When she took the stage at the One Young World conference in Dublin in the summer of 2014, few had ever heard of this college student who defected from North Korea. However, that would soon change. Her compelling speech and her story of love, loss and courage touched the hearts of everyone who heard her and catapulted the shy, quiet girl to international stardom. Her speech quickly reached 2 million views on YouTube as word spread of her inspiring tale. She was born in North Korea to a middle-class family. Her father was a minor businessman and she, her mother and her sister knew relative financial comfort until one day when things changed. Herself recalls the moment that she began to realize that her country was a very dangerous place.
"My best friend's mother was convicted of watching pirated DVDs and passing them on to others," recalls the 21-year-old in her sweet voice that belies the horror of her tale. "They took her and some other people to a public area. There they broke their teeth. They stuffed their mouths full of rocks—this was so that they could not speak or cry out. They lined them up and shot them all. I remember the horror of that moment. At nine years old, all I understood was hearing the shots and seeing the blood as she crumpled to the ground. I had no understanding at that time of how dangerous it was to speak out against the government.
"My best friend's mother was convicted of watching pirated DVDs and passing them on to others," recalls the 21-year-old in her sweet voice that belies the horror of her tale. "They took her and some other people to a public area. There they broke their teeth. They stuffed their mouths full of rocks—this was so that they could not speak or cry out. They lined them up and shot them all. I remember the horror of that moment. At nine years old, all I understood was hearing the shots and seeing the blood as she crumpled to the ground. I had no understanding at that time of how dangerous it was to speak out against the government.
I did not understand why my best friend's mother had to die that way." Later, She began to realize why her mother always tried to make her father stop talking about the government. "When he would complain or make some statement that did not fit with the worship of the ruler, my mother would always be very worried and tell him to stop." As she and her sister got older, she began to understand that her mother was terrified that her father would be arrested. Unfortunately, one day that fear became a reality.
"My father was arrested for buying from and selling goods to the wrong people," she says . "He was imprisoned in a camp. There, he found out that he had colon cancer." Unable to face the prospect of dying before he could get his family out of North Korea, Mr. Park showed incredible courage and resourcefulness. He bribed a guard to let him out of prison, then ushered his family into China where he hoped they would find their way to South Korea.
Unfortunately, Mr. Park never made it to the "promised land." He died on the road in China, and Yeonmi Park and her mother buried his ashes in the mountains. "To this day, I do not know where is grave is, and we never had a proper funeral," she recalls. Separated from her sister, she and her mother could do nothing but go forward and hope that they could find their way to freedom and safety.
"My father was arrested for buying from and selling goods to the wrong people," she says . "He was imprisoned in a camp. There, he found out that he had colon cancer." Unable to face the prospect of dying before he could get his family out of North Korea, Mr. Park showed incredible courage and resourcefulness. He bribed a guard to let him out of prison, then ushered his family into China where he hoped they would find their way to South Korea.
Unfortunately, Mr. Park never made it to the "promised land." He died on the road in China, and Yeonmi Park and her mother buried his ashes in the mountains. "To this day, I do not know where is grave is, and we never had a proper funeral," she recalls. Separated from her sister, she and her mother could do nothing but go forward and hope that they could find their way to freedom and safety.
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