

172. Tyranny, Slavery and Columbia U | Yeonmi Park
May 31, 2021
Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector and human rights activist, shares her heart-wrenching journey from oppression to freedom. She recounts her traumatic childhood under the Kim regime, detailing extreme starvation and systemic injustice. Yeonmi reflects on the cruel realities of life in North Korea, the struggle for survival amid government control, and the dark world of human trafficking. She also discusses her transformative experiences with literature at Columbia University and the vital importance of upholding individual freedoms against tyranny.
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Life in North Korea
- Yeonmi Park, raised in North Korea, saw dead bodies daily and ate insects for protein.
- She didn't know words like "love" or "freedom", only "love" for the leader.
Malnutrition in North Korea
- North Koreans are malnourished, several inches shorter than South Koreans.
- Yeonmi Park recalls people dying every spring due to lack of food.
Catching Dragonflies
- As children, Yeonmi Park and others caught dragonflies for protein.
- Food scarcity was so severe that insects were a primary protein source.