March 26 is a special day (with Eunmi Park)

March 26th is a special date in Eunmi Park's life, for two different reasons, as she will explain one day. It was also special for us today because we (FSI co-founders Casey Lartigue and Eunkoo Lee) got to spend it with her.

We set a new record today: Eunmi spent almost seven hours at our office this lovely Saturday afternoon-turned-night.

Most evenings when she records a video she is at our for three to five hours

Today she recorded two more videos for her YouTube channel.

After years of silence, Eunmi has posted six YouTube videos her first two weeks of speaking out and now has three more videos recorded to be uploaded next week. They run the range of emotions. One video is heart-warming and inspirational, one is infuriating, and the last one... I am not sure how to describe it without giving away the story, but there are some sensitive points in it.

To get ready for the video, Eunmi first sends the script to FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee. She translates it, then I (and sometimes one of our volunteer staffers) edit it. After editing, we review everything in it to confirm that the translation and edit have fully captured her points. Eunkoo is not a professional translator and I am not a professional editor, so we take care to make sure we don't distort her message. We are doing this in addition to our full-time jobs as co-presidents of FSI and Eunmi does this after her full-time job or on weekends.

After editing, Eunmi then practices, over and over again. When we start this process remotely, then I or one of our office volunteers will record it for her to listen to the pronunciation.

When this is done on-site, then she will practice and practice, then she does a recording without anyone in the room.

With her first couple of recordings, she didn't want me in the room. English is her third language, it can be a bit intimidating to have a native speaker sitting there listening while you try to speak in a language that you still aren't that familiar with.

The didn't sit in for the first few recordings, but from the fifth or sixth video, I sat in anyway. That is usually the toughest recording because I stop her often and have her repeat some sentences again.

Sometimes she puts her head down on her desk in frustration, at other times she laughs, and at other times she just stares at me trying to figure out what the difference is between what she said and what I corrected.

She is still new to the world of YouTube, but is determined to make her channel great. At first, the video recordings were happening to her, but now she is happening to the videos!

Then we do the real recording. She is usually happy with the corrections, but sometimes... I am glad she is not a violent woman. Just in case, I may bring some boxing gloves with me next time so she can let out some frustration when I am having fun correcting her pronunciation.

Eunmi and Eunkoo then will review the recording together.

Then finally, done!

Well, not exactly done. Back at the office the next day, an FSI staffer will edit the video, make the video thumbnail, flyer, I will set up Facebook events to notify people in advance, we need to do other things such as come up with an appropriate title, and whatever miscellaneous things I can't recall at the moment.

Then she uploads the video! Her schedule is Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights at 10 pm KST. So set your alarms!

https://www.facebook.com/events/520034369487998

www.fsi21.org/?donate

P.S.: In the last photo, she was trying to stand on her tippy-toes to make herself look taller, so I did the same thing and also used her shoulder to make myself even taller.

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

Common Sense on North Korea (Korea Times, April 2, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. As interesting as Kookmin University professor Andrei Lankov’s writings are, there is nothing quite like attending one of his lectures. He can barely restrain himself behind the podium, often pointing and waving his arms. I also enjoy his unscripted speeches, but his answers in Q&A sessions are like the difference between watching Michael Jordan shoot baskets in warm-ups and an actual game. I have finally discovered the secret behind Lankov’s consistently solid analysis about North Korea: Use common sense. At an Asan Institute conference last summer, he argued that North Korea watchers should try to understand North Korea from its perspective. Don’t most people know that you must understand the mindset of others you are dealing with? Yet, common sense in theory gets ignored politically. From the North Korean perspective, nuclear weapons are the best thing they’ve got going. They will NOT give them up easily, even if President Obama ...

Random photos from today

I went walking around today. Whereas some people like to go walking in the mountains, I enjoy walking around in the city. Well, not D.C. or other cities with many homeless, crazy and/or armed people walking around... * * * Here's where I had lunch today. About $1.90 for a hamburger hamberger. * * * Ha-ha! Bet you never would have guessed that Batman is a drinking place in Korea! * * * Man Clinic? The Koreans walking by seemed to be very curious about why I was taking a photo of a "Man Clinic." They may know something I don't know...Actually, I wasn't curious enough to go in and find out what it was... * * * Right down the street from the Man Clinic...there's a Love Shop! I love the euphemism. "Love Shop" sounds much better than Sex Shop. I'm guessing that if you don't go to the "Love Shop" to buy condoms that you may need to visit the Man Clinic a short time later? * * * Nobo...

Last weekend: Suicide, Kim Young Ha, NK

Credit: Joanne Cho Event 1: Friday night I went to a talk given by Fulbright junior researcher Joanne Cho. She did a great job putting together statistics about some of the most commonly cited reasons that so many Koreans commit suicide. Probably the most provocative tidbit: Cho watched 86 dramas from the spring of 2012 to now, she says that 63 had "scenes depicting or discussing suicide" in a favorable light (as a way to solve problems, that troubled people can be forgiven for their sins and are even seen as sympathetic). Another interesting tidbit: While it is often cited that Korea is number one in the world in suicide (among countries reporting reliable statistics), what I had not realized or had forgotten is that Korean men are number 8 in the world compared to men in other countries with reliable statistics, Korean women are #1 in the world when compared to women in other countries. My questions for the speaker: 1) What was a finding in your research th...

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

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