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Yeonmi Park

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Korean name, the family name is Park.

Yeonmi Park
Yeonmi Park, 2014 (cropped).JPG
Park in 2014
Born (1993-10-04) 4 October 1993 (age 28)
Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, North Korea
Citizenship
EducationColumbia University (BA)
Occupation
  • Human rights activist
  • author
  • speaker
Spouse(s)
Ezekiel
​
​
(m. 2017; div. 2020)​
Children1
RelativesEun-mi (sister)
Korean name
Hangul
박연미
Hanja
朴研美
Revised RomanizationBak Yeon-mi
McCune–ReischauerPak Yŏn-mi
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2017 – present
GenreHuman rights activism
Websiteyeonmi.com
Signature
Park Yeon-mi signature.png

Yeonmi Park (Korean: 박연미; born 4 October 1993) is a North Korean defector and activist whose family fled from North Korea to China in 2007 and settled in South Korea in 2009, before moving to the United States in 2014. Her family turned to black-market trading during North Korea's economic collapse in the 1990s.[1] Her father was sent to a labor camp for smuggling.[2] They fled to China, where Park and her mother fell into the hands of human traffickers and she was sold into slavery before escaping to Mongolia.[3] She is now an advocate for victims of human trafficking in China and works to promote human rights in North Korea and around the globe.

Park came to wider global attention after giving a speech at the 2014 One Young World Summit—an annual summit that gathers young people from around the world to develop solutions to global problems—in Dublin, Ireland.[4] Her speech, about her experience escaping from North Korea, received 50 million views in two days on YouTube and social media, with a current total of more than 80 million.[5] Some commentators, as well as other North Korean defectors, have criticized Park's retellings of her story for having various inconsistencies,[6][7][8][9] contradictory claims, and exaggerated accounts.[10] She has attributed much of these discrepancies to imperfect memory and her limited English skills at the time of her original speech.[9]

Park's memoir In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom was published in September 2015.[11] She runs the YouTube channel "Voice of North Korea by Yeonmi Park", a personal social media vlog covering North Korean news, politics, and culture.[12]

Early life

Park was born on 4 October 1993 in Hyesan, Ryanggang, North Korea. Her father, Park Jin-Sik, was a civil servant who worked at the Hyesan town hall as part of the ruling Workers' Party, and her mother, Byeon Keum Sook, was a nurse for the Korean People's Army. Her paternal grandfather Park Chang-gyu, a former civil servant in the Japanese occupation, initially had a high songbun status after serving as a military officer in the Korean War, but her father's opportunities were limited after her uncle Park Dong-il was convicted for rape and attempted murder in 1980. Her father was unable to complete his military service at that time after suffering severe appendicitis. On the other hand, her mother Byeon Keun-sook had a low songbun status because her ancestors had been landowners in North Hamgyong Province. After the Mukden incident her paternal grandfather Byeon Ung Rook had migrated to Hunchun, Manchukuo, and fought in an unknown faction of the Second Sino-Japanese War, but became stranded back in Onsong, Soviet-occupied North Korea, after losing two of his limbs in a railway accident. Her paternal grandmother Hwang Ok-soon also lost her leg in a 1952 U.S. air raid on Chongjin. Byeon Keun-sook graduated from college with a degree in inorganic chemistry.[11]

Her father, after finding employment at a foundry, decided to supplement his income by smuggling Chinese cigarettes, clothes, and rice. He met Byeon in Kowon in 1989 during one of his smuggling runs. He later established a metal smuggling operation in the capital, Pyongyang, where he spent most of the year with his mistress Wan Sun while his wife and daughters remained in Hyesan. Her family was wealthy by North Korean standards during most of her childhood. However, the family later struggled after her father's imprisonment for trading salt, sugar, and other spices (this business is illegal in North Korea).[13] Park has an older sister, Eun-mi, who was born in 1991.[14][15][16]

Escape from North Korea

Park's father was arrested for illegal trading in November 2002 and was sentenced to hard labor at the Chungsan reeducation camp in a show trial in 2004.[11][17] Her views of the Kim Dynasty changed when she watched an illegally imported DVD of the 1997 movie Titanic, which caused her to realize the oppressive nature of the North Korean government. She states that the movie taught her the true meaning of love and gave her "a taste of freedom".[18]

Her father's expulsion from the Korean Workers' Party and their loss of income forced the Park sisters to stop going to school, and their living standards worsened. Park contracted a chronic case of pellagra because of malnutrition and often resorted to eating dragonflies and cicadas. In 2003 they moved to her mother's hometown of Kowon and Park was briefly sent to live with her aunt in the village of Songnam-ri. In 2005 her mother was arrested for a month for illegally changing her residence, but at that time her father was released from prison on sick leave after falsely promising the warden a large bribe.[11]

When reunited with his family, Park's father urged the family to plan their escape to China. Unfortunately, her older sister Eunmi left for China early without notifying them.[1] Park and her family feared that they would be punished for Eunmi's escape, so they escaped North Korea by traveling through China with the help of brokers who smuggle North Koreans into China. Chinese and Korean Christian missionaries helped them relocate to Mongolia, and in 2009, South Korean diplomats facilitated the family's transition into Seoul. Park then became a full-time activist for North Korean human rights.[1]

China

Park and her family escaped North Korea by crossing the border into Changbai Korean Autonomous County, China. On the night of 30 March 2007, with the aid of human traffickers, Park and her mother crossed the frozen Yalu River and three mountains into China. According to The Guardian and The Telegraph, Park's father was sick and stayed behind in North Korea, thinking his illness would slow them down.[19][1] Several other speeches from Park suggested, however, that her father had joined them in the crossing to China.[20][9] After crossing the border, Park and her mother headed for Jilin Province. They unsuccessfully tried to find Park's sister, Eunmi, asking the traffickers about her whereabouts. Park and her mother assumed that Eunmi had died.[1] In October 2007, Park sent word to her father and arranged to smuggle him into China. There, he was diagnosed with inoperable colon cancer.

According to The Telegraph, while the family was living in secret, in January 2008 her father died. The family was unable to formally mourn him, fearing that they would be discovered by Chinese authorities, and buried his cremated remains in the ground of a nearby mountain.[1] Park's mother told The Diplomat in 2014 that they had paid two people to help carry his body up the mountain for burial instead.[9]

Park and her mother found a Christian shelter headed by Chinese and South Korean missionaries in Qingdao. Due to the city's large ethnic Korean population, they were able to evade the attention of authorities. With the help of the missionaries, they took a chance to flee to South Korea through Mongolia.[1]

Mongolia

In February 2009, after receiving aid from human rights activists and Christian missionaries, Park and her mother traveled through the Gobi Desert to Mongolia to seek asylum from South Korean diplomats.[1]

When they reached the Mongolian border, General Authority for Border Protection guards stopped them and threatened to deport the pair back to China. Park recalls that at this point she and her mother pledged to kill themselves with their own razors. "I thought it was the end of my life. We were saying goodbye to one another." Their actions persuaded the guards to let them through, but they were placed under arrest and kept in custody at a detention center at Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Park later said in a podcast interview with Jordan Peterson that she believed the guards were toying with them since Mongolia's official policy on North Korean refugees is to deport them to South Korea.[21] On 1 April 2009, Park and her mother were sent to Ulaanbaatar's Chinggis Khaan Airport to fly them to Seoul Incheon International Airport. Park felt relieved to be free at last; the Daily Telegraph reported, "'Oh my God,' she thought when Mongolian customs officials waved her through. 'They didn't stop me.'"[1]

South Korea

Park in 2014

After receiving training at the South Korean Ministry of Unification's Hanawon Resettlement Center, Park and her mother settled in Asan. They had difficulty adjusting to their new lives in South Korea, but they managed to find jobs as shop assistants and waitresses. Despite arriving in South Korea with only a second-grade education, Park managed to achieve her high school equivalency after eighteen months of studying.[11] She was admitted to Dongguk University in Seoul.[1][22] In 2011, she was cast on the EBS television program Now On My Way to Meet You, a variety show featuring North Korean defectors.[11] In April 2014, the South Korean National Intelligence Service informed Park that her sister, Eunmi, had escaped to South Korea via China and Thailand. Park and her mother eventually reunited with Eunmi.[1]

United States

Park first visited North America in 2013 with a Christian mission, going to Houston, Texas; San José, Costa Rica; and Atlanta, Georgia. Park moved to New York City in 2014 to complete her memoir while expanding her role as an activist. She published her memoir in 2015, where she shared her journey from defection to higher education. Park attended classes at Barnard College and then applied and was accepted to the Columbia University School of General Studies, starting there in the Fall 2016 semester. As of November 2016, she was majoring in economics.[23]

Activism and critical reception

Park speaking at the 2018 Oslo Freedom Forum

Since escaping, Park has written and spoken publicly about her life in North Korea, has written for the Washington Post, and has been interviewed by The Guardian and for the Australian public affairs show Dateline.[24][25][17] Park volunteers for such activist programs as the Freedom Factory Corporation,[24] a free-market think tank in South Korea.

Park has also become a member of LiNK (Liberty in North Korea), a U.S. nonprofit organization that rescues North Korean refugees hiding in China and resettles them in South Korea and the United States. On 12 to 15 June 2014, Park attended LiNK's summit at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California. Park and North Korean activists Joo Yang and Seongmin Lee worked in sessions and labs, informing participants of conditions in North Korea and of how LiNK can support refugees from North Korea. Park took part in LiNK's campaign, the Jangmadang (장마당).

Park has also been outspoken about tourism in North Korea, as visitors are encouraged to bow to statues of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, which she sees as "[aiding] the regime's propaganda by allowing themselves to be portrayed as if they too love and obey the leader."[26] She was selected as one of the BBC 100 Women in 2014 and is a member of the .[27][28]

Park worked as a co-host for Casey Lartigue, a talk show host of the podcast-show North Korea Today. The podcast discusses North Korean topics and the lives of refugees after their escapes. Park volunteered for this opportunity to further her activism. Together, Lartigue and Park hosted five episodes of the podcast.[29]

Park has told the story of her escape at several well-known events, including TEDx in Bath, the One Young World summit in Dublin,[4] and the Oslo Freedom Forum.[4] Some commentators have noted inconsistencies in her North Korean stories.[6][7][8] Mary Ann Jolley of The Diplomat has noted "serious inconsistencies" to contradictory refutations on several occasions. In an online update, Park claimed that many of the discrepancies in her quotations came from her limited English skills at the time, adding that, too, "[her] childhood memories were not perfect."[9] 38 North has noted that some critics, including other North Korean refugees, have accused Park of embellishing her accounts or appropriating elements from others' escape stories.[10]

At an 26 April 2021 speaking engagement at Texas Tech University,[30] Park stated that speech criticizing the North Korean Supreme Leader is now a crime in South Korea, possibly referring to South Korea's passing of an amendment to the "Inter-Korean Relations Development Act" prohibiting South Koreans from sending, amongst other things, anti-Pyongyang leaflets, auxiliary storage devices (e.g., USB drives), and money or other monetary benefits to North Korea.[31][32][33]

Personal life

Park and her American ex-husband Ezekiel have one child together, a son.[34] On her YouTube channel in January 2021, she said she is single and has grown apart from her former partner.[35]

Park was automatically granted South Korean citizenship after arriving in Seoul in 2009.[34] Park also holds U.S. citizenship.[36]

Beliefs

Park believes that there are positive and negative possibilities for North Korea to be reunified with South Korea. She believes that there are neither northerners nor southerners in Korea, just Koreans themselves.[4]

Park believes that change might occur in North Korea as long as she and other North Korean defectors advocate for human rights there. According to the National Review, Park presumes that "the regime adjusts, as the Chinese Communists and the Vietnamese Communists have done. That would allow the North Korean Communists to hang on for untold years longer."[22] Therefore, the Kims would be able to focus on their people, and then, they would be able to become more open to the world. Park also believes that the Jangmadang, the black market of North Korea, will transform or develop the country's society because it provides wide access to outside news media and information. According to Park, "If I ever return to a reformed North Korea, I will be thrilled to meet my peers as we attempt to bring wealth and freedom to people who were forced into poverty by the Kim family dynasty."[37]

Park considers Kim Jong-un to be a cruel leader for continuing the abuse of his people. She has said that "He is a criminal. He is killing people there. After he got the power, he killed 80 people in one day for watching a movie or reading the Bible. This young man is so cruel. He ordered that people who attempt escape should be shot [sic]."[38]

Political views

Park described her education at Columbia University as "brainwashing", citing examples such as lessons regarding gender-neutral pronouns.[39][40] She then said on Fox Business that "our education system is brainwashing our children to make them think that this country is racist and make them believe that they are victims. It’s time for us to fight back. Otherwise, it might be too late for us to bring the glory of this country back."[41]

She believes the U.S. is a "tolerant country" and she criticized American track and field athlete Gwen Berry for turning away from the national anthem at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in protest of racial and social injustices.[42] In the summer of 2020, during the George Floyd protests in Chicago, Park claims she and her son were attacked and robbed by three African-American women, while white bystanders prevented her from calling the police.[citation needed] Park described to Joe Rogan how she is "speaking out" and becoming "the enemy of the woke" when she claims one of the black women who robbed Park scolded her for equating her skin color to a thief. According to her, the white bystanders at their stores also agreed with them and did not come to her rescue. The police managed to apprehend one of the three alleged perpetrators, Lecretia Harris, who pleaded guilty to unlawful restraint but had the robbery charge dropped by prosecutors as part of her plea deal.[43] However, among other discrepancies, CWBChicago reports that the perpetrators of the robbery alleged to have involved Park were in fact Lecretia Harris and another man, not three black women.[44]

Park has criticized political correctness in the United States, saying, "They are forcing you [Americans] to think the way they want you to think. I realized, wow, this is insane. I thought America was different but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea that I started worrying," and adding that "America is not free".[45][46]

Works

  • Park, Yeonmi; Vollers, Maryanne (29 September 2015). In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0-698-40936-1. OCLC 921419691.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Phillips, Tom (10 October 2014). "Escape from North Korea: 'How I escaped horrors of life under Kim Jong-il'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  2. ^ Park, Yeonmi; Maryanne Vollers (2015). "Seven: The Darkest Nights". In Order to Live : A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom (1st ed.). New York: Penguin. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-59420-679-5. OCLC 921419691. he was moved to Camp 11, the Chungsan "reeducation" labor camp northwest of Pyongyang.
  3. ^ ""Kim Jong Un doesn't like me at all," says 21-year-old defector from North Korea". Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d Gupta, Priyanka. "Escaping North Korea: one refugee's story". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Video by Higher Perspective". Higher Perspective (facebook). 12 March 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
  6. ^ a b Richard Murray (2017). "Reporting on the impossible: The use of defectors in covering North Korea (page 4)" (PDF). Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics.
  7. ^ a b John Power (21 January 2015). "Celebrated Korean gulag defector changes story. Does that change the truth?". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  8. ^ a b Barbara Miller (4 September 2017). "North Korean defector stories find home in the South on reality TV show". ABC News.
  9. ^ a b c d e Jolley, Mary Ann (10 December 2014). "The Strange Tale of Yeonmi Park". The Diplomat. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  10. ^ a b "When North Koreans Go South, Some Go Professional". 38 North. 25 June 2015. Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  11. ^ a b c d e f Park, Yeonmi; Vollers, Maryanne (29 September 2015). In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-0-698-40936-1. OCLC 921419691.
  12. ^ "Voice of North Korea by Yeonmi Park – YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Summit Speaker – Yeonmi Park – Liberty in North Korea". Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  14. ^ Saunders, Josh (31 May 2020). "North Korea emboldened: How Chinese gangs help and prop up Kim Jong-un's rogue state". The Express. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020. There she was at the mercy of a restaurant owner who exploited her and when she tried to escape instructed a gang to pursue her – they were instructed to either kill her or have her deported.
  15. ^ Majumder, Bhaswati Guha (1 June 2020). "Who Is Park Eunmi? North Korean Woman Smuggled Herself to China in Search of Better Future". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020. Park Eunmi, is one such defectors who had spent several years in hiding after she smuggled herself across the North Korean border into China and now she has revealed how barbaric gangs in China play a crucial role in exploiting defectors.
  16. ^ Engel, Richard; Werner, Kennett (26 February 2018). Written at Seoul. "Yeonmi Park's long journey from North Korea to Chicago". NBC News. New York City. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  17. ^ a b Jolley, Mary Anne (3 September 2014). "Celebrity Defector: Speaking out against North Korea". Dateline. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  18. ^ Hakim, Danny (25 October 2014). "The World's Dissidents Have Their Say". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  19. ^ Vollers, Maryanne (15 March 2015). "The woman who faces the wrath of North Korea". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  20. ^ Cussen, John (15 September 2016). "On the Call to Dismiss North Korean Defectors' Memoirs and on Their Dark American Alternative". Korean Studies. University of Hawaii Press. 40 (1): 140–157. doi:10.1353/ks.2016.0005. ISSN 1529-1529. S2CID 163985007 – via Project MUSE.
  21. ^ Convery, Lewy (19 August 2021). "S4: E39 – The End of Universities?". Jordan Peterson. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
  22. ^ a b Nordlinger, Jay (17 November 2015). "Witness from Hell". National Review. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  23. ^ "One Student's Journey from North Korea to Columbia University". gs.columbia.edu. 15 November 2016.
  24. ^ a b Crocker, Lizzie (31 October 2014). "How 'Titanic 'Helped This Brave Young Woman Escape North Korea's Totalitarian State". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  25. ^ Park, Yeonmi; Shearlaw, Maeve (29 October 2014). "The North Korean defector who continues to defy regime – live Q&A as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  26. ^ Thompson, Nathan A. "The Ethics of Taking a Trip to North Korea as a Tourist". NBC News. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  27. ^ "Who are the 100 Women 2014?". BBC. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  28. ^ "Helena Group Members". Helena Group Foundation. 2017.
  29. ^ "North Korea Today: Featuring Casey and Yeonmi". Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  30. ^ "FMI Public Speaker Series Featuring North Korean Defector Yeonmi Park". Events@Rawls. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  31. ^ "In Order to live". 38 North. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
  32. ^ "South Korea: Scrap Bill Shielding North Korean Government". Human Rights Watch. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  33. ^ "North Korean defector group claims to have sent leaflets at border in defiance of new law". ABC News. 30 April 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  34. ^ a b Huddleston Jr., Tom (20 August 2018). "This woman escaped North Korea at 13 — these are her lessons on perseverance". CNBC. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  35. ^ Voice of North Korea by Yeonmi Park (30 January 2021). "Let's Talk about the Lies – North Korean Defector". YouTube. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  36. ^ Collman, Ashley (15 June 2021). "A North Korean defector says going to Columbia University reminded her of the oppressive regime, saying she felt forced to 'think the way they want you to think'". Yahoo News. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  37. ^ Park, Yeonmi (27 May 2014). "North Korea's best hope" (Opinion). Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  38. ^ Gupta, Priyanka (15 October 2014). "Escaping North Korea: one refugee's story". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  39. ^ Sahakian, Teny (14 June 2021). "North Korean defector says 'even North Korea was not this nuts' after attending Ivy League school". Fox News. Retrieved 15 June 2021.
  40. ^ Collman, Ashley (16 June 2021). "A North Korean defector says going to Columbia University reminded her of the oppressive regime, saying she felt forced to 'think the way they want you to think'". Business Insider India. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  41. ^ Stabile, Angelica (16 June 2021). "North Korean defector drags Dems for comments on Americans being deprived of freedom: 'That's a complete lie'". Fox Business. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  42. ^ Nelson, Amy (1 July 2021). "North Korean defector says US Olympian Gwen Berry's flag protest 'unthinkable'". Fox News. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  43. ^ Samson, Carl (7 August 2021). "Yeonmi Park says she was robbed by three women, bystanders stopped her from calling police". NextShark. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  44. ^ "Cops use taxi cab transaction to track down Mag Mile robber, prosecutors say". CWBChicago. 23 August 2020. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  45. ^ "North Korean defector slams 'woke' US schools". New York Post. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  46. ^ Collman, Ashley. "A North Korean defector says going to Columbia University reminded her of the oppressive regime, saying she felt forced to 'think the way they want you to think'". Insider. Retrieved 4 September 2021.

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