Park Yeon-mi

Yeonmi Park: Symbol of Inspiration

Yeonmi ParkWikimedia Commons: Tore SætreYeonmi Park, a North Korean survivor, wrote in her biography, “In most countries, a mother encourages her children to ask about everything but not in North Korea. As soon as I was old enough to understand, my mother warned me that I should be careful about what I was saying. ‘Remember Yeonmi-ya’ she said gently, 'even when you think you’re alone, the birds and mice can hear you whisper”’ (Park 19). This is the life Yeonmi Park had when she grew up in North Korea. She was brainwashed by the corrupt government whose leader portrayed himself as a god. Desperate to live a better life, Park, at age 13, along with her mother escaped North Korea and fled to China. (TED 1:04). After escaping to South Korea, Park found herself surrounded by challenges she thought she would never face. Park’s story of self-sacrifice and perseverance raises awareness about the oppressive North Korean society and serves as a symbol of inspiration.

North KoreaWikimedia CommonsThroughout Park’s journey, many sacrifices were made as an attempt to resolve the challenges she encountered. For example, while Park was still in North Korea, she had a boyfriend. Park knew that she could not be in a serious relationship with him and was also about to escape North Korea, leaving her privileged boyfriend behind. “His father had studied abroad and earned a PhD and was now a distinguished professor of agriculture at the university. His mother was a very important political person with a high rank in the workers’ Party. If his parents were to find out that we were together, he would be in big trouble. And if he were to get serious about me or marry me, it would destroy his life. Chun Guen would ever be able to join the Workers’ Party, never get to study at the best universities and have a distinguished career. I would be like a wound, a burden to drag him down. So I kept telling him no.” Park here had to sacrifice her relationship with her boyfriend, which she very much wanted to keep, to preserve his good quality of life (Park 102). This example of sacrifice proves itself important, as it shows the value of the greater good. Park saw the long-term consequences of destroying her boyfriend’s life but also saw how they outweighed the short-term reward if she had staying with him. Park was very wise in making this sacrifice because she chose not to let her emotions get in the way of an important decision. After Park had fled to China, she and her mother encountered a difficult situation. China was not freedom for Park because the only reason she and her mother were smuggled to China was so they could be sold as wives to Chinese men. On their way to be sold, their manager sought to “make the most” of the situation. “The broker told my mother that he wanted to have sex with me. She had to think quickly- he couldn’t know I was her daughter and only thirteen. He might send us back to be captured by those border guards. So she explained to him I was too sick that I had just had a operation and my stitches would tear… ‘We won’t cause you any trouble,’ she said. ‘Take me instead’” (Park 128). In this situation, Park’s mother sacrifices herself to be raped, to preserve the innocence of her daughter. In this situation, the sacrifice was likely easier because to Park’s mother, one punishment was clearly more severe than the other and it was not hard to see long-term effects. However, in both situations, a touching sacrifice for the greater good was still chosen. Park makes the importance of sacrifice clear through her story, and inspires us, as people to follow suit and use this positive influence on our decisions in a difficult situation. 

After finally escaping from China to South Korea, Park was stumped with many new obstacles. Although free from her oppressed life, Park did not have the skills to live as a contributing South Korean citizen. Shortly after arriving from South Korea, Park took an academic aptitude test which indicated that she had second grade capabilities in math and had even worse reading and writing skills (Park 214). Despite this, Park was determined to catch up to the other South Korean students in order to live a normal life. “I crammed twelve years of education into the next eighteen months of my life” (Park 229). Park shows us that with perseverance, she was able to navigate through her absurd circumstances to achieve her goal. Park fought through the discouragement of her mentors, who didn’t think she would be able to accomplish such task, and shows through her story with persistence that we can achieve our goals (Park 224). By proving herself, Park inspires people’s core foundations to follow through with their plans of action. Besides striving academically, Park has also strived mentally. Park had lived most of her life in North Korea, brainwashed by the government. Throughout her journey in South Korea, we can see how Park has mentally adapted. While in class Park was asked a simple question. She says, “So when the teacher asked for my favorite color, I thought hard to come up with the ‘right’ answer. I had never been taught to use the judgments about why one thing seems better than another” (Park 216). According to Park, she was never told to think in North Korea and did not use the critical part of her brain that made judgments. Everything was usually decided for her (Park 216). After years of trying to think for herself, Park was finally able to rewire her brain to make judgments. “But after five years of practicing being free, I know now that my favorite color is spring green and my hobby is reading books and watching documentaries. I’m not copying other people’s answers anymore” (Park 217). This achievement of Park’s may not seem as impressive as her academic achievement, however changing the way one thinks can be equally as difficult. This experience and learning curve Park had to endure, by itself, is shocking and truly shows how North Korea treats its citizens. Park once again assumes a position of inspiration as her stories of perseverance provoke others to persevere with their ongoing or future challenges. 

Yeonmi Park speaking at the 2015 International Students for Liberty ConferenceWikimedia CommonsThroughout Park’s life, she was constantly affecting those around her. While in the midst of studying hard for her education, Park received a call from a TV show producer. “But then I got a call from the producer of a national cable TV show on EBS, the Educational Broadcasting System, toward the end of 2011. He wanted to interview a North Korean defector, and he heard my name from someone connected with Hanawon. I agreed to meet with him” (Park 238). Hanawon is a support facility that North Korean Refugees stay at when they first arrive in South Korea (Herald). In the TV show Park explains what her life was like in North Korea to the intended audience of South Koreans learning about the true nature of North Korea (Park 238). Park deciding to take part in this show is a crucial part of her story because it shows the point where Park’s life shifts directions. With this small step, Park is able to show people how she became a big influencer. As her activism career gained momentum, Park was offered more and more opportunities to inspire people with her story. Eventually, Park made a big speech during the One Young World Summit that took place in Dublin, Ireland. This conference was similar to a United Nations but for young leaders (Park 260). Park’s speech was posted online and amassed 82 million views and was shared 1.5 million times (“Ambassador Yeonmi Park's Video Reaches 82 Million Views.”). This is a speech where Park was finally able to grasp onto a large audience with her story. This achievement of Park’s does not only raise awareness about North Korea to the world but, back in the context of Park’s story, this part shows us how anyone can make a change to this world. Many people feel that their attempts wouldn’t make much of a difference and do not bother to attempt. Park changes our perspective on things and shows us how everyone has a starting point. Park started with an interview on a TV show. Through building her career, Park inspires people to be proactive and express their ideas.

The story of Yeonmi Park serves as a symbol of inspiration due to self-sacrifice, perseverance, and raising awareness about the poor quality of life in North Korea. Through examples of self-sacrifice and perseverance, Park inspires people to use these lessons to improve their lives. She also serves as a symbol of inspiration because her life accomplishments motivates us to create our own change. Park is my hero because she not only a selfless, persistent individual that would sacrifice herself for the greater good, but also inspires us to create our own impact in the world. Park shows and gives me insight on how normal, “everyday” people like me can make a change in this world. She shows me the vast amount of problems our society has and motivates me to be proactive to resolve these problems.  

Works Cited

“Ambassador Yeonmi Park's Video Reaches 82 Million Views.” One Young World, www.oneyoungworld.com/news-item/ambassador-yeonmi-park-s-video-reaches-82-million-views.

Herald. “[Feature] Hanawon: Helping NK Defectors Settle Better in Capitalist South.” The Korea Herald, The Korea Herald, 5 July 2019, www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190705000565.

Park, Yeonmi. In Order to Live: a North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom. Penguin Books, 2016.

TED. “What I learned about freedom after escaping North Korea | Yeonmi Park.” Youtube.com, 26 September 2019

         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLzTo-y8Ef0

Works Consulted

Works Cited

“Ambassador Yeonmi Park's Video Reaches 82 Million Views.” One Young World, www.oneyoungworld.com/news-item/ambassador-yeonmi-park-s-video-reaches-82-million-views.

Herald. “[Feature] Hanawon: Helping NK Defectors Settle Better in Capitalist South.” The Korea Herald, The Korea Herald, 5 July 2019, www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20190705000565.

Park, Yeonmi. In Order to Live: a North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom. Penguin Books, 2016.

TED. “What I learned about freedom after escaping North Korea | Yeonmi Park.” Youtube.com, 26 September 2019

         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLzTo-y8Ef0

Krainin, Todd. "In order to live: the story of Yeonmi Park, a North Korean runaway." Reason, Feb. 2016, p. 48+. Gale In Context: Biography, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A439682511/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=d6e3557f. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

"Yeonmi Park." Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2018. Gale In Context: Biography, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1000327120/BIC?u=powa9245&sid=BIC&xid=27a5a49a. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.

Sanderson, Caroline. "Yeonmi Park: a remarkable memoir tells of North Korean Yeonmi Park's escape to China, and how she hopes to shed light on her native country's oppressive practices." The Bookseller, 24 July 2015, p. 18. Gale In Context: High School, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A423049341/GPS?u=powa9245&sid=GPS&xid=b3c1e021. Accessed 5 Dec. 2019.