Yuna's speech to tourists (2022-08-22)

Yuna Jung, a Keynote Speaker with Freedom Speakers International, was the featured speaker with a group of college students visiting from the USA.

Yuna has been a regular commentator on South Korean TV since 2017 and giving speeches in English since 2019 (she won FSI's 11th English speech contest).

When audience members ask her a question it seems that she has been waiting for them to answer. There is no hesitation, she has answers that are a mixture of humor, information, and enthusiasm but also seriousness and joy.

Yuna has some hilarious stories. She says some of them in her speeches but Q&A is when she really shines.

Yuna was the winner of FSI's 11th English Speech Contest, in September 2020.

Next month, Yuna will be a featured speaker at the Asia Liberty Forum 2022.

At a few moments, she did show her anger about the way North Koreans are treated as well as about a few other things.

When I asked if we should take a photo at the end the students were jockeying for the opportunity to stand next to Yuna.

During Yuna's presentation I referred to passages in books by Songmi Han and Wonchae Han to add more perspective.

Before starting the event, FSI's co-founders introduced about the organization and also gave some background information about North Korean refugees. As I told Eunkoo, we are often the Ralph Abernathy to Martin Luther King Jr., warming up the crowd and getting them prepared for the featured speaker.

I asked the students a few questions, they had no idea. I told them, "You are going to learn today!"

Eunkoo Lee says that she is shy, but she also seems to be gaining confidence as a public speaker.

Thanks to our supporters we can do this kind of work.

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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

Chosun Monthly magazine [Korean language]

Chosun Monthly Magazine has made an announcement (in Korean) about the Seoul Honorary Citizenship award that I received on December 9, 2022. Our Korean staffers say that the magazine is a big deal in South Korea. Here's the overall roundup of media about the award. In the next two months, I have extended interviews coming up in two different magazines, one in the USA and one in South Korea. Both articles will be in respected publications so they should raise awareness of FSI's work that your support makes possible. * * * Support FSI via Stripe or PayPal . https://donate.stripe.com/3cs28F5IAcc85IAaEF or PayPal .

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...

[Video] "Author Spotlight" by Harvard

On February 2nd from 2-3 a.m. (Korea time), I was the featured speaker at an "Author Spotlight" by the Harvard Division of Continuing Education (DCE) and the Harvard Extension Alumni Association (HEAA) . Watch, like, share, and comment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmRgP3q7rQg&list=PLn7xtnmarHFq6kVvq3PxOgC8nwjn8ioBO * * * I will be in the USA for two weeks in March, I will kick off the trip with a speech on the campus of the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HSGE) for its annual Alumni of Color Conference (AOCC). It will be a bit of a homecoming reunion, I was one of the speakers at the first HGSE AOCC in 2003. Stay tuned, this will be preparation for a larger event later this year. Thanks to everyone who has helped make FSI's work possible. ( Stripe ) ( PayPal ).

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...

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