[Epoch Times October 05, 2021](Interview with English Epoch Times senior reporter Jan Jekielek / Translated by Qiusheng) “This is a culture of condemnation. In the United States, all you see is people accusing and pointing at each other. Don’t recognize each other’s humanity. This is North Korea’s trick: we must constantly condemn our enemies. That’s how you ruined your country.” Park Yeonmi said.
Today, I visited Park Yeon-mi, a North Korean defector. She is “In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom” (In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom, Taiwanese translation “In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom” The author of the book “Girl Park Yanmei”). Her memoir recently entered the top 20 of Amazon’s bestseller list, which was nearly 6 years after she published the book.
“This is the saddest thing for the people of our country. They don’t even know that they are slaves. And when you don’t know that you are a slave, how do you fight for freedom?” Park Yeonmi, a defector, talks about the tyranny of the Communist Party and the “suicide of Western civilization.” .
Yang Jiekai:This is the “American Thought Leader” program. I’m the host Jan Jekielek (Jan Jekielek).
To watch the full video and manuscript, please go to: https://ept.ms/3fgTKSv
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Yang Jiekai:Park Yeonmi, welcome to the “American Thought Leader” program!
Park Yeonmi:thank you for your invitation! I am very honored.
The book entered the top 20 Amazon bestseller list
Yang Jiekai:Yeonmi, first of all, congratulations on being in the top 20 of the Amazon bestseller list, the top 20 in the United States, right? This is an incredible achievement for your book. Everyone knows that your book is “To Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom”.
Park Yeonmi:Yes, this was published six years ago. Interestingly, when it was first published, it was not a big seller, especially in the United States, but now people suddenly become very interested, so I really appreciate it.
Yang Jiekai:So why do you think people are suddenly so interested? I am very interested. This is a very broad and incredible story, but why do you think people’s interest is growing now?
Park Yeonmi:When this book was published, the New York Times did not give a good review at all. They were almost asking to some extent, “Why would anyone want to read her book?” That kind of comment. But this book is very popular in Sweden, England, Hong Kong, Singapore and other regions, but not in the United States.
I think the reason it sells very well is that I have begun to reach people who really care about oppression and who really care about injustice. Somehow, the mainstream media was not interested in talking about this story before. Of course, if the media does not talk about it, it will be difficult for people to access it.
The saddest North Korean did not know that he was a slave
Yang Jiekai:(George Orwell’s) The book “Animal Farm” shows you how a communist society emerged and how it works in a very simple way.
Park Yeonmi:Yes.
Yang Jiekai:It’s wonderful. When you read that book, you have a lot of insights.
Park Yeonmi:Yes. Before that, I was confused and didn’t know what to believe. (After leaving North Korea,) I grew up in South Korea when I was fifteen or sixteen. At that time, people told me, “Americans are not bastards. They did not enslave Koreans. They are good people. No matter what you believe in North Korea, they are all. It’s a lie. So please believe us, what we told you is true.”
At the time I was thinking: How do I know that you are not telling me a lie? There is no evidence that everything I believe is a lie. This is the hardest thing, how can you trust others? At that time I read “Animal Farm” by George Orwell, and it made me understand what happened to my nation and what happened to my country.
The saddest thing is that at first I thought that Kim Jong-un and Kim Jong-il were the problem, and that they were the only parties responsible for this tragedy and this human suffering. But the fact is, you see, all animals at the beginning, they all know what the truth is, then they feel a kind of fear, so they remain silent.
As for the young animals born later, they are so stupid that they don’t even know what another life is like. They don’t even know what is possible. This is how I was when I was born in that country. I don’t know what life was like before the King’s rule or before the communist revolution. For me, I don’t know that life can be other ways.
This is the saddest thing for our people, they don’t even know that they are slaves. How do you fight for freedom when you don’t know you are a slave? This is impossible. This is the most terrible ending of the whole story. In fact, only if you know that you are oppressed can you get rid of oppression. The real oppression and the real isolation are what North Koreans have experienced. They didn’t even know that they were quarantined.
I don’t know if I can find food tomorrow
Park Yeonmi:Yes, there is something ordinary people have to experience in North Korea. You have lunch, and then you worry about dinner again. If you are worried about dinner, you will say, “How can I find dinner?” When you find dinner, you will say, “Well, I got through the day, but how will I live tomorrow?” You don’t know Can you find food tomorrow?
So in every minute of your survival, you are worried about your survival, worried about not finding food. When you worry about your own existence every minute, you don’t think about what freedom is and what is the meaning of life, right? We don’t question anything, only despair.
This is why it is easy for those in power to control the people, who are so weak and desperate that they have no time to think about other things besides survival and looking for food. To a certain extent, it is a very effective tool for controlling the common people. But this is a kind of torture, which makes people starve to death, which is worse than being raped. This is the most terrible torture you can experience.
There is no internet in our school. You can’t go and see what the outside world will look like. At night, I just barely looked at China (on the opposite side of the Yalu River) and saw that the lights came from China. I think if I go to a place with lights, maybe I can find some food to eat. This is why we ran away.
There is another kind of horror and slavery to find food in China
Yang Jiekai:Your story involves many different fields. You fled to China, where you can find food, but you find another form of terror and slavery.
Park Yeonmi:Yes.
Yang Jiekai:You are directly involved in a large-scale human and sex trafficking business throughout that area of China.
Park Yeonmi:Yes, just when I was talking to you, this kind of thing was still happening. At this moment, there are about 300,000 North Koreans hiding in China, most of them are women, and 99% of them are trafficked. Because of China’s one-child policy, they (in order to have a son) aborted many girls.
Now in China, especially in rural areas, as many as 30 million young men cannot find their wives because there are not enough women for them. Over time, this number is still increasing. The Chinese government does not recognize North Korean refugees, so they call us fugitives. They tried to catch us and send us back to North Korea. It was like catching Jews and sending them back to concentration camps. This is a crime against humanity.
When we fled, we were not refugees, we were defectors. You flee the (North Korean) regime, which means you are despising the party’s ideology. So this is why you will be severely punished or executed when you are sent back to the north.
So North Koreans are so vulnerable in China. Human traffickers know that the last thing we can do in China is to ask the police for help, because they want to catch us and send us back. This is why human traffickers keep telling us, “I can kill you now, you are not as good as a pig.”
North Koreans became slaves, prostituted themselves, entered chat rooms (pornographic activities), joined gangs, and even some people’s organs were harvested. Thousands of people are trapped in China at the moment, and all this happens in the 21st century. Modern slavery is happening. The shocking thing is that no one talks about this issue.
Yang Jiekai: In your book, it is mentioned that there is a very complete gang and cartel system to organize these activities, and in the end you are with a gang member, right?
Park Yeonmi:right.
Yang Jiekai:Because undoubtedly this is a much better choice than death.
Park Yeonmi: Yes.
Longing for the truth to study in Columbia, USA
When you look at the United States from a distance, it is still the land of hope, right? The home of the warriors is like a country that has been pursuing justice for many years. When it comes to freedom and personal freedom, this country is extraordinary, moral, and courageous. It has inspired me a lot. However, when I came here, from the inside, I felt very confused: how is this possible?
Of course, I think back to the United States during Trump’s presidency. It was an extremely unusual period when the country became so divided. People kept telling me from two aspects: This is not the way the United States used to be. NS. In a way this is almost my belief, I need to fight for freedom, no matter where I go.
Yang Jiekai:This is very interesting. In an interview with Jordan Peterson, you talked about the incredible disillusionment you experienced after entering Columbia University. Frankly speaking, the whole discussion is a bit shocking, because this should undoubtedly be one of the best educational institutions in the United States, perhaps the best in the world, right? I remember you said that no course is ultimately valuable to you, but how is this possible?
Park Yeonmi:Right, right? exactly.
To watch the full video and manuscript, please go to: https://ept.ms/3fgTKSv
Editor in charge: Li Hao
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