In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

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The authenticity of Park's claims about life in North Korea – many of which have contradicted her earlier stories or those of her mother and other defectors from North Korea [3] [7] – have been the subject of skepticism. Park attributed these discrepancies to her imperfect memory and language skills, [3] [7] [8] and the co-author of Park's auto-biography, Maryanne Vollers, stated that Park was the victim of a North Korean smear campaign, whose timeline of recollections is inconsistent as is common among trauma survivors. [9] A 2014 article in The Diplomat by Mary Ann Jolley documented numerous inconsistencies in Park's memories and descriptions of life in Korea, [7] and a July 2023 Washington Post lifestyle article stated that her claims about North Korea had long been questioned. [3] Political commentators, journalists and professors of Korean studies have criticized Park's accounts of life in North Korea for having various inconsistencies, [10] [11] [8] contradictory claims, and exaggerations. [12] [13] [1] Other North Korean defectors and scholars have expressed concern that the tendency for "celebrity defectors" to exaggerate about life in North Korea will bring doubts on their stories [7] [14] and "overshadow genuine concerns about the dire state of human rights there" according to The Washington Post. [3]

If you are going to read the book I would recommend avoiding articles and interviews until you're done. a b c d e f g h Murray, Richard (2017). "Reporting on the impossible: The use of defectors in covering North Korea" (PDF). Ethical Space: The International Journal of Communication Ethics. 14 (4): 20. I really hope this book will shine a light on the darkest place in the world. We don’t feel like human beings: people don’t feel that they can connect with North Koreans, that we’re so different. People are making jokes about Kim Jong-un’s haircut, about how fat he is – this country is a joke, really. It is a joke, but it is a tragic joke, that this kind of thing can happen to 25 million people. These things shouldn’t be allowed to happen to anyone, because another Holocaust is happening and the west is saying: “It isn’t happening, it’s a joke, it’s funny – things can’t be that serious.” But we are repeating history – there are thousands of testimonies, you can see the concentration camps from satellite photos, so many people are dying. Just listen to my testimony, to the testimonies in front of the United Nations. I just hope people will read the book and will listen. a b "Who Is North Korean Defector Yeonmi Park? The Activist's Bizzare Stories From The North Korean Regime Explained". MSN. 15 May 2023 . Retrieved 22 May 2023.In the meantime, the love theme is casually inserted in the story, when a rich, smart, cool and older (I am running out of adjectives) kid falls for the 13 year Park, despite the social class gap. I think she does make some great points especially when discussing performative activism on the side of the left; however, I take issue with the fact that although the same issues can be said of the right, she only draws from examples from the left and compares “woke culture” to the North Korean regime. Stabile, Angelica (16 June 2021). "North Korean defector drags Dems for comments on Americans being deprived of freedom: 'That's a complete lie' ". Fox Business . Retrieved 4 August 2021.

For example, she talks about how many people in the helping professions I.e teachers tend to lean left and through this kids are being indoctrinated in schools . Nowhere does she bring up book bans, whitewashed history, and other means of suppression that comes from the right. There are many more example such as this though the book. Park, Yeonmi (27 May 2014). "North Korea's best hope" (Opinion). Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . Retrieved 11 July 2021.Park stated at the Oslo Freedom Forum when she was 21 that her childhood views of the ruling Kim family changed when she watched an illegally imported VHS of the 1997 film Titanic, which caused her to realize as a teen the "oppressive nature" of the North Korean government. She states that the movie taught her the true meaning of love and gave her "a taste of freedom". [22] Leaving North Korea for China (2007) [ edit ] They were both sold on again and became friends with another North Korean illegal immigrant and planned their escape. This part of the story is very harrowing but interesting. Finally they are almost in South Korea when they are found by Chinese and Korean missionaries who arranged for their passage and papers for South Korea, meanwhile thoroughly indoctrinating them into Christianity as part of their compulsory education-for-South Korea programme. Thompson, Nathan A. "The Ethics of Taking a Trip to North Korea as a Tourist". NBC News . Retrieved 3 November 2014. a b c Power, John (29 October 2014). "North Korea: Defectors and Their Skeptics". thediplomat.com . Retrieved 22 June 2023.