The chooser becomes the chosen

Casey Lartigue Jr. holds "While Time Remains" with Park Yeon-mi, second from right, and Han Song-mi in New York City, March 16, shortly before doing a YouTube live on Park's YouTube channel. Courtesy of Casey Lartigue Jr.

By Casey Lartigue

In my career over the past 25 years in the USA and South Korea, there have been many times that I have been "chosen" by influential people, at other times I have chosen others to mentor or assist, and there have even been cases that I chose mentors.

The first time I was chosen was in 2002 by Prof. Walter E. Williams. In 2002, the now late Prof. Williams was then a professor of economics at George Mason University and a substitute host on the Rush Limbaugh Show.

When I published a study in 2002 about the long-term failure of public education in Washington, D.C., and recommended school choice options, Prof. Williams invited me to be his guest on the Rush Limbaugh Show. After that, I would occasionally visit him at his office at George Mason University. He was an early bird, so I would meet him before 7 a.m.

His choosing me was at the level of making me, Mafia-style, a "made man." At that time, I was working at a think tank in Washington, D.C., and I had come under some criticism internally for some of my activities. Being chosen as a guest on the Rush Limbaugh Show raised my profile within my organization and had others inviting me on their shows and to give speeches.

When I became a guest host and later started my own radio show, Prof. Williams agreed to be a regular guest on it. The Rush Limbaugh Show used to have as many as 20 million listeners per week. I had no idea how large my audience was, but Prof. Williams never rejected when I invited him on my show. He squeezed me into his schedule on Saturday mornings, as he waited for his now late wife to have medical treatment. We stayed in contact until his death in late 2020.

Shortly after I was on the conservative Rush Limbaugh Show, a host on the progressive "Democracy Now!" on Pacifica Radio wanted to interview me. She had heard about attacks and allegations about me being an undercover FBI agent infiltrating black neighborhoods. She said she had received similar attacks and had heard such things about anyone who emerged. She wanted to introduce me to the Pacifica Radio audience so they could see that I was genuine. As I recall, for the first couple of minutes she talked about many things that could possibly be wrong with me, making me wonder if she had set me up. She then dismissed all of those things and talked about the work I was doing to make a difference in the lives of low-income children in Washington, D.C., and even improving the quality of discussion about education choices. That interview and some of her behind-the-scenes support calmed down some of the public school advocates out to destroy me.

There have been times that I have chosen mentors. He didn't know it at the time, but in 2000, I selected Dr. Howard L. Fuller as a mentor. He was an activist from the 1960s still carrying around a "Power to the People" protest sign. But he had also held numerous powerful positions in government and academia, and even became an advisor to President George W. Bush (which caused many of his fellow activists to accuse him of selling out). I learned many lessons from Dr. Fuller, from our discussions as well as our work together for education choice on the Black Alliance for Educational Options (I was a board member, he was the founding chairman). I sometimes hear his words coming out of my mouth when I am advising others. I cite my relationship with him as an example to young people that they shouldn't wait to be chosen, they should sometimes choose mentors.

In most cases, I am still the one choosing others. In late 2012, I met a young North Korean refugee, but I didn't think much about her. She later joined an organization I started with Lee Eun-koo helping North Korean refugees with English.

In late 2013 she returned from a trip overseas and we had our first serious talk. She said she was determined "not to lose her English" and she proved it by studying like a maniac in our organization. When she saw that I had given a speech in India with another North Korean refugee, she said she would love to do that kind of thing one day. When I invited her to give a speech at an international school a month later, she turned out to be a natural.

Without being too dramatic about it, I told her then that she was destined to become an international spokesperson for North Korean refugees, and I was determined to make it happen.

I convinced my boss at the then-fledgling organization Freedom Factory (defunct since 2016) to hire her as a Media Fellow and invited her to join a podcast my boss wanted me to start. At that time, I was the headliner, and she was my sidekick. She started getting requests internationally and for a few months I was her mentor to get her prepared to give three international speeches in 11 days. Her speech at One Young World went viral.

Park Yeon-mi has gone on to write two best-selling books and last week had the number one book on all of Amazon. In her early days, I saw her potential and did my best to get her started in her career. She has exceeded the expectations of almost everyone, except for me.

Two years ago, I chose another North Korean refugee with a different kind of potential. She was shy, unsure about her future after going through psychological counseling, and preferred to study English anonymously rather than becoming a public speaker. My organization, Freedom Speakers International (FSI), always tries to have at least one North Korean refugee on staff. We hired Han Song-mi at the beginning of 2021 as a part-time Special Assistant.

During casual conversations at the office, I saw a natural storyteller whose story could inspire many people. I suggested that she could write a book one day. Song-mi had virtually no media presence, had never given a speech or interview, and she doubted that she could ever write a book. "Mr. Casey! I only went to elementary school for one year in North Korea and I went several years without even seeing a book. How can I write a book?" She added that her story was so sad that most people would not want to read it.

She initially said "no" to my suggestions about writing a book, but after discussing it with her mother she agreed a book might not be a bad thing, but she wanted me to write it. The chooser had become the chosen! I had been writing my own book and had no intentions on writing her book, but when she said I was the only person she trusted to tell her story then yes, the chooser became the chosen!

Others around me questioned if she really had the ability to become a public speaker, some asked why I had chosen her out of the many North Korean refugees (about 500) who have studied with us, and some others even said the project would fail.

Ignoring the doubters and even critics, we finished her book "Greenlight to Freedom." She didn't give her first public speech until February 2022, but six months later she won FSI's 17th English Speech Contest.

Last year I was able to bring Yeon-mi and Song-mi together. It is quite an honor that Yeon-mi, who calls me an "angel" for North Korean refugees, and Song-mi insisted on thanking me at length in her memoir that we wrote together. September 2022 and in March of this year, I arranged for Yeon-mi to interview Song-mi during trips that Song-mi and I made to the USA. I was delighted that Yeon-mi invited me to join both interviews and that they praised me at length.

Song-mi is still shy but has given speeches in South Korea and the USA. The young woman who two years ago didn't believe that anyone would want to hear her story now encourages other North Korean refugees to speak out. On May 17, she will be speaking at the 15th Geneva Summit for Democracy and Human Rights in Switzerland. Eun-koo (FSI co-founder) and I will be joining her at the summit and another speech she will be giving in Switzerland.

It has been 25 years since I started my professional career. I have stayed true to my mission to "do freedom," to engage in "workable words," and to empower others to share their stories.

Even though I am co-founder of Freedom Speakers International, a columnist with The Korea Times, a public speaker who has spoken around the world, co-country director of Giving Tuesday's Korea chapter, a public author and editor, I still get chosen sometimes.

Last year I was chosen as an honorary citizen of Seoul. It is quite an honor to be chosen by a city. I now have a lifetime connection with Seoul and South Korea.

Shortly before he was named Foreign Minister of South Korea, Park Jin gave introductory remarks at an event FSI held featuring former diplomats from North Korea. Much to my surprise, Mr. Park spent most of his time praising me.

More recently, best-selling author E Ji-sung recently chose me. He has numerous connections and is highly sought by many people. He is not only a best-selling author, but a liberator who has helped rescue many North Koreans from China.

After learning about me, he decided that I needed to become more known among South Koreans and people around the world. Although he has more prominent contacts who could help him sell more books among South Koreans, he chose me. E put my name on the cover of his book as the main person recommending it, my name is now on Seoul transportation (buses and subways), I am pictured in marketing materials including on Kyobo and Yes24, and he has talked about me at length on his YouTube channel.

He chose me as the person to help raise awareness about North Korea's human rights violations against North Koreans. My first move is to let people at Harvard University know about his book and activities.

I was chosen a few times as a young man, starting with Prof. Williams in 2002. Two decades later, I am finding myself being chosen again. It is even more meaningful now and I can appreciate what it means to choose others and to be chosen. As my profile rises, I plan to choose others to hopefully help them with their careers.

Casey Lartigue is co-founder and co-president of Freedom Speakers International along with Lee Eun-koo and co-author of "Greenlight to Freedom" with Han Song-mi.