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.

By the way, Nara was one of our students in 2018 and she was one of the refugees who was in the incredible Happy Birthday video for me.

• 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.

https://www.cato.org/events/assessing-two-decades-education-reform-catos-center-educational-freedom-turns-20

Speech with tourists

I posted about it already, check here!

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

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Greenlight to Freedom

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 ...

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."

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...

To be a good volunteer, use your brain (Korea Times, December 5, 2012)

By Casey Lartigue, Jr. There is probably an unwritten rule that a celebrity offering to do volunteer work for a good cause should immediately be embraced. Well, that’s not what happened to Jeong So-dam, the glamorous Korean cable TV announcer when our paths crossed on Nov. 29. Ms. Jeong was the MC of an event about American political philosophy hosted by the Association for Economic Evolution. During my speech about American libertarianism since 1940, I discussed my volunteer work for North Korean refugees. After the speech, Jeong approached me, asking how she could help. I gave her the same tough love I give to potential volunteers by asking: “Who are you?” After all, if you are Bill Gates, then open your wallet. If you speak four languages, then help with translation work. So I first stress to potential volunteers: Use your brain. Tell us about your skills and interests so together we can figure out your initial role. Jeong was good-natured about it, rather than c...

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...

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