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Opinion

Columnists

Send her back

The North Korean refugee who says she was “tricked” into escaping to South Korea should be returned to North Korea ASAP. Kim Ryen-hi's misadventure began four years ago when she left North Korea seeking medical treatment. In China, she signed on with a broker who allegedly told Kim that she could briefly visit South Korea to make money. In Thailand, she submitted a handwritten statement stating her desire to defect (a requirement for North Korean refugees to be allowed to enter the South). In South Korea, she signed a document disavowing communism and agreed to become a law-abiding citizen o...

2015-12-15 15:59

Evicted from a free speech zone

During my mini-speaking tour to the United States last month, I had a speech at a law school moved off campus because 20 Chinese judges also visiting said they would feel "uncomfortable" with me speaking about North Korean refugees.

2015-12-01 17:11

Why can't NK NGOs get along?

Many people familiar with activism and research in the North Korea field know about the suspicion, rumors, gossip, accusations, back-stabbing, and ideological rifts. And that's among friends. I’m not naive, I still have scars from more than a decade as a school choice activist, radio host, and think tank scholar in Washington, D.C. I learned the hard way: The closer you are, the more likely you are to battle over minor differences.

2015-11-17 17:08

Public speaking, my style

After 15 years of giving public speeches and media interviews, I've learned that being alive is the only thing more important than being on TV (Social Media is a close third). Friends and colleagues who hear about my latest speech or interview usually ask me, ”How was it?” My response, always: “Great! I don't know what the audience thought, but I had a great time!”

2015-11-03 17:29

Godfather of NK beat reporters

When I was a reporter in college, one of the first lessons I learned was “the rule of three.” Three examples or anecdotes can build your argument, make you seem informed, and show a trend justifying the article. A civil rights activist friend of mine later made me realize that the rule of three is so important in journalism that reporters themselves get convinced by it. As he said, in his usual blunt way, “Media can't digest more than one Negro at a time. Three or more, and they think a revolution has begun.”

2015-10-20 16:40

A kinder, gentler kidnapper

Almost any sign that North Korea is using just one hand (not both) to strangle North Korean citizens is welcomed by some as evidence that the country is changing for the better. My question for such people: Are North Koreans now allowed to leave the country?

2015-10-06 17:16

Third level of leadership

He came along before the age of TED Talks, but I have the feeling that Leonard E. Read (1898-1983) would have fit in nicely with an 18-minute version of his speech “How to Advance Liberty.” Read, founder of the Foundation for Economic Education, discussed three ascending categories of leadership, with his focus being on giving advice to advocates of economic freedom.

2015-09-22 16:52

'Situationist'

The 50th anniversary this year of many landmark U.S. Civil Rights Movement battles reminds me of a discussion that intellectual Bok Go-il had with Freedom Factory staffers. He asked: If man were immortal, how long would people live?

2015-09-08 16:08

A thermostat or thermometer for freedom?

“What can be done about North Korea? How can we help North Koreans?” Those are the Big Questions that were recently asked of North Korean refugee Shin Dong-hyuk when we were both speakers at the World Conference on Market Liberalization held on Bali from June 28 to July 4.

2015-08-25 16:40

I, cultural trespasser

Korean friends often ask me what Americans think about various topics or about what they like to do. I used to respond, “How would I know? There are almost 320 million people in the U.S.A.” That did not satisfy my friendly Korean inquisitors, so I embraced being the nation's unelected spokesman: “Americans love reading, writing, talking, and singing and dancing to Prince, New Edition and swing music.”

2015-08-11 16:57

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