From awareness to action: advocating for North Korean human rights koreatimes.co.kr - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from koreatimes.co.kr Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Before I defected from North Korea, I never dreamed of giving a speech at Harvard University, the top university in the world. When I was in North Korea, I thought Kim Il-sung University was the best in the world. I didn t know much about the rest of the world, and I couldn t even imagine giving a speech in English at a world-class university.
Freedom Speakers International co-founder Casey Lartigue recently created an online petition calling on Western countries to open their doors to North Koreans who have escaped from China. His action reminded me that we can all do something to make a difference about the things we care about. He didn’t ask anyone for permission to do it, he just did it. It is an important lesson I have learned from him and FSI co-founder Lee Eun-koo as a volunteer with the FSI-Global High School Union (FSI-GHSU).
It might sound like an overly dramatic plot twist in a low-budget spy thriller, but it’s true: some Westerners in South Korea went undercover trying to destroy the volunteer project I co-founded in 2013.
Before I defected from North Korea, I never dreamed of giving a speech at Harvard University, the top university in the world. When I was in North Korea, I thought Kim Il-sung University was the best in the world. I didn t know much about the rest of the world, and I couldn t even imagine giving a speech in English at a world-class university.