2022-11-22 KAA Friendship Night

I have been on the board of directors of the Korea-America Association since February 2021. Tonight I joined my first KAA Friendship Night.

"Friendship” is an understatement for the night. At times, it seemed that I was close friends with everyone in the room. At times, I was getting swarmed by KAA members and friends.

Thankfully FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee joined me, she was able to quickly explain details about FSI and she captured some of the wonderful moments during the night.

On October 31st, I was a discussant at a seminar hosted by the Hana Foundation. This ambassador was one of the speakers there that day, it was great seeing him again, we will be visiting his country’s embassy soon.

This North Korean refugee came over to talk with me. She recently met Songmi Han but she didn’t know that I was the person who wrote Songmi’s book.

It was great meeting these US military members.

No, I didn't win an award. I won a pair of sunglasses during the raffle.

Eunkoo Lee explained to them about FSI is and I think she even praised me as she explained.

He's an official with the US Embassy.

Kim Suk-woo, former vice minister of the Unification Ministry. I first met him 10 years ago when he was on the board of the Mulmangcho School and I was the International Cooperation Advisor.

Eunkoo Lee won a bag during the raffle. She said she would give it to her father.

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...

2015-11-12 Case Study of TNKR by Columbia Teachers College

--New York, New York-- If TNKR can make it here, it can make it anywhere... * Wanna know how good TNKR is? Even great people at Columbia University believe it is great. Teach North Korean Refugees is now being analyzed by graduate students at The Teachers College, Columbia University as part of a case study. TNKR wasn't even an official organization until May 2015, but we have already had many great things happen. With both the professor and students in the class analyzing us--yes, asking some pointed questions, too--then TNKR should be even stronger in 2016 in helping refugees find their way and tell their stories. * Have you ever told someone that you were honored by something they were doing, and they try to convince you that they are even more honored to collaborate with you! That's what happened tonight with the professor at Columbia University who opened her classroom to me. She and the students were asking me plenty of pointed questions about TNKR. Based on their respo...

2019-02-18 TNKR media mentions coming soon

We had two media interviews at our office today. We also have some media outlets who will be covering our speech contest on Saturday, doing interviews before and after the contest. The two interviews today were with an international media outlet and a prominent Korean one. As usual, the international media outlet didn't want to commit to mentioning TNKR although 1) they had promised that when they first contacted us 2) we found an interviewee for them 3) organized it 4) hosted the interview. Update: Yes, NPR you are terrible, once again using non-profits for stories, then ignoring them when it is time for publication. NPR reporters blame their editors back at headquarters for choosing not to name organizations, I am now used to their process. So after this case, I decided when an NPR (or New York Times) reporter contacts me, I will ask the reporter if I can speak to their editor at the start. Perhaps I should also ask to speak to their mothers. www.lovetnkr.org/donate

2019-09-06 Interesting Person of the Week

2019-09-06, I was the "Interesting Person of the Week" on TBSeFM, interviewed by former National Assembly member Jasmine Lee. We first met about six years ago when she was in the National Assembly, but we lost contact a few years ago when I changed jobs and went through a cell phone change. We were in-studio, live on the air, for the “Interesting Person of the Week” feature on Jasmine Lee’s show, 10 Everyday. Podcast: https://audioclip.naver.com/channels/106/clips/12008 The main thing I liked about it: The interview was interactive. She wasn’t just interviewing by going down a list of questions, then jabbing at me occasionally. She had her own thoughts and experiences and would mention them within the context of what I was saying. When she introduced me, I was tempted to say, “If I’m so interesting, why did you wait to interview me? I didn’t get interesting until this week???” Well, even Michael Jordan wasn't MVP every year even though he is one of the all-time greats!...

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...

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