Sketch videos and North Korean refugees

Freedom Speakers International (FSI) co-founder Casey Lartigue Jr. and North Korean refugees Park Eun-mi, Maeng Hyo-sim and Kim Myung-hee participated in a forum with Harvard University students visiting South Korea earlier this month. Courtesy of Casey Lartigue Jr.

by Casey Lartigue Jr.

I usually ignore comments on YouTube videos and on Social Media. Keyboard warriors, disgruntled and troubled people can lash out, usually anonymously, at others with angry comments or loaded out-of-context questions. It is difficult, however, to ignore or dismiss supportive people making or asking similar things.

The non-profit organization I co-founded in Seoul recently uploaded a video to our YouTube channel that showed some highlights from a recent forum we had with North Korean refugees in Seoul and Harvard University students who recently visited South Korea. (View the video at the end of this post)

I received direct messages and Facebook comments from supporters and also comments on Youtube asking why the music was at times covering up the voices of the North Korean refugee speakers.

There are two practical reasons that may apply to YouTubers in general and five more reasons that are mostly specific to our activities.

First, our videos are edited by South Korean staffers and volunteers. The first time a film director made such a video for us in 2017, I also had questions about it. The explanation I have heard then is that South Koreans make such "sketch" videos to show highlights from events and activities. They say the videos are not intended to show details about events and activities and should not be viewed that way. This may be a case of Westerners being baffled when they stumble across us employing Korean-style video techniques.

North Korean refugee Park Eun-mi was a featured speaker with Harvard University students at a Freedom Speakers International (FSI) forum in Seoul, June 6. Courtesy of Casey Lartigue Jr.

Second, audio quality in video recordings at events is often subpar. Even with high-quality equipment there can still be problems with event recordings because rooms usually aren't sound proof. Add to that the very sensitive ears that people watching on YouTube seem to have and it is understandable that video editors throw music on top of audio.

A few years ago a North Korean refugee asked us to help her start a YouTube channel. After studying with us for seven years she was finally ready to speak out. She was just starting, but some viewers don't distinguish beginners and professional YouTubers. There seemed to be more comments about the sound quality than the actual content of the videos. Later, she deleted all of the videos off her channel and decided she will restart after she finished writing her book and could devote more time to a top quality YouTube channel (which is what I counseled from the beginning, by the way).

Those are two main reasons I have heard and observed as being reasons to use music to cover up voices during YouTube videos.

There are also some reasons that we have for covering up the voices of some North Korean refugee speakers that have grown out of our experience and are some of the reasons I now embrace such sketch videos.

First, trust. I want North Korean refugees who are learning the art of public speaking to feel confident that we will not rush to YouTube with their speeches. We want to build trust with the speakers so they know that we put them at the center of our activities and will protect their privacy to the level they want. They can give speeches about serious topics or about their personal stories and know that we won't post things until they are ready. Some are getting comfortable with public speaking and may later regret that what they said in smaller group gatherings in their initial public speeches. Those small gatherings can give speakers a chance to build good rapport with an audience that may not be felt online by people watching as they exercise, work, or listen with the videos as background noise.

North Korean refugee Maeng Hyo-sim was a featured speaker with Harvard University students at a Freedom Speakers International (FSI) forum in Seoul, June 6. Courtesy of Casey Lartigue Jr.

I want speakers to have time to develop their public speaking ability. This is at odds with media, researchers and online viewers who want to get "raw" stories of North Korean refugees shortly after they have arrived in South Korea. Instead, we want the North Korean refugees participating with us to experiment with public speaking, find their comfort zone or approach, and build confidence as public speakers. Playing snippets of their voices would probably hurt more than it would help speakers as they are developing and discourage those concerned about their English levels.

Second, it is more important for North Korean refugees to prepare for larger events and platforms than it is to reveal their voices now in sketch videos. This is not the first time we have had people asking us to reveal North Korean refugee speakers now. Since February 2015, we have held 17 North Korean Refugee English Speech Contests with more than 100 original speeches given by North Korean refugees (some speakers have participated more than once). Among our speakers, there have been several authors, speakers, and activists who have gained national and international attention and turned their talks into testimony and TEDx Talks.

They were able to use our process to improve their confidence and ability to engage in public speaking. Authors, speakers, and activists grab the attention of attendees, but we have also developed the contest so that any North Korean refugees who are courageous enough to give speeches in English can join. Most of them choose not to engage in public speaking. We have had about 500 North Koreans study with us, but most have not joined our speech contest and many who have done so have not chosen to become regular public speakers.

We have resisted requests from supporters and fans to show the speech contest online and to share the videos. One key reason is that many North Korean refugees would not join the contest if they knew we would post their speeches online. Many of them are still finding their way when it comes to public speaking and we want to give them space to develop without having their speeches or voices online. It is great to have supporters who are impatient and want to hear the speeches of the North Korean refugees in our network, but from my perspective it makes more sense to continue letting them develop at their own speed.

Third, not revealing their voices now can help avoid overexposure. I have heard several people over the years say they have "already heard" a particular North Korean refugee speaker speak and "know" their stories. You may still be the same person you were a decade ago, but a North Korean refugee experiencing freedom after growing up in North Korea may develop after finally being able to think independently for the first time.

Some of our fans can't wait for the next North Korean refugee author or speaker to emerge. Right after Han Song-mi and I published her memoir "Greenlight to Freedom," we had people asking when we were going to publish part 2 and they wanted her to explain about some of the sensitive personal things she briefly mentioned in the book. No matter what speakers say in their speeches, some people want to dissect things they didn't talk about. And some people apparently would prefer to have open heart surgery rather than listening to the same speaker twice. Recognizing that many well-intentioned people want to hear more and that many also get bored hearing more than once from the same speaker it makes sense to play soft music rather than the voices of North Korean refugee speakers before they are ready to go public.

Four, critics. If you are going to hold a picnic or have a nice meal, ants and cockroaches also show up. By "critics," I don't mean comments and questions from people who support our work and hope we can empower more North Korean refugees. I mean the kinds of critics who insinuate that North Korean refugees are being brainwashed or forced to tell their stories. Such critics keep saying they have the evidence in their briefcases, but for some reason they never open a briefcase to reveal their alleged evidence. Instead, their research papers and YouTube videos play connect-the-dot games.

If we ever have a case of a North Korean refugee saying that he or she was pushed, bullied or forced into saying anything then critics would finally have something to back up their baseless accusations. Instead of what some critics insinuate, we build up long-term relationships with North Korean refugees that empowers them to tell their stories at their own speed and level.

North Korean refugee Kim Myung-hee was a featured speaker with Harvard University students at a Freedom Speakers International (FSI) forum in Seoul, June 6. Courtesy of Casey Lartigue Jr.

One of the speakers in the sketch video with Harvard University students escaped to South Korea in 2008. I first met her in 2012 and she joined us in 2017 as a student studying in our English Empowerment Project. I can't keep track of all of the things she has done since then, she is an active person who I secretly suspect has cloned herself. Public speaking has not been a priority for her but now that she has settled down in many parts of her life she is taking public speaking more seriously. She joined our public speaking project in 2021 and has competed in two of our North Korean Refugee English Speech Contests (twice finishing in first place behind the grand prize winners). When she is ready to have her voice heard then you will know it. Based on what I know about her, she will not be stopped when she is ready.

A second speaker in the sketch video arrived in 2014 and she joined our organization almost immediately that year to study English. She gave a speech in 2014 and another in 2017 or so, but it wasn't until after getting married, finishing college, getting her first full-time professional job and settling down that she told us in 2021 that she was ready to write a book and become a public speaker. This came after a lot of reflection on her part because she would be opening up about some embarrassing details in her life, most of which she didn't tell us until 2021. Viewers want to hear her words now, but I feel no urgency to play her words in a sketch video. I expect her to make a splash when she releases her book and hopefully we will be able to take her on an international speaking tour. She will probably re-launch her YouTube channel and hopefully people will listen more to the content rather than investigating the sound quality of recordings.

The third speaker arrived in South Korea in 2018. I met her that year when she attended two different speeches I gave in Seoul. She was still in high school and she joined us a year later when we were the selected facilitators of a project teaching English to North Korean refugee adolescents. She is now more focused on her university studies, but is enjoying public speaking.

Critics who insinuate in research papers, commentaries and their own YouTube videos that North Korean refugees are pushed or bribed into telling their stories are clueless about the care that we take in protecting the voices and privacy of North Korean refugees until they are ready to go public. We have a slow process that allows North Korean refugees to go at their own speed, they can end their public participation at any time they so choose, and they speak on their own terms. Our project is an elevator for them to get on and off when they so choose. Some take extended breaks, some don't.

We have them submit their scripts in Korean so we can always have a record of what it is they intend to say in speech contests to prevent eager volunteers from rewriting their speeches or slipping in their own opinions. North Korean refugee speakers in our network study with multiple volunteers and we like for them to give speeches without having viewers on Facebook Live or YouTube Live.

The various reasons I have mentioned in this blog post may not satisfy everyone who wants to hear North Korean refugee voices instead of soft music, but at least they may have a better understanding that there are practical technical reasons for doing so and that there are reasons that are for the protection of North Korean refugees as we partner with them to engage in public speaking at their own speed.

It might seem uncomfortable to have some of our supporters asking questions that drive-by commenters ask on YouTube, but it is healthy for supporters who aren't sitting in our office to ask questions about how we operate. I initially also had questions about the sketch video style but I have come to embrace it as a way to ease our speakers into the world of public speaking. My only disappointment is that no one commenting on the video expressed regret that the music was playing while I was speaking.

Casey Lartigue is co-founder and co-president of Freedom Speakers International along with Lee Eun-koo and co-author of "Greenlight to Freedom" with Han Song-mi.

June 6, 2023 FSI forum with Harvard University students visiting South Korea