Casey Lartigue Jr. is co-founder of Freedom Speakers International, a Seoul Honorary Citizen, and co-author of Greenlight to Freedom.
Healing through storytelling
By Casey Lartigue Jr.
“You’re my hero.” That’s what North Korean refugee Han Song-mi has been telling me for years. She said it again last week — but this time, after a deeply moving event, it felt more profound. Later that day, she even shared it publicly on Instagram.
That moment came after another event hosted by Freedom Speakers International (FSI), the organization I co-founded with Eunkoo Lee. This year, we’re scheduled to host about 130 events featuring North Korean refugees sharing their stories with travelers visiting South Korea. While most of our attendees come from the United States and, to a lesser extent, Europe, the April 9 gathering was attended by 40 visitors from India.
Song-mi, co-author with me of her memoir “Greenlight to Freedom,” had no awareness of India growing up in North Korea. Last year, she visited the country twice as part of FSI’s outreach efforts. She participated in three forums and book-signings with college students, influencers and media, was featured by numerous Indian media outlets and appeared on stage with us last December when FSI received a Global Peace Award.
We weren’t sure how this recent event would go. We had a disappointing experience a few years ago at a similar venue — a restaurant where the audience was distracted and people wandered by mid-speech. This time, we raised concerns in advance and prepared Song-mi for the possibility the environment might be unpredictable.
Her response? “This will be a new experience!”
Before the event began, attendees introduced themselves and asked to take photos with Song-mi (she made sure to invite me into the pictures too). Over lunch, she signed 40 DMZ postcards the guide had brought for the group.
I kicked off the event with a short introduction to FSI and Song-mi’s journey, telling the group it was a miracle she had escaped from North Korea’s countryside. When she began her speech, the room fell completely silent. Even though we were seated in a restaurant in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, there were no clinking forks, no side conversations. They were moved by her story of escape, survival and self-discovery.
After the speech, we held a book-signing session for “Greenlight to Freedom.” We’ve done many of these over the past three years — in South Korea, the U.S., India and Geneva — but each one still feels special. Song-mi insists I sit beside her and sign too. (“Mr. Casey is my co-author. He needs to sign our book, too.”) It’s her story, so I always wait for her to sign first, then she slides the next book over for me to sign.
Later that night, Song-mi called me to tell me how meaningful the event had been. She said opportunities like this bring her healing, strength and encouragement. She also expressed how grateful she feels toward Eunkoo and me for founding FSI and creating a platform where North Korean refugees can be heard. She said she was singing in the car as she was driving home.
She has come a long way. After going through a tough time in her life, including being on the verge of suicide, she contacted me in late 2019 looking for something to save herself. After studying with us and entering psychological counseling, she started working part-time in our office in early 2021. Over lunch, it turned out she was a natural storyteller. I recommended she write a book someday.
She said no several times. “Mr. Casey, I only went to elementary school for a year in North Korea and went six years without seeing a book. How can I be an author?” I dropped it, but after talking with her mother, she asked me to write her book. Initially, I insisted she write it herself, but she silenced my objections. “You’re the only person I trust to tell my story.” We met twice a week for five hours each time for six months.
By the time we wrapped up the book, I told her it was time to prepare for her first speech. The idea terrified her. Now, she’s given speeches across South Korea, in the United States, India and Geneva.
I started this work as an activist, trying to raise awareness about North Korean human rights violations, and didn’t understand the depth of mental health challenges North Korean refugees faced. But working with Song-mi has shown me healing is possible through storytelling. Some people focus on activism aimed at North Korea. Many North Korean refugees, however, speak out to heal themselves. And in doing so, they move others.
Song-mi is not the same young woman who first reached out to me in 2019 — and she’s certainly not the same person I began working with on her memoir in 2021. She tells me I’m her hero. I always tell her, “I’m your boss, co-author and No. 1 fan.”
Casey Lartigue Jr. (CJL@alumni.harvard.edu) is the co-founder of Freedom Speakers International with Lee Eun-koo, and co-author with Han Song-mi of her memoir "Greenlight to Freedom: A North Korean Daughter’s Search for Her Mother and Herself.”