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Yeonmi Park, Activist

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Yeomni Park

Yeonmi Park is a former North Korean who fled her homeland at the age of 13 and is now known worldwide as a human rights activist, author, and speaker.

Many people see her as a role model because she stayed strong despite everything. Young people in particular are inspired by her story.

Success Story

As a speaker, Yeonmi Park has given more than 100 talks around the world, including at major events like the Oslo Freedom Forum, the One Young World Summit in Dublin, and the TEDx Conference in Bath.

Her speech at the One Young World Summit has been viewed over 320 million times on various platforms.

Her first book, In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom, was published in 2015 and sold over 100,000 copies.

In 2023, she released her second book, While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector’s Search for Freedom in America, which sold more than 130,000 copies.

Yeonmi_Park

With over 555,000 followers, she shares personal insights, thoughts, and updates about her activism on Instagram.

Voice of North Korea by Yeonmi Park

On her YouTube channel Voice of North Korea by Yeonmi Park, she has more than 1.15 million subscribers and over 122 million views.

Yeonmi’s Life Journey

1993 – Birth in North Korea
Yeonmi Park was born in Hyesan, a city near the Chinese border. Her father first worked as an official and later earned money through black market trade. At first, the family was doing okay, but in North Korea there was no real freedom. Even as a little girl, Yeonmi learned that one could only say what the government allowed.
Childhood – Living in Poverty and Control
When her father was sent to prison for illegal trading, the family lost its income. They fell into deep poverty. At that time, famine spread across North Korea, and many people died. Yeonmi saw how neighbors were punished for small “crimes.” She learned very early to live in fear and to keep secrets.
2007 – Escape to China
At 13, Yeonmi and her mother decided to flee. They crossed a frozen river at night to enter China. But the escape didn’t mean safety: they were caught by human traffickers. Her mother became a victim of violence, and both were forced to live under the control of these men.
2009 – New Hope in South Korea
After almost two years of insecurity, Yeonmi and her mother managed to cross the desert into Mongolia. From there, they traveled to South Korea, where they finally found safety. Still, life wasn’t easy: Yeonmi had to learn a new language, catch up on schoolwork, and adapt to a society far more modern and free than anything she had known before.
2014 – Speech in Oslo
As a young adult, Yeonmi decided to share her story. At the Oslo Freedom Forum in Norway, she spoke about her escape and life in North Korea. Her speech moved the audience deeply, and the video spread worldwide. Millions of people heard, for the first time, directly from a young woman what life in North Korea was really like.
2015 – Her First Book
Yeonmi wrote In Order to Live, her memoir, where she describes her childhood, the years of hunger, her dangerous escape, and her difficult new beginning. The book made her internationally famous and opened the eyes of many to a hidden world.
2015 - Activist in the USA
Today, Yeonmi lives in the United States. She travels the world to talk about North Korea and uses podcasts, interviews, and social media to spread her message. She fights for the hope that one day, the people of North Korea will live in freedom and encourages young people everywhere to stand up for freedom and human rights.

How to escape

Situation in Nordkorea
North Korean refugees rescue

Quiz

Speaker

Hello, I am Sonja.

As a co-founder of the association Global New Generation Berlin, I have been committed for many years to the recognition of all people in our society.
What is especially close to my heart are the children, since my (grand-)children also live in Germany.
I design transcultural projects and implement them in diverse teams.
I consider discrimination-sensitive education to be very important. For this reason, I offer anti-discrimination and diversity trainings for educational institutions.
As an artist, I like to use art as a tool to support young people in their development and in finding their identity.

Support

This learning module was created with the kind support of the Stiftung Bildungschancen (Foundation for Educational Opportunities).

Feedback

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Sources

‘Driven By Marxist Ideology’: Yeonmi Park Talks Her Childhood, University Culture, and Trump

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/04/park-yeon-mi-in-order-to-live-north-korea-interview

https://libertyinnorthkorea.org/

Inhalt teilweise erstellt mit Unterstützung von ChatGPT (OpenAI, 2025), https://chat.openai.com

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