Yeonmi Park

Yeonmi finishing her speech at One Young World Summit https://www.oneyoungworld.com/news-item/yeonmi-park-order-liveSurrounded by miles and miles of sand and freezing cold temperatures, a group of former prisoners travel by foot for twenty-four hours. Armed with knives hidden in their pockets, they are prepared to kill themselves rather than be sent back. Traveling with only the clothes on their back and following the stars and compass, these prisoners are determined to cross the Gobi Desert to get to Mongolia, for the chance to live as human beings. Among those prisoners is fifteen-year-old Yeonmi Park with her mother. Just two years prior, they both barely escaped the evil country of North Korea, not knowing the worst was yet to come.

Yeonmi was an average girl who had an average life in North Korea. Born on October 4, 1993, she lived in a small house with her mother, father, and older sister. Like most North Koreans, her family almost never had any electricity, but that was normal. Yeonmi went to school like most children her age but instead of learning regular subjects like math or history, everything taught had something to do with the North Korean leaders. Instead of solving equations like 1+1, North Korean equations involved killing ¨American bastards¨. Instead of learning about the seven continents, they were taught about the enemy countries such as America, South Korea, and Japan. A normal day in the life of a North Korean would include waking up to the North Korean national anthem (if there was electricity) seeing hungry children begging in the street, passing by dead bodies in the street, and hearing gunshots from public execution while walking to work or school. A typical work day meant working for ten hours sometimes with no break and with little pay. After work, after getting home the meal consisted of only to a small bowl of rice. 

North Koreas are always being told what to do, wear, and think. When Yeonmi was a child, her mother always warned her not to even whisper because the birds and mice might hear her. Yeonmi herself believed that the leaders could read her mind. Any crime committed can lead to deadly punishment. When she was 9, she watched her friendś mom be publicly executed. Her crime was watching a Hollywood movie. A small crime committed not only affects the criminal themselves but up to three generations of families.

When Yeonmi was growing up in the 1990's, a huge famine swept over North Korea killing up to 3.5 million people. Yeonmi herself was affected along with her family. In order to survive, the Park family would skip many meals to save a grain of rice. Yeomni and her sister would go out into fields catching dragonflies and frogs to eat later for supper. Yeonmi knew when to eat grass or what roots to not eat or what bugs tasted the best. Yeonmi only weighed sixty pounds when she was thirteen. 

Former North Korean prison guard sketch https://www.washingtonpost.comOne of the biggest moments where everything in Yeonmi life changed was when she was ten (2003). Her father was a smuggler, who sold illegal products from China. Her father was arrested and sent to a prison camp. Prison camps in North Korea are like concentration camps only worse.   While at camp, he had been beaten many times where he couldn't even walk to use the restroom. Another time, he had been tied in a kneeling position with a wooden stick between his knees.  Her father spent two years in prison. He began having stomach problems (later finding out was colon cancer) and was finally released from prison to receive treatment.  

While her father was in prison, her mother left Yeonmi and her sister together alone for months at a time while her she went to find work and a way to get their father back.  The girls, only being ten and twelve, ended up having to drop out of school in order to look out for each other. They suffered through the cold winters not knowing how to start a fire or cook a meal. They couldn't hunt so they had to go eat plants and bugs in the fields.  Eventually, after many months of being alone, Yeonmi's mother decided to have the girls stay with their uncles and aunts. Because of the crime Yeonmi's father committed, Yeonmi and her sister were treated badly and forced to clean all day. 

After many more months of suffering, Yeonmi's family was able to not only get an apartment, but they also got their father back as well.  However, their trouble didn't end there, Yeonmi's family was still poor and starving. Everyone knew that China had food, but getting to China is extremely difficult. The borders are covered with armed guards threatening to shoot anyone trying to escape. Yeonmi's family knew China was their only hope but it was too risky. Yeonmi older sister was determined to get to China no matter what and before her sister escaped, Yeonmi ended up getting an intestinal infection which caused her to be hospitalized. Yeonmi's sister still wanted to leave so she left in the middle of the night leaving a note for her family to help them escape.

After leaving the hospital early, Yeonmi and her mother met a Chinese broker who was supposed to help them get across the border. They left in the middle of the night and lied to the broker saying that Yeonmi was 18 (really 13) and her mother was her aunt. The three of them were halfway across the border and when they met another broker who helped give further orders. Once the four crossed the border, the Chines broker pulled Yeonmi's mom to the side. He wanted to rape Yeonmi. Her mother had to think fast and told the broker that Yeonmi just had surgery and offered herself instead which he took. When they came back, Yeonmi and her mother were both transported to the broker's house where he sold them for marriage. Yeonmi was sold for $200 while her mother was sold for $60. Because Yeonmi and her mother had no idea what was going to happen after they were sold, they pleaded with the broker to keep them together. The broker decided that they would be separated but Yeonmi would live with him and his wife, which they all agreed to. They wanted to find Yeonmi's sister and help her father escaped as well. 

A few weeks after Yeonmi's mother was sold, the broker tried to rape Yeonmi again, which Yeonmi ended up fighting him off. He tried many times again and even got his wife passed out drunk. Yeonmi still kept fighting. The broker became disappointed and sold Yeonmi to a thirty-two-year-old man. The man was in charge of buying and selling women who escaped North Korea. Yeonmi didn't want to become a mistress and came very close to attempting suicide. She was later convinced that if she became a mistress, her family would come back, so she gave in. 

Just like her "husband's" promise, Yeonmi was able to get her mother and father back. Her father's cancer got worse which led him to die in 2009. Yeonmi had to bury him at 3:00 am in secret. She was fourteen and couldn't cry, she was too afraid to be sent back to North Korea. 

Yeonmi Parkhttps://womenintheworld.com/2015/10/01/five-facts-about-north-korean-defector-yeonmi-park/After several months of living in China, Yeonmi's mother was able to meet a Chinese missionary who was known to help North Koreans escaped to South Korea. Yeonmi and her mother decided that it was time to leave China. The Chinese missionaries helped give directions to Mongolia where travelers later went to South Korea They still heard no word from her sister but had hope that she was in South Korea. Before anyone could cross over to Mongolia, the Chinese missionaries made all travelers study the Bible. Once the Chinese missionaries decided that the travelers had studied enough, they would give directions to Mongolia. 

Once they reached Mongolia, they met with border guards who arrested the group and took them to prison. The group was told that they would be sent back to North Korea.  They threatened to kill themselves if they were sent back. The group was able to convince the guards to send them to South Korea where they were able to receive jobs and housing. Yeonmi went to law school and taught herself English.  She still didn't know where her sister was, so Yeonmi got a job as an actress on a sitcom where special messages would be sent to missing family members. Yeonmi joined so she could send a message. While being on the show, Yeonmi was asked to join a Christian mission group that helped the homeless community in the U.S. which she agreed. While Yeonmi was in the U.S, she told her story to many different people she met. She was always shocked that people thought her story was inspiring. She thought that if she could make a difference in people's lives by telling her story, she could make a difference to the lives of the millions of people in North Korea. 

Yeonmi with her bookhttps://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/yeonmi-park-reveals-the-horrors-of-life-in-north-korea-and-her-escape-to-china-a6678156.htmlFamily together againIn order to liveIn 2014, Yeonmi's story was told, she had made a speech at One Young World Summit and decided to write an autobiography.  After Yeonmi made her speech, many videos of her family were posted on YouTube where her family was forced to say that Yeonmi story was fake. Yeonmi was able to get her sister back. Today, Yeonmi is living in South Korea with her sister and mother. She's married and recently had a baby boy. Yeonmi still makes speeches and still stands up for those suffering in North Korea. Yeonmi is indeed a true hero.