Have you ever been so hungry that you dream about bread? Or so scared that a mere knock on your door feels like something terrible has happened? Yeonmi Park, a North Korean girl who escaped a constant state of fear, shares her extraordinary journey in her book ” In order to live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom.” Her story challenges our understanding of struggle and hardship, leaving a lasting impact on readers.
Growing up in Asia, many of us have heard stories of poverty and droughts, making it easier to relate to young Yeonmi Park’s accounts of her childhood.
In a world filled with darkness, Yeonmi and her sister would wait anxiously for their mother to return from work, the only hope they had to sustain their lives.
Yeonmi vividly describes her childhood memories, where finding bugs to eat and witnessing others do the same was a common occurrence. Through her words, we gain a real-life depiction of the harsh realities under the North Korean regime, confirming what we may have previously heard through news or documentaries.
Yeonmi’s family, specifically, faced even greater hardships due to her grandfather’s alleged crimes against the Kim family.
In their culture, the family members of criminals also bear responsibility for the crime, resulting in their banishment to a rural area and a denial of government jobs or military service.
Yeonmi’s father worked as a farmer, but it was not enough to sustain their family. In order to make ends meet, he resorted to smuggling “luxury” products such as handbags and perfumes from China to sell in their hometown. Yeonmi recalls this defiant act of capitalism in a socialist country as their means of survival.
However, in North Korea, her father was labeled a criminal, whereas in any other country, he would have been considered a businessman.
Running a business came with its own challenges. Yeonmi’s father would be away from home for months, while her mother toiled tirelessly doing manual labour to support the family.
Despite attending school, Yeonmi and her sister would anxiously wait for their mother’s return each night.
The absence of electricity in their village added to their fear, as they endured power outages lasting for days.
The return of power became a joyous occasion, resembling a festival for the entire village. Life’s basic necessities were unimaginable luxuries for Yeonmi and her family, as they stared at the Chinese border, yearning to glimpse what life could be like beyond those lights.
Yeonmi’s world turned upside down when her father was caught and sentenced to six years in prison. After serving his sentence, he became bedridden, adding immense pressure on Yeonmi’s mother. The thought of leaving North Korea to seek a better life became inevitable.
Unfortunately, the path to freedom was treacherous, as many North Korean girls were sold as slaves to Chinese traders across the border. Despite the known risks, Yeonmi, her sister, and her mother decided it was still a better option than starving in North Korea. At the tender age of 13, Yeonmi experienced horrific abuse after being auctioned off to a local businessman. The volatility of these accounts is deeply disturbing. Determined to escape further abuse, Yeonmi and her mother crossed the border into Mongolia, only to be arrested by the police. Eventually, they were sent to South Korea as political refugees.
South Korea presented an entirely new world for Yeonmi. Despite having received very little education and struggling with reading, she and her mother lived in a one-bedroom apartment and started attending school once again.
Immersing herself in books, which were once unthinkable in North Korea, Yeonmi passed her GEDs at the age of 19 and gained admission to the University of Seoul.
Yeonmi’s remarkable story gained global attention when she made her way to the United States, where she attended Columbia University.
It was there that she finally located her sister, who had been sold to a different slave owner. Yeonmi freed her sister, reuniting their whole family.
Her life’s mission shifted, and she became a political activist, speaking out against US foreign policy and the North Korean dictator, Kim Jong Un.
As a result, North Korea publicly declared her the enemy of the state, putting her life in constant danger. However, no amount of threats could break her spirit. With courage and honesty, she wrote this book, openly criticising the entire Kim family. Yeonmi has overcome tremendous challenges and now fears nothing but fear itself.
The writer Nazmul Haque is an Edge Associate of TBS Graduates from National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research (NITER). You can contact him at [email protected]