What happens if you get caught escaping North Korea?
It’s illegal for North Koreans to leave their country without the government’s permission. North Koreans who do attempt to leave the country illegally and are caught can face severe consequences including torture, forced labor, and life imprisonment in a political prison camp.
Is North Korea a communist party?
The North Korean Bureau became the Communist Party of North Korea in spring 1946, with Kim Il Sung being elected its chairman. On 22 July 1946, Soviet authorities in North Korea established the United Democratic National Front, a popular front led by the Communist Party of North Korea.
Warning to America by a voice from North Korea-Don’t buy into this:
The government would feed him and provide him with free housing, education, and health care. In exchange, the authorities would tell him what to think and what to say; decide where he would live, study, and work; and most importantly, determine whether he would be able to join the military or the ruling Korean Workers’ Party. To make all these decisions, the state would refer to performance at work and school and his songbun—the sociopolitical classification that determines the status of North Korean citizens based largely on their family’s history of perceived loyalty to the government.
Park’s interview highlights:
-complaining is banned in North Korea-it is not no allowed- you complain you are executed
-there is no word for starvation
-there are only 209 North Korean defectors
-these defectors cannot speak up against atrocities of North Korea because they harrass and torture the family left behind
-Yeonmi Parkis on the terrorist watch list in North Korea
-Kim Jun Un, supreme leader of North Korea since 2011
-interesting fact-Kim Jun Un studied in Switzerland
Caste system:
Kim created three groups—the “core,” “wavering,” and “hostile” classes
-to make everyone equal they divided people into 52 different classes
3 main categories:
-top core class like a tomato-in the red you are a good communist
-2nd class is like an apple-outside you are red but inside you are white so questionable so you need surveillance
-Bottom 3rd class is like a grape-you are not red inside or outside-you are damned-you are a hostile class-you are the oppressed-taken advantage-this is determined not by you but what your ancestors did-great grandfather owned land-your blood is tainted-your genetics oppressed other people-before birth you know what class you belong to
-marriage-there no mixing of cast systems- you can only go down-grapes cannot go up in the caste system
-not taught words to describe frustration or emotions
ex. No word for stress because how can you be stressed in a socialist paradise
ex. Happy-not in constitution that we deserve happiness so Koreans don’t need that in life
-the purpose of producing of children is to work for the Korean communist revolution
-children belong to the states so you owe the state so you give them your children
-the government owns your children
-the dictator is the children’s real father so ultimate loyalty is to the dictator not to the parents so it is rewarded when a child tells on his/her parent
-children only learn what is in the propaganda books
-if North Korean parent has a bible then even a 2 year old sentenced to concentration camp
-North Korea #1 persecutions of Christianity
-70, 000 Christians' in concentration camps
-if you own, read, or know someone who is a believer could be executed or the whole family placed in concentration camp for generations
-The government has complete control over all monetary exchanges
-religious activities have been virtually nonexistent since 1945
-no word or concept of God in North Korea
-control of what you can or can’t believe
-only important God in your life is the dictator
-no technology-no internet-no showers-no luxury items-fridge-washer-bathe in the river-like living in the dark ages
-the goal is to keep the status quo-no open market-can’t allow people to learn about liberty, freedom, etc…
Sex Slave:
-supreme ruler has a pleasure squad
-he is allowed to have many mistresses
-belief is if you have sex with young girls you get longevity from the energy of a child
-girls aged between 9-12 can be chosen as a sex slave
-when king done with them the young girls then they are given to other men called gift parties
-they are used until 23 because deemed too old for any purpose
-they can’t rejoin normal society so become what is called “in the dark prostitutes”
Park to America:
-my child is a miracle and he gives me a reason to believe in God
Question: Are people naturally good?
No, people are naturally evil. They learn to be good but people are not naturally good. People are capable of being good when they are taught.
-if people are naturally good then we would have to get rid any Marxist, socialist, and communist systems
-there is no such thing as a lifelong good dictator
-As in North Korea the dictator feeds on revenge, power, and control and we see these characteristics of America’s government
Ex. Korea puts any opposition or opponent in jail or has them executed
-America supposed to hate the action but not the person-in Christianity we don’t hate the
Advice for our country:
-freedom is a discipline and a responsibility
-intentional freedom the founding fathers built has to have a virtue or otherwise its anarchy
-virtue came from scripture at the time when this country was being formed
-now I see people trying to remove God and trying to fill the gap with wokeness because it looks like a religion
-the woke chanting is the same-if they repeat it enough it will be true-it is like a religious incantation
-freedom should be joyous
ex. Fridge is a miracle, being able to go to a store and pick out fresh fruits and vegetables
-the idea therapy exists is a good place
-there is no therapy in North Korea nor is there no complaining about anything
-today’s youth don’t know what hardship is so they do not appreciate how spoiled we really are in America
Ex. not understand how speech is violence
Advice on happiness:
How can you talk about being a sex slave for 17 years, on the verge of starvation, and facing being put in a concentration camp if you were caught trying to leave North Korea?
-being happy is decision (there is no word for happy in North Korea)
-being happy is a choice
-it can’t be just given to you
-it is instinctive
-in America I see people think happiness happens to them and not part of their internal will
-America is a sad country
Advice on why government politics matters:
-people should be outraged and angry at this communist revolution that wants to dismantle American systems
-I’m North Korean and I was the only student in class talking good about America. Kids are being taught in colleges to hate America and American values by people who were born in America. This part I do not understand
-totalitarian Marxist fear truth
-they want to kill the truth tellers
-they imprisoned people because they exposes them as liars
-when people speak up-regimes get nervous
-they need to get back their control so they silence people at all costs
-evil spiritual oppression-God's country vs. godless country
-even in Christian circles-politics don’t matter-government doesn’t matter
-politics determines everything in a society
-no human has potential when the government controls, like in North Korea there is no reason to have a business, choices, option, dream a dream in America if there is no freedom for the people. These things just don’t exist in North Korea
-when political system breakdowns the whole country breakdowns
What is the connection between the CCP and North Korea?
-China (Chinese Communist Party-CCP) runs North Korea
-puppet of China like America is becoming
-Mao sent his son to Korean war and he died at the hands of the United States leaving an alliance between China and North Korea
-1st leverage: North Korea has a buffer zone-American army south and Japan-so Korea stops the free movement into China-China needs Korea to block that movement
-2nd is leverage: North Korea tests nuclear weapons so who do America talk to except china
-North Korea does not talk to Americans
-China keeps leverage over America by having Korea set off a weapon so America has to beg China to tell Korea not to escalate
Can the CCP be taken down?
-Americans can match China-threat to democracy
-freedom is a threat to totalitarian state-they hate America because the people are free
-Only America can defeat the CCP, but they need to fight for it
-Warning: the CCP bought most of America’s corporations-like Jeff Bazos-a bit CCP guy
-America needs to call out corrupt-fake-liars
Ex. on the surface denounces slavery but 300,000 girls in slavery in totalitarian controlled countries
What can America do?
-we know what worked so why don’t we do that?
-in human history many things failed, but what worked created the most tolerant most prosperous most equal society-not equality of outcomes-but opportunity-principles of our nation-we have achieved it yet-we need to find way back there
-stop being self-righteous lazy Americans
-in the name of compassion they make everybody feel good-sometimes compassion is self-control, truth, “no” word to dog because it would hurt dog’s feelings. Good people but misguided
-they think discipline of telling the truth is something that you cannot do
-response-teach dog not to eat garbage makes you sick-we need to tell people the same
-so much access-food and lifestyle for granted-abundance becomes too comfortable
-new civil right= entitlement
-too tolerant makes for a bad path for a country
- discipline needs to be taught
Ex. Modern day parents are so apologetic-they have to get consent from infants when you change their diaper. They can’t talk-so learned behavior
Advice for youth:
-get off social media
-read classic books
-read about the intentions of our founding fathers
Below is the link to the interview:
Charlie Kirk Podcast with Yeonmi Park