Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector and author, spoke to students and community members Wednesday about her experiences living under a communist regime, escaping to China and eventually immigrating to the United States. Park also answered audience questions and shared her personal insights on current political issues.
This event was co-sponsored by the U.Va. Center for Politics, The Jefferson Council — a conservative alumni group focused on preserving Thomas Jefferson’s legacy at the University — and Young Americans for Freedom, the University’s chapter of a national non-profit organization which aims to advance the conservative movement among young people.
Tyler Lucas, chairman of Young Americans for Freedom and fourth-year College student, introduced Park. Lucas highlighted the opportunity to hear from an individual who had experienced a regime which is often discussed by Americans solely in theory.
“[Park’s] journey is not just a story of survival,” Lucas said. “It is a call to action. It is a reminder that tyranny still exists, that human rights are not guaranteed and that we must never take our freedoms for granted.”
Park began by sharing her experience of growing up in North Korea, saying that she had not understood concepts of oppression and freedom as a child.
“We don't have a word for stress in North Korea,” Park said. “Because how can you be stressed? If you live in the socialist paradise, you cannot be so they got rid of that word. Many concepts that we know here do not exist [in North Korea], like human rights, liberty, individual freedom.”
Park also discussed her experience living under the country’s caste system, divided into three main social classes, in which she was born into the middle class. After her father engaged in the black market, he was sentenced to more than 10 years in a prison camp — Park’s family fell to a lower class following this event and struggled to sustain themselves.
In 2007, approaching age 13, Park said she moved to a town on the North Korean border with China. She eventually crossed the border with her mother, following a border smuggler who she said bribed the border guards to allow them passage.
“At night time I was looking up across the river [at China], I saw the electricity lights, and I guess just thought maybe, ‘if I go where the lights are, I might be able to find a bowl of rice,’” Park said.
Once in China, Park was sold into sex slavery — she said that while she knew she had the choice to return to North Korea, her and her family did not want to. Eventually, her father joined her family in China but later passed away. Park described how she joined chat rooms with men in South Korea to earn a living, where she met a Christian missionary who helped her immigrate to South Korea.
One attendee asked Park about inconsistencies in her stories about escaping North Korea and accusations that she has embellished her defection story to gain increased profits — Park responded that these inconsistencies are due to imperfections in her English and fractured memories of her childhood.
In 2016, Park attended Columbia University and immigrated to the United States — she described her education at Columbia as “brainwashing.” She described what she felt was hypocrisy, noting the privilege she saw among her classmates, whose beliefs she said were anti-capitalist.
“The things that my professors were telling us and my classmates were chanting were … communist slogans,” Park said. “...[They said] the only solution for all the problems that we have is communist revolution. I was thinking, ‘Are you a psychopath? Do you know what communism has done to humanity?’”
Third-year College student Sabriya Sheikh, who attended the event because she had previously heard commentary from leftist social media influencers on Park’s conservative political opinions, said it was interesting to hear Park’s thoughts on communism from the perspective of having grown up in North Korea.
“It's really interesting to see how she conflates conservatism with anti-communism,” Sheikh said. “…and to hear firsthand from somebody who [has lived under a communist regime] and identifies with conservatism.”
Park described a conversation she had with a classmate at Columbia, who said he disliked capitalism because of the inequality it created, in particular homelessness. She disagreed with this statement, arguing that the existence of homelessness indicated freedom of choice in the United States.
“[He said] ‘it makes no sense why we have billionaires and why we have homeless people. It's a sign of evil,’” Park said. “As a North Korean, I hear that [and think], ‘What do you mean?’...Of course, I have compassion for them, but the fact that there's homelessness is not a sign of inequality. It's a sign of freedom and tolerance. You have a choice.”
Third-year College student Ben Bressette, who attended because he had previously heard of Park’s “exaggerated” stories, said he disagreed with the political views she expressed during the event.
“I thought that was so crazy when she was like, ‘the fact that you guys have homeless people is a testament to how free your society is,’” Bressette said. “That comment rubbed me the wrong way because the implication is that homelessness is a choice and that people aren't thrust into it by circumstance.”
Another attendee asked Park about the current state of politics in the United States, citing moments in which President Donald Trump has indicated an intention to run for a third term. Park argued that Trump does not intend to become a dictator and instead claimed that his recent efforts under the Department of Government Efficiency indicate an aim to decrease the government’s influence, which she said did not align with a true dictator’s intentions. She did not address Trump’s comments alluding to serving a third term.
Park said that she is not concerned about the current presidential administration, but instead worries more about the state of education in the United States. She also cited concerns about brainwashing by teachers and professors, even in elementary schools and said that one third of eighth graders cannot read — results from last year’s National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that 33 percent of eighth grade students in the United States have “below average” reading skills.
“I'm not worried about dictatorship rising in America, but I do worry that children cannot read,” Park said. “I mean, one in three eighth graders cannot read in this country. That [indicates] an end of civilization … I don't think the problem is in the government right now, it is in our education.”
Following the event, Landon Epperson, secretary of YAF and third-year College student, spoke about the motivation behind sponsoring the event and said that Park, while at times expressing controversial political beliefs, has a unique ability to impact and inspire people with her story.
“We tried to foster a healthier dialogue, because a lot of people at [the event] asked some questions regarding Trump and his administration and some of the comments he's made. And obviously that divides a lot of people, but her position, I think, is one that allows discourse to happen in a more civil way,” Epperson said.
The Center for Politics and Jefferson Council will host Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears — who is currently running to be the next governor of Virginia — for their next event April 22.
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