they mentioned me in this one and showed the book.




An FSI fan designed a Greenlight to Freedom ice tumbler! Because Songmi will be going to the USA we thought this could be an opportunity to ship them at a much cheaper rate than the crazy COVID international shipping rates. 
Act now! We will be processing the orders at the close of business on September 20th KST and will ship them directly from the USA.




Cato Institute

The Cato Institute has invited me to be a panelist at a forum on October 18th. Please check with the Cato Institute for registration and event information. It is a good reminder or will inform others that my professional career didn’t start with North Korean refugees. 




Speech with tourists


Board of directors

FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee and I made a presentation before FSI’s board of directors about our vision for the organization. It was an incredible meeting and a reminder about how the organization has gone from nothing to something special.



Eunkoo is shy, she prefers not to engage in public speaking, so my style is to tell her "no problem, you don't have to speak," then call on her anyway.
She used to thank me for not pushing her to speak and for taking the lead in outreach, I have been telling her for a few years that eventually we would need Koreans to be the public face of FSI. Lately she has been thanking me for pushing her to speak.


Our board is stronger than ever. The next time we meet, I am going to give a presentation about my own experiences on boards of directors.

Formerly, I was a member of the following boards of directors and boards of trustees:

* Black Alliance for Educational Options
* Frederick Douglass Memorial and Historical Association
* Dupont Circle Public Charter School
* The Young Executive Board of the Washington Scholarship Fund
* The William Doar Public Charter School for the Performing Arts

 


Support FSI by joining our Patreon

Popular posts from this blog

Let's not shake hands (Korea Times, July 2, 2014) by Casey Lartigue, Jr.

Let's not shake hands By Casey Lartigue, Jr. While there are many things that I love about Korea, there are two things that drive me crazy. One is that, in my observation, most Korean men don't wash their hands after using the bathroom. I know some people get defensive about non-Koreans commenting in a negative way about Korean culture and life, that they want to attack the messenger and the messenger's native country. So I will start by clearly stating that many men in America don't wash their hands either. According to the Website  Stop Handshaking , while 92 percent of adults in America say they wash their hands in public restrooms, an observational study of 6,076 adults sponsored by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) found that only 66 percent of men actually washed their hands in public restrooms (88 percent of women did so). As an aside, I am curious how they "observed" that many peopl...

Radio, Harvard

I'll be a guest on XM 169 The Power this morning from 10:15 a.m. EST. I'll be talking about teaching English abroad. I'll be interviewed by Brian Higgins of MYB Talk . I sang last night for about five hours with friends but I'm sure my voice will be fine. Tuesday, I'll be interviewed by a Harvard University representative who wants my input on a new doctoral program for education leaders . It is a collaboration between the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. Some folks at the Booker Rising site are (again) reminding me that I'm not as smart as I think I am. CJL

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 t...

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

Mentoring while Black (Korea Times 2/16/2023)

  Mentoring while Black by Casey Lartigue Jr. February 16, 2023 www.patreon.com/caseylartigue