Am I a CIA spy?For years, my public persona has been that of an educator, a non-profit co-founder, a mentor, public speaker, author and editor, among many things. It turns out that was a facade. Thanks to critics, I have realized they were correct. I must be a CIA spy. I never received CIA training, which proudly makes me the first CIA spy in history to skip orientation, training and to be self-taught. I do not receive a government paycheck, which makes me the dumbest spy in history. My critics alleging that I am a CIA spy never present evidence, so I have decided to present it against myself. 1. My transparency is evidence I post about my activities and include many photos. Normal people think that is sharing. Conspiracy theorists think it is coded communication. We publish Freedom Speakers International’s budget online and engage in public fundraising. I spend a lot of time on fundraising, which would probably alarm my supposed CIA superiors, because a true CIA agent would already have suitable funding and would not waste time writing thank-you notes to donors. Apparently, all of this is my cleverOct 18, 2025By Casey Lartigue Jr.
Bad news about good newsIn late 2014, a Russian newspaper allegedly decided to try something radical. For one day, it published only good news. There were no reports of corruption, no accidents, no political outrage, only positive stories about community projects and small victories in daily life. By the next morning, two-thirds of its readers reportedly had vanished. The editors quickly reverted to the usual diet of disasters, scandals, and misfortune. That allegedly proved what many editors already suspected: people say they want optimism, but they click on catastrophe. According to Quartz, the publication was a Russian news site called City Reporter. The story has been repeated across journalism conferences, university lectures, and countless opinion columns as proof that positivity simply doesn’t sell. What is the attraction to bad news? A study published in Nature Human Behaviour analyzed more than 100,000 headlines and millions of clicks. The researchers found that each additional negative word in a headline increased the likelihood of someone clicking by 2.3 percent. Positive words, on the other hand,Oct 11, 2025By Casey Lartigue Jr.
Another North Korean refugee's story brought me to tearsThe tears came without warning. I was sitting on a packed subway train reading a book in English by a fellow North Korean refugee when suddenly I found myself crying in front of dozens of strangers. I fumbled for tissues in my bag, aware of the startled looks from passengers around me, but I couldn't stop. The book is “Girl with Black Makeup” by Sharon Jang. I learned that Sharon's grandfather was a South Korean soldier captured near the end of the Korean War. Because of this, he, his children, and grandchildren — including Sharon — were condemned to work in North Korea's infamous coal mines. She lived a difficult life that was disadvantaged even compared to other North Koreans until she escaped in 2011 and arrived in South Korea in 2012. For days after finishing the book, the pain in my heart was so sharp that I felt the slightest touch would make me burst into tears again. What was this uncontrollable emotion? What did these tears mean? I kept thinking about it as I reread the book. I've often shared stories with other North Korean defectors and found common ground in our expeOct 4, 2025By Kim Su-jin
Eyes on North Korea’s wallsAnyone who has read the North Korean refugee memoir “Greenlight to Freedom” may notice a striking omission: the names of North Korea’s dictators Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il never appear. That's not an accident. In 2021, as we started working on her memoir, North Korean refugee Han Song-mi told me she didn't want to mention Kim Il-sung or Kim Jong-il. She had grown up under their portraits, seen the propaganda, and attended the mandatory celebrations. But they weren't part of her story and she’s not an expert on North Korea so she didn't want to discuss them. That's why, when we published her book a year later, we never mentioned the dictators by name. I told her, however, that she could expect others to ask about those dictators. During an interview for the podcast "If I'm Really Honest" that was uploaded on September 25, the dictators came up again. Han explained that, as a child, she believed the portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il could see and hear her. If she did something wrong, she thought they would know. She was taught, as apparently most children are warned, thatSep 27, 2025By Casey Lartigue Jr.
A letter to my younger selfDearest So-yeon, I’m writing this letter for two reasons: first, to tell you something important, and second, to ask for your help. You went through so much when you were young. You couldn’t choose your country or your parents, and you were born in North Korea. By the time you were five, you were already facing the harsh realities of being born North Korean. I know how lonely and scared you were - when even your parents, the ones you were supposed to rely on and be loved by, left you behind in North Korea before you were 10 years old. In your struggle to survive, you were moved from one relative’s house to another. You were young, but you will never forget that time. I know how unfair it felt when your cousin would take you to the train tracks at night and beat you. But try not to hate her too much. Life was hard for your relatives, too. I know how terrified and hopeless you felt at just 11 years old when you were thrown into prison, after you were captured trying to escape. What kind of country throws 11-year-olds into prison? You even had to ask permission to use the bathroom. WhenSep 20, 2025By Gim So-yeon
The reader’s responsibility at author eventsNorth Korean refugee Han Song-mi and I joined Jamin Collier, host of “If I’m Really Honest,” for a podcast conversation on September 8. Midway through the interview, I realized this would not be the usual exchange. Collier was still asking questions about “Greenlight to Freedom,” Han’s memoir that we co-authored. It became clear he had read the book and prepared questions that reflected her story. Instead of drifting toward generalities, the conversation stayed rooted in the text. Although traditional publishers released about 563,000 new titles and more than 2.6 million books were self-published in 2023, most people will never publish a book (more people die in America every year, 3.4 million, than publish books). That may be the reason so many approach meetings with authors with the energy of a corpse. Many do not realize how much more rewarding their conversations with authors could be if they arrived better prepared instead of putting the burden on the author to dazzle them. That kind of preparation by Collier may seem small, but it makes an enormous difference. WritingSep 13, 2025By Casey Lartigue Jr.
An unthinkable debate in North KoreaI recently witnessed something I never expected: North Korean refugee Han Song-mi openly challenging a former North Korean diplomat in an impromptu debate. As background, Han was born in North Korea’s countryside at the bottom of the country’s caste system far removed from the privileges of the elite. Daily life was not about choice or ambition but about survival. She and her mother lived in a barn, were homeless, often ate grass to survive, and Han attended elementary school for only one year. In 2011, she followed her mother to freedom with the help of brokers. Starting a new life was not easy and she struggled for many years. I first met Han when she found me online in 2019, eager to study English in Freedom Speakers International, the NGO I co-founded in Seoul. I have seen her grow from an anonymous English learner into a public speaker, we are co-authors of her memoir "Greenlight to Freedom," and she calls me the “turning point” in her life. Knowing her history made it even more striking to watch her engage in a debate with someone who once represented the North Korean staAug 30, 2025By Casey Lartigue Jr.
An unapologetic cultural trespasserDuring a recent online discussion with fellow Harvard alumni about cultural appropriation, one woman shared her dilemma. An Indian friend gave her a sari, a traditional draped garment worn by women in South Asia, but as a white woman, she was afraid to wear it. She asked the group, “What do you think? Should I wear it?” The responses were sympathetic but cautious, until I unequivocally urged her to wear it without apology. Another Harvard alumna confessed to owning a dashiki, a brightly colored West African garment, a gift from a friend she couldn’t bring herself to wear in public. Her fear? Being Asian, she could be branded as a cultural appropriator by strangers for wearing an African garment. I am not surprised by their dilemmas. The self-appointed cultural appropriation police have created an environment where people are paralyzed by the possibility of giving offense by wearing items from other cultures. Cultural appropriation is said to be the act of using elements of another culture in a way perceived as disrespectful or exploitative. The term cultural appropriation began tAug 16, 2025By Casey Lartigue Jr.
How martial law postponed our Harvard eventAround 1:00 a.m. on December 3, 2024, a phone call changed everything we had been planning for months. My colleague's voice was urgent: "Have you seen the news? The president declared martial law." I had been asleep and doubted what she had said. It turned out to be true. President Yoon Suk Yeol had taken the unprecedented step of imposing martial law on South Korea, the first time since the country's democratization in the 1980s. Later that morning, we were scheduled to meet with the president’s top ranking executives with other NGOs. "I don't think that meeting will happen," I told her. I was right. Just hours before the scheduled meeting, we were notified that it had been postponed. But I knew this wasn't just a scheduling change. The political earthquake would reshape everything we had worked toward. We continued with our plans for the "I am from North Korea" 22nd English Speech Contest, presented by Freedom Speakers International. The pieces were falling into place beautifully. We had secured funding from a generous donor. Harvard University had confirmed their partnership, withAug 9, 2025By Casey Lartigue Jr.
The meaning of suffering after North KoreaAfter I escaped from North Korea in 2003 and arrived in South Korea in 2007, many people expected that my arrival would be filled with joy and freedom. Since I began giving speeches in English last year as a keynote speaker with Freedom Speakers International, people have often asked me, “What amazed you the most after you first arrived in South Korea?” It’s a thoughtful question, but one I’ve always found difficult to answer. Honestly, I didn’t feel amazed. I felt fear. After years of surviving under a repressive system, followed by an oppressive time in China and traveling through third countries, I reached South Korea exhausted — physically, emotionally and mentally. Everything was unfamiliar. The language, the pace of life, even the gestures of kindness felt overwhelming. I had dreamed of freedom, but when it finally came, I didn’t know how to receive it. I once compared the emotional state of newly arrived North Korean defectors to that of long-term prisoners being released back into society. You may be free, but you’re not ready. You hesitate to speak, to trust, toAug 4, 2025By Kim Su-jin
