In North Korea, it was actually an oppressive regime and that's why I escaped with my life. — Park Yeon-mi Korea Copy Share Image
North Korea cannot change because its people don't realize that there is an alternative to their suffering. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
We don't have friends in North Korea. We only have comrades. There's no concept of friends. — Park Yeon-mi Comrades Copy Share Image
I do want to go home. That's my dream. North Korea is still my home. — Park Yeon-mi Dream Copy Share Image
Why would North Korea people care if they have nukes or not? All they want is food. They want freedom. — Park Yeon-mi Food Copy Share Image
The oppression is like nothing imaginable - I literally believed that Kim Jong-il could read my mind. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
I don't think I will ever understand what freedom means, but I am enjoying learning. — Park Yeon-mi Freedom Copy Share Image
I'll live longer than Kim Jong-un - he's fatter than me. He doesn't like me. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
When I saw my father's death it was not human, he was less better than an animal and I didn't want the… — Park Yeon-mi Death Copy Share Image
I was able to see the lights coming from China. If maybe I could go where the lights are I could find… — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
I thought, if I go to China, I might find food to eat. The only reason to escape was to find a… — Park Yeon-mi Escape Copy Share Image
All the foreign movies we saw about love affected me and my generation. Now we no longer want to die for the… — Park Yeon-mi Generation Copy Share Image
Back in 2014, at the One Young World Summit in Dublin, I shared my story of my escape from North Korea to… — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
They said if you are in China you have to be sold, you have to get married. And something that still saddens… — Park Yeon-mi Care Copy Share Image
I'm extremely grateful I was born in North Korea. If that didn't happen, there's no way I could understand other people's pain. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
In restaurants, when people order food - and they have menus - I hate that. Just give me something to eat. Quantity… — Park Yeon-mi Food Copy Share Image
In North Korea, we never learned to think critically. There is no concept of individualism. The government treated us as less valuable… — Park Yeon-mi Animal Copy Share Image
South Koreans often don't think of North Korean defectors as Korean. While we have been granted citizenship, the locals don't consider us… — Park Yeon-mi Care Copy Share Image
People would ask me about my hobbies and what I liked. I had never been asked those questions because what I thought… — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
Before Kim Jong Il died, it wasn't like one day Kim Jong Un took over. Kim Jong Il made sure his son… — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
In North Korea, people who are actually oppressed don't even know they're oppressed. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
The media's censorship is unthinkable... If we don't stop, we are going to end up like North Koreans. — Park Yeon-mi Censorship Copy Share Image
I mean I could not trust men again. I hated men. I hated humanity. How on earth can people sell each other? — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
I never used a translator, never thought that the journalists might not understand. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
I learnt about the universe. I learnt about human rights and human dignity - this was so new to me. — Park Yeon-mi Dignity Copy Share Image
I didn't know people can be good. I didn't know people are designed to be good and help one another. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
North Korea is an unimaginable country. We aren't free to sing, say, wear or think what we want. — Park Yeon-mi Country Copy Share Image
I wanted to show North Korean people that they have hope, and they can be free someday, like myself. — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
My mum was sold for $65 and I was sold for $260 - at the age of 13. — Park Yeon-mi Age Copy Share Image
The year 2015 brought me so many further chances to spread the word about human rights violations in North Korea, from addressing… — Park Yeon-mi Human Copy Share Image
In North Korean culture, love is a shameful thing and nobody talked about it in public. The regime was not interested in… — Park Yeon-mi Culture Copy Share Image
I was born at the end of the 1993. The regime stopped giving food to the people. Three million people died from… — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
I really had loving parents, and my father was the example of perseverance... he never gave up, and he taught me it's… — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
In North Korea I literally believed that my Dear Leader was starving. He's the fattest guy - how can anyone believe that? — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
I can't say if I enjoy the attention or not. It's really exhausting. But every speech and every interview is extremely important… — Park Yeon-mi Attention Copy Share Image
Most North Korean people have never seen a map of the world. They don't even know that the Internet exists. They don't… — Park Yeon-mi Electricity Copy Share Image
I heard about desert, but I never seen them with my eyes. I just couldn't believe there was nothing, except sand and… — Park Yeon-mi Copy Share Image
North Korea is a very Confucius country. We respect the elders, the hierarchy. It's not like America where anyone can step up… — Park Yeon-mi America Copy Share Image
