 |
| Chaeeun Song speaking at TNKR's 10th English Speech Contest, September 1, 2019. |
On September 1, the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center held its 10th English speech contest. Nine North Korean refugees competed in the contest sponsored by the Korea Times and Shin and Kim Law Office, giving original speeches in English addressing the theme, "I am from North Korea." Chaeeun Song, a North Korean refugee who joined TNKR in mid-2018, was selected as the winner of the contest by a panel of judges. Since joining TNKR, she has studied with 13 tutors and speech coach mentors. She studied with speech coach mentors Mark Bendul and Karen Livecchia to get prepared for the contest. Below is an excerpt of her script, as prepared for delivery. -- ED.
Hello, everyone! I am so happy to stand here to speak about freedom.
First of all, I want to say thank you to TNKR for giving me a great opportunity to improve my English and to be able to exercise my freedom of speech. I really appreciate Casey and Eunkoo and my great teachers. Today, I am going to talk about three types of freedom.
What is freedom and why did I risk my life to find it? What is freedom when combined with the words: "private property," "mobility," and "speech"? Today, I am going to talk about these three types of freedom.
Like others who have told their stories, telling my story in a public forum is not easy. But I hope it will make you think about what true freedom is.
 |
| Chaeeun, standing, third from the right, poses with TNKR members. |
 |
| Chaeeun Song receives a flower bouquet from TNKR co-founder Casey Lartigue after being announced as the winner of TNKR's 10th English Speech Contest. |
Freedom of Mobility
In North Korea, people have no rights at all. You take it for granted here in South Korea, but have you thought about what mobility means?
I'm not talking about the latest mobile phones from Samsung. I'm talking about the freedom to travel. From city to city, state to state, and country to country. Most people in North Korea cannot travel without special permission granted by the government. You want to go somewhere by plane? Sorry, only in your dreams!
I don't have to wonder what it's like to live in a country where the government spends so much time and effort to prevent people from leaving. Barbed wires, armed guards, orders of shoot-to-kill―all of this to keep the people in. As though we are all prisoners condemned to serve a life sentence-just for being born in North Korea.
My purpose in life was to find real freedom by exercising my God-given human right of mobility. So, I made a pact with my friend and escaped to South Korea. That took a long time. I went through China, Myanmar and then to Thailand. Unfortunately, leaving by airplane was not a part of the plan.
As a North Korean refugee in Thailand, I was taken to a jail in Bangkok where I stayed for five months until my travel documents were approved.
For the first time in my life, against all odds, I rode in an airplane. My dream had finally come true! I saw many people recaptured, I believe I was one of the lucky ones.
I arrived in Seoul with nothing: no family, no friends, and no money. I was just 21 years old.
I was alone but I had to adjust to a new country and its culture. Luckily, I met my husband who is also from North Korea. We worked together for a year and rescued my mother and little sister as well.
While I was working and raising kids, I kept studying to complete my education. Step by step, I managed to earn a master's degree from Yonsei University. Go Yonsei!
I also operated an electronics business in Canada. I really exercised my freedom of mobility for that trip.
I then returned to Seoul to run my own insurance company.
In the end, I believe the success of my business is up to me. The fruits of my labor, like my freedom of mobility, cannot be taken away by anyone―not even an evil regime.
Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder along with Eunkoo Lee of the Teach North Korean Refugees Global Education Center, was the 2017 winner of the "Social Contribution" Prize from the Hansarang Rural Cultural Foundation and was recently named the 2019 winner of a "Challenge Maker" Award from Challenge Korea.
![[INTERVIEW] Partnerships with Korean companies help Delta Air Lines' post-pandemic recovery](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/892c5f8b83fc45018380807ff3c3d42b.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
