Reporters, researchers and curious minds often ask me about my long-term plans, goals and mission with North Korean refugees. I started to anticipate that question being asked at the end of interviews or discussions, but I now bring it up to provide context for my work.
Some of the people asking me the question are no longer hosting those radio and TV shows, so perhaps I should have asked them about their long-term goals and plans.
My long-term mission mirrors my short-term goals and plans: to partner with and empower North Korean refugees to engage in activities or studies according to their stated goals and dreams.
I first knowingly met North Korean refugees during a trip to South Korea in 2010. I neither planned on staying here nor working with them. As someone who likes to “do” freedom, I was honored to meet people who had escaped to freedom. But that was it.
After almost two years of learning and meeting North Korean refugees, I suddenly got active and seemed to be a bolt of lightning sent either from heaven or hell, depending on the viewpoint of others. I helped send USBs, air balloons and information to North Korea, met some paramilitary North Korean refugees, volunteered at a school for North Korean refugee youth and organized speeches and events. It seemed North Koreans were ready to storm North Korea’s bastille, and I would hold their coats as they did so.
I began meeting North Korean refugees who were not interested in radical activism but did want to raise awareness about North Korea. I started working with them.
Circling back, the first North Korean refugee I met praised me for my activities, then she paused and added, “but.” But what? She praised me more and said I was doing great things, but that didn’t help North Korean refugees who had already escaped. They had left North Korea behind and wanted other things, such as to improve their English language skills. That’s when I reorganized my focus and co-founded what has now become Freedom Speakers International (FSI).
The merging of activists, advocates and English learners under one project highlighted the diverse needs of North Korean refugees, but some challenges popped up. North Korean refugees who were neither activists nor advocates felt pressure to share their stories with volunteer tutors. We divided our program in half so those seeking to speak out could do so and those who wanted to anonymously study English could do so.
After FSI co-founder Eunkoo Lee and I quit our full-time jobs to focus on building the fly-by-night project into an organization, we had more time to have deeper discussions with North Korean refugees. We began to identify more reasons that North Koreans were coming to us.
There were storytellers who didn’t see themselves as activists or advocates. They wanted to tell stories of North Koreans who were still in North Korea, had been killed by the regime, or fellow North Korean refugee who could not speak out because their stories were too painful. When we had a speech contest focused on the lives of North Korean women, two of the speakers were men who movingly spoke about their mothers and sisters.
Han Bong-hee, a North Korean refugee whose father was killed by the North Korean government more than two decades ago, said, “I have now fulfilled my father’s mission, thanks to Freedom Speakers International,” after we published his memoir in English.
We identified another group that wanted to heal their own hearts and hoped others could also be healed. They said they had overcome trauma after telling their stories. Han Song-mi said her memoir she wrote with me helped her get over the trauma she had quietly suffered from for years.
We became aware of North Korean refugees who said their confidence had increased after they engaged in public speaking. On March 31st, FSI published Sharon Jang’s memoir, “Girl with Black Makeup” and she explained that publishing the book was like therapy that had increased her confidence.
FSI co-founder Lee Eun-koo and I work with North Korean refugees based on their individual levels and missions, ranging from activists, advocates, storytellers, those seeking to heal hearts, and others who find solace in our work to boost their confidence.
I try to briefly explain to reporters, researchers and curious people that we don’t have a particular agenda beyond partnering with and empowering North Korean refugees to find their own way. We have been able to work with a range of North Korean refugees long-term because we keep their individual needs at the center of our engagement.
Some of my fans have called me a “miracle worker.” I deny the compliment and explain we create opportunities for North Korean refugees to make their own miracles.
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.” He blogs at “Workable Words” for the Korea Times and on Patreon.
5 kinds of North Korean refugees
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16.04.2024
Reporters, researchers and curious minds often ask me about my long-term plans, goals and mission with North Korean refugees. I started to anticipate that question being asked at the end of interviews or discussions, but I now bring it up to provide context for my work.
Some of the people asking me the question are no longer hosting those radio and TV shows, so perhaps I should have asked them about their long-term goals and plans.
My long-term mission mirrors my short-term goals and plans: to partner with and empower North Korean refugees to engage in activities or studies according to their stated goals and dreams.
I first knowingly met North Korean refugees during a trip to South Korea in 2010. I neither planned on staying here nor working with them. As someone who likes to “do” freedom, I was honored to meet people who had escaped to freedom. But that was it.
After almost two years of learning and meeting North Korean refugees, I suddenly got active and seemed to be a bolt of lightning sent either from heaven or hell, depending on the viewpoint of others. I helped send USBs, air balloons and information to North Korea, met some paramilitary North Korean refugees, volunteered at a school for North Korean refugee youth and organized speeches........
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