http://koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2015/02/626_173365.html
A magnet for freedom
By Casey Lartigue, Jr.
[1] I’m sure that some North Korean
refugees try to motivate their loved ones still in North Korea to escape by
sharing information about the outside world. I am humbled to learn that I have
become part of that information.
[2] One of the refugees participating in
the Teach North Korean Refugees project I co-founded with Lee Eun-koo recently
told me that she has been trying to convince her sister to escape from North
Korea. “Come to South Korea,” she has been telling her. “You can even study
English for free with as many teachers as you want. It is because of a nice
American who wants to help North Koreans.”
[3] North Koreans are warned from a young
age about evil blood-thirsty American beasts. It is wonderful that I am being
cited as a reason for a North Korean to flee to freedom.
[4] Other North Koreans in North Korea have
heard about that “nice American.” Last summer, a North Korean refugee interning
at Radio Free Chosun did a shortwave radio broadcast into North Korea about me.
That could have gotten me on North Korea’s enemies list, or bumped me up a few
spots, but it is rewarding to know that someone in North Korea could be
inspired to flee because of my activities. I would prefer to have the regime
target rather than praise or positively cite me.
[5] How quickly things change. Five years
ago, I was ignorant of the scope of the human rights crisis in North Korea and
had no idea what to do about what I did know. My life changed in early 2012
when about 30 North Korean refugees caught in China were going to be sent back
to North Korea. I began organizing “meet-up” sessions to attend protests in
front of the Chinese embassy in Seoul. Then on March 1, 2012, I was inspired by
Prof. Park Sun-young’s hunger strike in front of the Chinese embassy to protest
the looming repatriation.
[6] Prof. Park was sitting in a tent across
the street from the embassy. I approached her and told her that I was going to
get more deeply involved. Not realizing it was a life-focusing moment for me,
Prof. Park did the equivalent of patting me on the head and saying, “That’s
nice to hear, dear.” A month later, we protested together in front of the
Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C.
[7] I later became the International
Adviser to the Mulmangcho School for North Korean refugees founded by that lady
in the tent. Prof. Park asked me if I could teach English to the children, but
I declined. Even when I was employed as an English teacher, I wasn’t a good
one. Instead, I suggested to her that I could try to recruit volunteers who, I
hoped, would relish such an opportunity. For at least one year, I told her, I
would be a “magnet” to the school attracting volunteers. That was almost three
years ago.
[8] In the book “The Tipping Point,” gadfly
Malcolm Gladwell writes that there are three kinds of people who share information.
One, “connectors” are the type of people who always know somebody who knows
somebody. Two, “mavens” are the people who know a lot about a particular topic.
Three, salesmen are the people who can persuade others of something.
[9] I like those three categories, but my
slight difference (perhaps without a distinction) with Gladwell’s lineup is
“salesman.” I don’t care if people are convinced by me ― I’m fine with them
knowing about my activities. Instead of being a “salesman,” I try to be a
magnet for a cause.
[10] In addition to North Korean refugees,
I have heard from our volunteers how inspired they have been to have
participated in the Teach North Korean Refugees project. Some have gone on to
make documentaries, join other NGOs, and inform others about the crisis in
North Korea. Most recently, Cherie Yang, a North Korean refugee who lives in
America, contacted me to tell me that she had been inspired by my podcasts with
North Korean refugee Park Yeon-mi. It reminded Yang that after escaping North
Korea to freedom that had promised herself that she would try to help North
Koreans escaping to freedom. Inspired, she has now joined my company as a
volunteer intern and as a participant in TNKR.
[11] It now usually takes North Korean
refugees about two to three years to get to South Korea or a third country
after escaping from North Korea and through China. I will never get to China to
rescue North Korean refugees, but perhaps the day will come that I will meet
someone who escaped North Korea or China after hearing about me. For now, I’m
thrilled to know that I have been cited as a reason for North Korean refugees
to escape to freedom.
The writer is the Director for
International Relations at Freedom Factory Co. in Seoul and the Asia Outreach
Fellow with the Atlas Network in Washington, D.C. He can be reached at: CJL@post.harvard.edu.