North Korean refugee authors Han Song-mi, left, and Park Yeon-mi appear live on YouTube with Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of Freedom Speakers International. / Courtesy of Freedom Speakers International
After having a career game, NBA player D’Angelo Russell reflected on how public criticism shaped his competitive edge: “Public humiliation has molded me into the killer that y'all see today.”
Former NBA player Chandler Parsons expressed his understanding: "When I was in Memphis, I was publicly humiliated every single day." He said he is a happy-go-lucky person who became cold and even was paranoid about fans he would meet at the store because of relentless attacks in the media and on Twitter, among other places.
While I may not embody the ferocity of a "killer" on the court like Russell or the emotional detachment Parsons describes, I have undergone a significant transformation due to the criticism and falsehoods I faced, particularly starting in 2013. Conspiracies, gossip and baseless accusations from various quarters within the North Korea field changed what was a passion for me into a career. I still care, but not with the innocence and passion I had when I first joined this highly politicized field.
The intensity escalated when my activities with Freedom Factory and Park Yeon-mi were criticized in a rambling screed by the North Korean government in 2014. That screed unleashed the junkyard dogs defending the North Korean regime and made me a target. I had co-founded a volunteer project with North Korean refugees within a fledgling organization (that parent organization ceased operations in 2016, although it lives on with critics and researchers in an academic echo chamber).
That volunteer project lacked the infrastructure to withstand the onslaught of trolls, critics and a hostile government. We were like infants that sympathizers of North Korea were determined to drown. I heard I was shown on North Korean television, attacked in videos by supporters and defenders of North Korea and the target of many lies.
Rather than engaging with detractors directly, I chose to channel my energy into fortifying our organization against the lies and attacks. When they accused me of brainwashing North Korean refugees, I built a process emphasizing empowerment and autonomy for North Korean refugees. When liars and trolls accused me of financial impropriety, I focused on building a financially transparent organization that could withstand scrutiny at the highest level. Their accusations became bricks building the structure of a project that grew into an organization.
Earlier this month, we quietly celebrated our 11th anniversary. Our modest volunteer project has blossomed into Freedom Speakers International, now recognized at the highest echelons by South Korea’s Ministry of Unification. We have forged partnerships with influential entities and are poised for international expansion, marking a transition from our vulnerability a decade ago. If critics and trolls don’t like what I am doing, then I invite them to report me to the appropriate authorities.
On a personal front, a decade ago, I faced a pivotal decision: to stay in South Korea and navigate the challenges of establishing a grassroots initiative amid hostility and with little financial support, or to return to the comfort of lucrative job offers in America where I would be featured. While staying here meant joining a fight with organizational weapons made out of cardboard and taking a substantial personal financial hit, it enriched me with invaluable experiences and a sense of purpose.
My critics can claim two Pyrrhic victories over me. One, the threats and accusations I faced, with strangers vowing to destroy me, had me withdraw from direct engagement with North Korean refugees when I heard that even some politicized North Korean refugees were lying about me.
I embraced new avenues outside my organization, from mentoring South Koreans, teaching public speaking at a South Korean university, giving speeches to South Korean groups and organizations, arranging and mentoring a South Korean who gave an emotional TEDx Talk, and re-engaging with my alma mater, Harvard University.
Casey Lartigue, left, mentoring North Korean refugee Park Eun-mi, the older sister of Park Yeon-mi, in Seoul at the FSI office, in 2018. Courtesy of Freedom Speakers International
When COVID-19 began destroying the world, it threatened the existence of our organization. COVID-19 hit us, too, but I was ready to hit back because I was rejuvenated and ready to re-engage with North Korean refugees after taking a step back and learning lessons from dealing with South Koreans outside of the politicized North Korea field.
My innocence was lost, I was in a more defensive mode like Parsons, and had some of the killer mentality Russell spoke about. I had previously left the tutoring and mentoring of North Korean refugees to volunteers. I became the de facto senior mentor and more strategic about empowering North Korean refugees to engage in public speaking, albeit in defense mode, but more emboldened thanks to lessons I learned from mentoring and teaching public speaking to South Koreans.
I had rejected and evaded several requests from North Korean refugees to help them publish books or directly mentor them as public speakers. During COVID-19, I co-authored a book with a North Korean refugee and by the end of this year, my organization will have published four books by North Korean refugees with the assistance of volunteers. I still leave most of the mentoring to volunteers, but I have an open door for anyone seeking advice (and it isn’t just North Korean refugees seeking my counsel, by the way).
While I may not completely embody the "killer" mentality Russell refers to or the emotional detachment Parsons experienced, I am celebrating this year by taking a victory lap and preparing for the next part of my journey as a changed man. No matter if I turned left or right, backward or forward, up or down, I heard crazy talk denouncing me. I will move ahead in my way and let the dogs bark as they chase me.
I changed the title of my Korea Times blog from “Voices from the North” to “Workable Words” so there is space for me to discuss my work and activities. Reviewing my CV, I can see that I stopped updating it in 2016 after FSI became an official organization. I dusted off my YouTube channel (slightly more than 20 videos in 12 years) and will be more active with it.
In the past, I rejected offers to be the “foreigner” on Korean TV, but I recently accepted a request and was a foreigner singing on KTV. Last month, I was the lead presenter for a Webinar about 19th-century abolitionist Frederick Douglass, hosted by the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism. As I take a victory lap, I will cooperate with people who want to join me. As Mr. Douglass wrote long ago, in all caps, “I CONTEND THAT I HAVE THE RIGHT TO COOPERATE WITH ANYONE, EVERYBODY, FOR THE OVERTHROW OF SLAVERY IN THIS COUNTRY.”
In a recent blog post titled “The Trolls Fed Me,” I reflected on how critics inadvertently contributed to our organization's growth. I explored this theme further in a video that is the beginning of my victory lap of overcoming criticism to build a solid and meaningful international organization empowering North Korean refugees despite working in a fiercely politicized field with many haters, critics, trolls and conspiracy theorists.
Casey Lartigue Jr.,(CJL@alumni.harvard.edu) is co-founder of Freedom Speakers International with Lee Eun-koo and co-author with North Korean refugee Songmi Han of her memoir “Greenlight to Freedom.”
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