Park Yeon-mi Quotes

Park Yeon-mi

Profession : Activist

Birth : October 4, 1993

I never heard my father telling my mother that he loved her. And my mother never told me she loved me, either.

Park Yeon-mi

In North Korean culture, love is a shameful thing and nobody talked about it in public. The regime was not interested in human desires and love stories were banned.

Park Yeon-mi

My mum was sold for $65 and I was sold for $260 - at the age of 13.

Park Yeon-mi

I do think sometimes, I wonder is it true that every life is equal in this world? Do we care about North Korean lives?

Park Yeon-mi

The oppression is like nothing imaginable - I literally believed that Kim Jong-il could read my mind.

Park Yeon-mi

North Korea cannot change because its people don't realize that there is an alternative to their suffering.

Park Yeon-mi

Why would North Korea people care if they have nukes or not? All they want is food. They want freedom.

Park Yeon-mi

I was able to see the lights coming from China. If maybe I could go where the lights are I could find something to eat, that's why I escaped.

Park Yeon-mi

I crossed the Gobi desert to be free and now I thought I live in a country where I can say what I believe and have my freedom to think. However, now I have to constantly censor my speech because in the name off a 'safe place.'

Park Yeon-mi

My favorite movies were 'Titanic,' 'James Bond' and 'Pretty Woman' - people smuggled in pirate copies from China.

Park Yeon-mi

Nothing is forever, and I believe that North Korea will change in my lifetime.

Park Yeon-mi

I couldn't imagine that I'd ever see men as normal people and I could never trust them. I couldn't bear any human connection with men.

Park Yeon-mi

Family are everything; everyone understands the strength of family. For me, they were the reason that I managed to get by while I was in captivity and now they are the reason to live in freedom.

Park Yeon-mi

For a long time, I lost faith in humanity, especially men.

Park Yeon-mi

I'll live longer than Kim Jong-un - he's fatter than me. He doesn't like me.

Park Yeon-mi

I thought America was different, but I saw so many similarities to what I saw in North Korea that I started worrying.

Park Yeon-mi

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

I don't think anyone should have power over me, or have the right to tell me what to say or how to think. That's not right. I want to be free.

Park Yeon-mi

I am an ambitious person. In the West, being ambitious isn't a bad thing. You work hard and you have a purpose in life. But in North Korea, you can never be individualistic. You can never live for yourself. You have to live for the regime.

Park Yeon-mi

South Koreans often don't think of North Korean defectors as Korean. While we have been granted citizenship, the locals don't consider us as South Korean citizens. We are often treated differently and viewed differently, even by people who care for us the most.

Park Yeon-mi