Yeonmi Park, A woman with a heartbreaking story

North Korean defector, human rights activist

One day, I saw her on TV. She's so pretty and smart.

The North Korean human rights issue became known through her.

I don't know if this tragedy in Korea is about to end... I just hope this sadness doesn't last very long.

Yeonmi Park... Her beautiful appearance stands out even more.

I feel like she will be very famous. Also, I hope that thanks to her, the reality of North Korea will be spread wider, farther and deeper.

Profile

• Birth: October 4, 1993, Liangkang, Hyesan City
• Nationality: North Korea → South Korea → the United States (2021.3)
• School: Dongguk University Department of Police Administration → Columbia University
• Activity URL: YouTube Facebook Twitter Instagram

• Father: Park Jin-sik (death)
• Mother: Byun Geum-sook
• Sister: Park Eun-mi

 

Summary

North Korean defector and U.S.-based human rights activist

On October 4, 1993, she was born as the second daughter between her father Park Jin-sik and her mother Byun Geum-sook in Hyesan city, Ryanggang Province. She defected to North Korea at the age of 15, passed through China and Mongolia with his mother, and settled in South Korea.

She made headlines in 2014 when she spoke at the One Young World Summit. This speech raised the seriousness of human rights abuses in North Korea. The video has more than 8 million views on YouTube and has been translated into languages around the world.

 

 

Becomes the World's Top 100 Women

Yeonmi Park, a female college student in North Korea, was selected as one of the world's top 100 women of the year by the BBC in 2014. She was the only Korean on the list. Although she is young, she attended a public hearing on the theme of North Korea's past and present at the Westminster Parliament in England. The theme of the speech was "North Korea is also changing from the bottom as generations who have experienced the market economy are growing." She is a social activist who informs North Koreans of the hardships they face and is a woman who rapidly develops awareness in the international community.

Video Link >>> The girl who is presenting

At the "World Young Leaders' Meeting" held in Ireland, he appeared as a speaker wearing hanbok, a traditional Korean clothing. At the meeting, she said she vividly saw her mother being sexually assaulted by a Chinese broker during her escape from North Korea, and revealed the reality of North Korean human rights. She also appealed to China to stop forcibly sending North Korean defectors to North Korea, drawing tears from viewers.

 

Turbulent growth

She is from Hyesan, Yanggang-do, North Korea. She fled North Korea with her family in 2007 when she was 13. Later, she settled down in 2009 through the Gobi Desert in China and Mongolia. In the process, her father died of intestinal cancer, and her mother was sexually assaulted by a Chinese broker. After she settled in South Korea, she said she wanted to properly inform the world of the reality of North Korea. And she says her wish is to go to a completely changed North Korea, not to the present.

Her father was originally a communist in North Korea, but after the economic reform measures in 2000, he was demoted and worked in a general enterprise. The business office allowed him to go out and do business if he raised more than a certain amount of profits, but Park's father also reportedly did business outside with only the profits filled. Although her father was quite a high-ranking official, he could not properly feed his children on his salary, making it impossible to live without illegal business.

When she was in South Korea, she judged that English was important to promote human rights in North Korea, so when she lived in South Korea, she studied English for about nine hours a day without resting on Sundays. She also said she wanted to play a role in connecting unified Korea and the world using English.

Casey and Yeonmi Show

Currently, she is invited to speak at various official events in the United States and is constantly talking about the human rights of North Korean defectors. Her Instagram also criticizes the Kim Jong Un regime. At the 2018 inter-Korean summit, she expressed her disappointment with the Moon Jae In government and is promoting the reality of North Korea by hosting a podcast broadcast "Kasey and Yeonmi Show." She says she believes that it is helpful for peace and unification to promote the actual lives of North Koreans. She once described it as a dream to do this kind of thing freely.

 

 

Her quotes about North Korea

"It's just that they can't express their dissatisfaction because of the politics of fear, but whenever people sit together, they curse the Kim regime."

"I feel with my skin that the days when the dictatorship that will never end will soon collapse are being pushed forward."

"I'm majoring in police administration at Dongguk University in Korea. I want to be a police officer and protect people".

"South Korea doesn't care about the lives of North Korean Saeteomin. Two Saeteomin starved to death in Seoul."

"I thought the United States would be different, but I saw many similarities with North Korea. North Korea is not as crazy as this."

 

 

Book: 'IN ORDER TO LIVE' (내가 본 것을 당신이 알게 됐으면)

In 2015, a book titled "IN ORDER TO LIVE" was published that accused the reality of serious human rights abuses committed in North Korea.

It contains the horrors of North Korea she saw and experienced in person, the miserable life of a North Korean defector exposed to human rights abuses, and her hard journey to becoming a human rights activist. It described the process of defection in very depth, and added a sense of immersion with consistent description and bold style. 

 

Summary of the book

It depicts difficult childhoods in North Korea, hardships experienced in China after defection, returning to South Korea, going to the international community to inform them of North Korea's tragedy, and the journey to becoming Yeonmi Park , a current North Korean human rights activist. It will be difficult to read just like a normal book. It is not because the content of the book is difficult, but because it is difficult to read even though it is written in a calm tone. I clenched my chest in pain, clenched my fist in anger, and shed tears of joy... It's a book that shakes your emotions.

The tragedy of North Korean compatriots living under North Korean totalitarianism is truly terrible. It's not just about starving. People are executed for eating cattle. Even though it is free medical care, it is used for many people with one injection due to lack of supplies, and there is no bandage, so doctors grow cotton to prepare bandages. Elementary school students were forced to work picking beans and corn seeds...In the process, it was heartbreaking to see children happy when they found a rat cave. It is said that many beans and corn seeds are gathered in the rat cave. Mice gather seeds just as North Korean children do. 

China, where they escaped to survive somehow, is also guarded by malicious traffickers. They give money to young and vulnerable women and sell them to bachelors in rural China. They sell and commit rape. Yeonmi Park 's mother is sometimes rape instead to protect her 13-year-old daughter. Are they human beings? China does not help North Korean defectors. As soon as they are discovered, they are sent back to the North. These human traffickers are just as good if they are handed over to the authorities as soon as they have a problem. It makes me really angry to see North Korean defectors trying to survive by grabbing at straws and doing things other than human beings. It is said that if you cross the border from China to Mongolia, you can get help. Missionary organizations help us cross the border. In fact, these missionary groups are also evangelizing Christianity with weaknesses and under the pretext of helping. I'm also dissatisfied with the scenes, but it's true that they help me as a result, so I won't say anything more. Is there any way I can help you?

She finally got used to it in Seoul.It's harder than you think. It must be really difficult for those who grew up with brainwashing education from the Kim Dynasty to adapt to the new world. I don't want to save any help and support.

It seems difficult to say that this book is only read to empathize. It's actually meaningless to know. The following actions are important. I think it's time to think about how we can help. I think the enactment of the North Korean Human Rights Act is the first step.

 

 

Recent controversial remarks

She criticized the PC culture of American universities as of June 2021

She said during her university orientation that she enjoyed reading the works of classical literature Jane Austen, and the faculty member said, "I know such writers have a colonial way of thinking. They are racist, stubborn, and unconsciously brainwash people." She said, "These things (PCs) were confusing and felt like the regression of civilization," adding, "North Korea is very crazy, but not to this extent."

YouTube link

She said that American universities disparage their country's history and say that everything is American white people's fault, which is similar to anti-American education in North Korea. She said she couldn't believe this phenomenon to the extent that she thought she was in a North Korean school, not an American school, and said she didn't know why Americans hated themselves so much. Yeonmi Park  claims that American universities are censoring safe spaces and personal problems (he/she/they), saying that it is an excessive PC culture.

In an interview with a French YouTuber in July 2021, he consistently argues for the above opinion.

YouTube link