Why can't NK NGOs get along?

By Casey Lartigue, Jr.

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.

It seems they should get along because they have the same goals, but why? Some organizations focus on toppling the North Korean regime, others make an ideological point, some others are focused on helping refugees escape, some others are focused on helping refugees adjust to the outside world. They have different experiences, outlooks, and approaches. To say that they have the same goal is like suggesting that a lion and lamb have the same goal ― eating ― without recognizing they have different methods and targets to reach that same goal.

Many of the organizations are competing for funding from the same foundations, governments, and philanthropists that want to fund the latest project to save the world. Organizations and individuals naturally try to distinguish themselves (one analyst even claimed with a few million dollars that he could solve the problem of reunification). Even homeless people fight over who can sleep on the best grate, rather than working together, so I'm not surprised when organizations battle with perceived rivals or allies.

Many NK NGOs are one-man-operations, led by people used to calling the shots and not taking a backseat to others. People who know about conflicts in their own fields and offices look at NK NGOs and wonder why they aren't humans like the rest of us.

Sometimes it can be easier collaborating ― short term, at least ― with people you don't share common ground with, kind of like "opposites attract." When I was an analyst in Washington, D.C., it was amazing to see the "unlikely bedfellows" that would come together to fight a cause. In a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," some even collaborate with others hostile to their cause to undercut a rival.

It can be difficult explaining this to people seeking harmony. During my current trip to the U.S., I gave a short speech and was interviewed on Nov. 12 by graduate students at the Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. The class analyzes Civil Society Organizations, focusing on international non-government (NGO) and non-profit organizations (NPO).

I have given a number of speeches over the last few years to audiences about the small organization I co-founded in Seoul in early 2013. This event was a bit different because the students and professor are well-informed about NGOs and education, in contrast to audiences usually interested in hearing my thoughts about North Korea.

The students and professor had already researched extensively about Teach North Korean Refugees (TNKR). I gave a short introduction to inform them about recent updates, then they quizzed and probed about the structure of TNKR, asked pointed questions about our mission and activities, and made thoughtful and practical suggestions. They listened to my comments and asked related questions, rather than asking about odd "man bites dog" stories they may have seen in the headlines. They were asking in order to understand the organization and to make practical suggestions based on what they had learned from studying international organizations.

Then they began to ask me about collaborating with other NGOs. They study organizations around the world, observing new trends and old fads, successes and failures, documenting benchmarking and replication. They can see globally the amount of resources that could be better utilized if organizations worked together. TNKR tends to ignore what others are doing, we focus on building an organization from scratch, but we have collaborated with others. I listed several examples of us holding special sessions for North Korean refugees and South Korean staffers working for other NGOs, of organizations that have referred volunteers and refugees to us, and our attempts to meet with as many organizations as possible to consider ways to collaborate. As I learned from a colleague years ago: "Brother, you gotta break bread with people."

I told the Columbia University students that I am part of a planning team for a volunteer workshop introducing newcomers to Korea about North Korean issues. The class at Columbia was delighted, but I had to say there was one main reason we are delightfully planning the event: We have different missions and approaches. One focuses on adjustment, another on rescues, and another on documenting human rights violations in North Korea.

It isn't the kind of romantic collaboration some wish for, but we hope to have the kind of nice event that will make even those students at Columbia University proud.

The writer is the Director for International Relations at Freedom Factory Co. in Seoul. He can be reached at: CJL@post.harvard.edu.