Park Yeon-mi Quotes

Park Yeon-mi

Profession : Activist

Birth : October 4, 1993

If I could've had the things that Americans throw away, I never would've escaped North Korea. That's how much we were desperate.

Park Yeon-mi

They said if you are in China you have to be sold, you have to get married. And something that still saddens me is that I actually didn't care, I was so hungry.

Park Yeon-mi

We can agree that Kim Yo Jong is not taking over North Korea and I don't think that is in her interest.

Park Yeon-mi

Kim Il Sung prepared Kim Jong Il for decades to be his successor and made it very clear from the beginning, 'This is my son and he's going to lead the country' and that took more than 10 years - almost 20 years.

Park Yeon-mi

Before Kim Jong Il died, it wasn't like one day Kim Jong Un took over. Kim Jong Il made sure his son was known to the North Korean people and it was clear that he was the next heir. He prepared him for at least three years beforehand.

Park Yeon-mi

North Korea is a very Confucius country. We respect the elders, the hierarchy. It's not like America where anyone can step up and do things, we have our tradition.

Park Yeon-mi

The North Korean government are out to get me.

Park Yeon-mi

I can't say if I enjoy the attention or not. It's really exhausting. But every speech and every interview is extremely important to me because it could be my last one.

Park Yeon-mi

Back in 2014, at the One Young World Summit in Dublin, I shared my story of my escape from North Korea to China in 2007. I had no idea what was coming or what to expect.

Park Yeon-mi

I didn't know who Bob Geldof or Richard Branson were and I thought Dublin was part of England.

Park Yeon-mi

When I was invited to return to the 2015 One Young World summit in Bangkok, I knew that I had to make it back. One Young World had given me a platform, and for me it was vitally important for new delegates to hear about North Korea.

Park Yeon-mi

The year 2015 brought me so many further chances to spread the word about human rights violations in North Korea, from addressing the United Nations to publishing my autobiography.

Park Yeon-mi

I didn't know it was even possible to sell humans. I thought people can only sell animals, chickens. But I didn't even know that kind of concept - human traffic - can be exist in the world. So I just couldn't process it when I heard it.

Park Yeon-mi

I heard about desert, but I never seen them with my eyes. I just couldn't believe there was nothing, except sand and except the stars in the sky.

Park Yeon-mi

There's nothing I did wrong. I was just born in North Korea, and that was my crime.

Park Yeon-mi

I wanted to show North Korean people that they have hope, and they can be free someday, like myself.

Park Yeon-mi

I know what it means to be a slave, both physically and emotionally.

Park Yeon-mi

I surrendered all my privacy to write this book. It was so hard and so painful. I went through so much crazy stuff. But I wanted people to realize that North Koreans are just like them.

Park Yeon-mi

I was determined that I was going to have a successful and normal life.

Park Yeon-mi

If I keep silent, I am betraying my people.

Park Yeon-mi