Members of Gettysburg College’s Young Americans for Freedom Chapter with Speaker Yeonmi Park. (Photo Courtesy of @gettysburgyaf on Instagram)
By Celena Glaghassi, Staff Writer
Part of this story contains sexual violence as a part of Park’s story
Last month, the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) invited Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector and bestselling author, to share her experience living in North Korea. The event began at 7 p.m. and was held in room 260 of the College Union Building. The chairman of YAF, Tyler Seeman ’26, began the event by introducing himself and the organization.
“Young Americans for Freedom has been here in Gettysburg for nearly a decade, and our parent organization, Young Americans Foundation, has diligently fought for, protected, and handed on the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values,” said Seeman.
Next, Seeman introduced Gwangchae Jeong, who introduced the speaker, Yeonmi Park.
Park was born in Hyesan, Ryanggang Province, North Korea, a place she describes as “the darkest place in the world” because of the country’s lack of light pollution. Park left North Korea in 2007, after her sister fled to China and her family feared they would be punished for her escape. During this journey, Park was forced to watch her mother be sexually assaulted, “as soon as I crossed the river, the very first thing I saw was my mother being raped, right in front of me,” said Park. For her and her family to be taken to China, Park and her mother were forced to become sex slaves. She recanted the story that she had been told she would be sold for over $200, while her mother would be sold for $65. Upon asking why she was “worth” more than her mother, she was told that it was because she was a child virgin, and that many men in China liked child virgins.
“I think that was when I lost my faith in humanity,” explains Park.
She continued sharing her experience and struggles with mental health during this difficult time, “and the man who bought me, when he saw that I was trying to kill myself, he made me an offer. He said that if I don’t kill myself, and if I submit to him and become his sex toy, he said he could help me save my family. At 14, I thought it was a good deal for my family and me.”
Eventually, Park was put into contact with Christian missionaries from South Korea who helped rescue North Korean defectors. To get to South Korea, however, Park had to walk across four deserts in Zimbabwe, from China to Mongolia, in -40 degrees. Over the last 80 years, Park explained, only 209 of 25 million people survived the journey.
Eventually, Park gained her South Korean citizenship and decided to move to the United States upon receiving her acceptance to Columbia University. She shared the story of a time when a Columbia University professor told her that she was perpetuating racism by reading Jane Austen, who, in her writing, conveyed that only white men were capable of higher thinking. She also recounted how she was told that math was racist, and that she was frequently told to be “woke,” a concept with which she was not yet familiar.
“Prior to coming to America, I watched the TV show Friends 30 times. That’s how I learned my English. So I did not know what “woke” meant. I was like, ‘I am awake,’ Park explained.
Park explained how becoming a mother changed her life, “and when I became a mother, my professors and classmates told me that I should not use the term ‘mother.’ It is not inclusive. [They said] I should use terms like in vitro, birthing person, chest feeder, to be conscious. Their determination to control the language was so scary to me.”
She shared her concerns regarding the modern political climate, explaining her fears about giving speeches in schools due to the recent shooting of the late Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist. She explained that, despite the current risks of her career path, she loves sharing her story and experience with people.
Park concluded her speech by thanking the audience, “plenty [of you] disagreed, but you kept civilized, respecting this place of ideas of battle, and came to listen to my story. Thank you so much.”
During the question-and-answer portion of the event, a student asked Park for her opinion on various economic models and on a capitalist society. Park answered by sharing an anecdote of the first time she came to America: “I went to Tyler, Texas, […] and the first stop they took me to was Walmart. When we got to Walmart, I did not know—guys, there were a dozen types of toothpaste. The only thing I had (in North Korea) was my fingers with salt, right? And there are those dozen types of apples. Nothing serves people better than capitalism.” She continued to explain that she believes there should be few regulations on capitalism, and that “the government should get out of it as much as they can.”
The event concluded with YAF chairman, Tyler Seeman, thanking everyone for their attendance, and an audience member booing as Park exited.
