Still writing

 

As I celebrate my 10th year as a columnist with The Korea Times, I fondly recall when my ninth-grade English teacher slipped me a note. Notes usually meant I was in trouble, but she wrote, "You are a great writer. Go see the journalism teacher. I have signed you up for the school paper."

I carried that note around for many years. In retrospect, her recommendation made sense because I frequently entertained and teased my classmates during creative writing time. Ms. Mary Robertson channeled my interest in a fulfilling way (unlike my basketball coach, who rightly doubted my skills on the court despite my confidence).

Ms. Robertson was the initial spark, and Ms. Nancy Flowers, the new journalism teacher at my second high school, became my true mentor. After several writing exercises to learn about her new students, she chose me to write a monthly column. I wrote “Casey’s Corner” for the Viking Venture newspaper for two years (I was also the advertising manager in my junior year and co-editor in my senior year).

I was a reporter and associate sports editor for the Harvard Crimson, where I penned the sports column “Casey at the Bat.” I have been a columnist with other publications, most notably Gary Johnson’s BlackMeninAmerica.com. I enjoyed those experiences but arrived home when I became a columnist with The Korea Times after freelancing for “Thoughts of the Times” for a few years. My first column, "Yes men in a 'no' country," was published on Dec. 17, 2013. I discussed my new role as the Asia Outreach Fellow for the Atlas Network and my plans to incubate a project empowering North Korean refugees.

I am celebrating and gleefully acknowledge my critics who may be disappointed. I don’t want to wake up those sleeping crybabies so I won’t call their names. I invite critics to write a full-length rebuttal, although shallow critics prefer tweets, one-liners, boycotts, angry comments, negative campaigns and character assassination.

When critics threaten to contact The Korea Times to get me fired, I enthusiastically encourage them to report me. If the editors won’t stand by me, then it would be better for me to learn that sooner rather than later. I later learned that editors had received complaints. The Korea Times encouraged me to continue writing and added me as a weekend blogger (check out “Workable Words”).

In early 2017, some members of the local chattering class accused me of “slamming” my Freedom Speakers International (FSI) co-founder. Unbeknownst to those critics, I showed her the column in advance. She loved how I explained her transformation from doubting North Korean refugees could choose without expert guidance to co-founding an organization focused on North Korean refugee empowerment. Inspired by that column, she quit her full-time job at a larger organization. She dedicated herself to collaborating with me to make FSI a viable organization (last year, FSI was incorporated by South Korea’s Ministry of Unification). It was inspiring to know my words changed her.

There have been countless other times that my column has moved others. One column was the foundation of a roundtable discussion at the Korea Times highlighting Hwang Won Jr.’s campaign to free his father from North Korea. A previous president and publisher of the paper said he would nominate one of my columns for an award.

I have been inspired by what others have written about me in The Korea Times. I will never forget the lovely testimonials of FSI volunteer Jennifer Bowman, who wrote that my co-founder and I were "angels," and North Korean refugee Han Song-mi, who said I changed her life; and prolific freelancer Adam Borowski, who publicly proclaimed, "The world needs more Casey Lartigues."

It is my honor to be cited in The Korea Times. Long-time columnist Donald Kirk has mentioned me in more than one of his columns. Other news articles have quoted me as an expert on North Korean human rights, highlighted my volunteer activities and featured me in articles as an NGO leader.

My Korea Times columns are often the first draft of my speeches and seemingly impromptu answers during Q&A. One of my columns was the foundation of a TEDx Talk with my co-founder about empowering North Korean refugees.

I may not have had the pleasure of being a writer throughout my career, including my decade-long stint as a columnist for The Korea Times in South Korea, if not for my teachers at Willowridge High School and Dulles High School in Missouri City, Texas.

Casey Lartigue Jr. (CJL@alumni.harvard.edu) is chairman and co-founder with Lee Eun-koo of Freedom Speakers International in Seoul, co-country representative of Giving Tuesday Korea, and a Seoul Honorary Citizen.