In Order to Live: Yeonmi Park's North Korean Defector Story
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“I didn’t know what freedom was,” says Yeonmi Park, author of In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom. “I didn’t even know the word. I didn’t know the concept. I never heard of that word, ‘freedom’. To me, the happiest thing was having food.” Yeonmi's story begins with her first steps out of North Korea on March 31, 2007. She crossed the frozen Yalu River with her mother in the dead of night, arriving in China with only a vague idea what to do next. She was only thirteen years old. It was the beginning of a harrowing, years-long journey that would take her across China, through the vast Gobi desert, all the way to the Mongolian border, before finally reaching South Korea by plane. It took exceptional strength of character for Yeonmi to survive the journey. Living outside of the law, she was subjected to constant abuse; starvation and suicide were rarely far away. Her father crossed the border to join her, but he died of untreated cancer a few months later. “My father died without knowing even this kind of democracy exists in the world," she told Reason TV. "He didn’t even know this much food was available in the world. And if I could've had the things that Americans throw away, I never would’ve escaped North Korea. That’s how much we were desperate.” Yeonmi Park's survival story has captivated thousands of readers and propelled her into the spotlight around the world. But how much of it is true? Pyongyang has produced a lengthy video that attempts to discredit key parts of story. In melodramatic fashion, "Park Yeon Mi, The Puppet of the Human Rights Plot" vilifies Yeonmi and her mother, accusing them of being agents of the United States. Doubters have emerged from outside North Korea, as well, calling her a “celebrity defector”. Critics say they've found discrepancies in her life story and inaccuracies in her depiction of her native country. For her part, Yeonmi insists on the truth of her story. Some details, she says, were changed to protect family members still living in North Korea. Other events, such as the sexual abuse she endured during her defection, have been shrouded in shame. “I had a reason to hide my secret,” she told Reason TV. “I didn’t want to admit I was raped when I was thirteen years old.” She has attributed other misstatements to her poor command of the English language. As compelling as her story is, the stakes couldn’t be higher for the community of tens of thousands of North Korean refugees worldwide. Any exaggeration of the facts threatens to undermine their own narratives of widespread human rights abuses and political persecution. Their cause depends on the credibility of stories that are locked inside the world's most secretive nation, making them difficult, and sometimes impossible, to verify. “I know the truth of North Korea,” Yeonmi said. “The oppression and their tragedy. It cannot be silenced.” Produced by Todd Krainin. Cameras by Josh Swain. Runs 29:18 Go to https://reason.com/reasontv/2015/11/13/yeonmi-park-north-korean-defector for downloadable versions and subscribe to ReasonTV's YouTube Channel to receive notifications when new material goes live.
Comments
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Love this girl. Someday I'll teach my children about her & her family. This is the kind of person who needs to be speaking on college campuses in the USA. Smack the SJWs & media elites with a dose of REAL WORLD & when, inevitably, some of them still choose to wallow in self imposed ignorance we can truly ignore them knowing the truth was spoken and they chose to ignore it.
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I'm so happy you made it put yeonmi! God Bless Beautiful! I hope there is a way for the north Koreans to overthrow Kim Jong un.
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I really what's the reason that Chinese man let her leave?
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Interesting and very ironic. She didn't like the propaganda about the North Korean state in North Korea, but she found chinese commercials interesting - harder to think about something more propagandistic than commercials.
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She never lived in a western country but yet her English is better than quite a few Koreans that I know that moved to America in middle school and after. She most probably was privileged at least from a North Korean standpoint because since her escape, English cannot have gotten this good that quick especially because she lives in South Korea. I'm sure she had these skills before
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She is cute ...!
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I ve seen many interviews of her. And every interviewer asked her the same set of questions. I love d way this interviewer interviewed her. The questions he stressed on were the ones I was constantly wondering about. Especially abt her reunion with her sister, tourism in North Korea and the North Korean govts threats
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Everyone has struggles, they may be different but they should never be taken lesser than one another. Obviously this young woman is amazing, but that doesn't mean other women with entirely different lives and struggles aren't amazing and are not going through their own struggle. The life of a western woman and the life of North Korean escapees are entirely different and face different struggles, they shall not be compared to degrade western women's struggles, but to make not only western society better but the whole world a better place. Obviously, men are the ones commenting the most about western women "whinning" when women in North Korea go through this, but that's only one step until women of North Korea want to be equal, just like western women. Don't be assholes, be a bit more open minded. Don't manipulate facts.
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My heart's remained broken ever since I finished reading the book. I've even done a book review for that... It's a reality we have to face, the North Korean reality. It isn't something just for the Koreans or the Asians, no, it's a worldwide matter that we should all be involved in. In Order To Live.
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FYI North Korea is not socialist, it is more like an absolute monarchy. Co-ops are socialist, the NHS is socialist, public education is socialist, Norways oil industry is socialist.
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Quite similar to the harrowing crossing made by Hyeonseo Lee (author of "The Girl with Seven Names"). Corruption is alive and well in North Korea. Any of the citizenry that are fortunate enough to bribe officials for food or scarce products will do better than lower class North Koreans. The money for these bribes is earned by doing highly illicit black market business with Chinese border merchants. Even if they do manage to escape, they are ill-prepared for the free world outside and are ripe for the picking by bandits that are happy to steal their money with the lure of guiding them to South Korea. These are all heart-breaking stories.
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Wow.
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FACT: she changed her stories number of times, and many are unconfirmed and selectively negative. She was specifically taught to speak English and fits the story of negative propaganda. While counter claims are block for hate-propaganda brainwashing the US population... This girl played Nintendo growing up in North Korea.....enough said...
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amazing woman,amazing story.
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Where did she learn such good English? I'm assuming not in NK? She's very intelligent!!
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Rebellion defeats tyranny and oppression. When the people finally say enough. There's an old adage describing a hero that goes " heroes aren't any braver or more noble than any other person. They are the people who are just cold enough, tired enough and hungry enough to not give a damn. Hopefully as time goes by and the black market economy in north korea grows stronger and more influential the people will renounce the communist ideology en mass. The communist elite knows they can't stifle this "illegal" economy firstly because they are benefiting from it and more importantly it would only increase the peoples enmity toward the regime. Hopefully eventually it will supersede the ideology the communists are trying to force upon the people and gradually transform the country. I think it's only a matter of time.
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In Order To Live is such a great book. Not just the suspense is what kept me glued, but also the mind blowing reality of what its like in North Korea. After finishing the book I was happy and sad from Yeonmis story, and furious that North Korea would allow these type of stories to continue. Big fan of Yeonmi, very courageous, and hope she continues to expose whats happening.
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Interesting interview, but the thing that bothers me that she keeps playing the victim role. Yes she had a hard life or whatever, but by now she is probably rich, has protection and a good life because of all these shows and interviews she gives. Just enjoy the freedom and normal life. And nothing can happen to you because practically the whole world is against North Korea. Think about all the people who are still far worse off than she is!
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No one goto North Korea as all that tourism money just helps build more nukes and fatten Kim Jung Eun's bank accounts.
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"The man who bound her let her go after two years" because he found some freshly escaped North Korean pussy who just turned 18 :)
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