Teaching North Korean Refugees (Michael)

One day I answered an ad on the internet and was introduced to TNKR (Teach North Korean Refugees) and thus began one of the most meaningful experiences I had in Korea. TNKR was an NGO started by an American affiliated with Harvard, Casey Lartigue  and a Korean lady who had worked in a government agency, Lee Eunkoo. Casey was the frontman and Eunkoo did the administration.

Their stated purpose was to assist refugees who had escaped from North Korea and had resettled in South Korea by tutoring them in English. The main program was to match volunteer native English speakers with North Korean learners. Then they would meet several times a week for tutoring.

I spent a lot of time and energy working on this program. It was very fulfilling because the learners were always grateful. Working with them I always had a sense that these were really substantial people of integrity. Mostly women, they were most often shy, diminutive, and gracious Korean ladies but upon hearing their stories I knew that at the risk of their lives they had crossed a river, survived in China, and successfully made their way to South Korea.

TNKR in addition to tutoring sponsored talks by refugees and defectors telling what they did and how they lived in North Korea. At least twice a year they held an English language speech contest for the refugees. I was privileged to act as a speech coach many times. Together we created a speech and practiced delivering it. I proudly became an advocate, teacher, and speech coach for these brave people.

The stories I heard from refugees and defectors were pretty much the same. North Korea was an open air gulag filled with brutality and devoid of basic human freedoms. And then many starved to death or shot. More than a couple refugees stated that theit most horrific memory was being called out by village officials to witness the public execution of a neighbor to discourage others from breaking the law.

Defectors who had held positions in the government said never give any money to North Korea. Even so called humanitarian aid was siphoned off to give to the Kim regime and the military. Never relax the sanctions. The regime had almost gone bankrupt but was bailed out by humanitarian aid given by South Korea.

The Sunshine policy of president Kim Dae jung sought to give aid to North Korea to improve the relationship. The aid included fuel oil and rice. Now it is pretty clear that little of that aid ever reached the people but was diverted to the military and the Kim regime. Large scale investment projects like the tourist resort at Mt. Kumgang (they were running cruise ships and buses from South Korea to the resort in the North until a tourist wandered off the property and was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.) and the joint venture business park at Kaisan both ended in disaster due to bad behavior by North Korea.

Nowadays the regime is earning hard currency from sending soldiers to fight in Ukraine and other deals with Russia.     

Ever since 1945, the same ideological forces that built North Korea and put a bloody psychopath at its head have existed in South Korea. The dictators that everybody loves to hate have kept them at bay but slowly they have seeped into every level of South Korean society. Now they are entrenched in universities, labor unions, judicial, executive, and legislation levels of government. They are pro North Korea, pro CCP, and anti American. They are pro unification, under the North Korean banner. North Korea has been sending agents to the south for decades to facilitate this. 

The reality is that the only way to unify the Korean peninsula is probably through regime change. 

30 Fundraisers Set Up — Just 10 More to Go!

Thanks to a generous South Korean donor, Freedom Speakers International is running a Matching Challenge to empower North Korean refugees.

The donor has pledged to donate $100 for every fundraiser set up — up to 40 fundraisers total.

✅ 30 people have already set up fundraisers
🎯 We need just 10 more to unlock the full match

At FSI, we empower North Korean refugees through education and public speaking. Many are now giving speeches around the world, writing books, and telling their stories in English for the first time.

By starting or supporting a fundraiser, you’re helping them continue that journey.
Even if you don’t raise any money, just setting one up helps us unlock more support.

👉 Set up your fundraiser. Show your support.
Together, we can amplify voices that were once silenced.

—
Casey Lartigue Jr.
Co-founder and Chairman
Freedom Speakers International (FSI)