'어둠의 나라'에서 탈출한 21살의 박연미양의 감동의 영어 연설 Inside the 'darkest place in the world', by the 21-year-old refugee..VIDEO
Inside the 'darkest place in the world': Life inside Kim Jong-Un's regime, by the 21-year-old refugee who saw her friend's mother executed for watching Western movies
북한에서의 고난의 삶을...
그녀는 친구 어머니가 외국영화를 봤다는 이유로 총살 당하는 모습을 어린 나이에 봐야했다.
지난 토요일 아일랜드 더블린에서 거행된 One Young World Summit 2014 에서 시종일관 눈물을
감추지 못하며 감동의 연설을 했다.
By Deborah Weitzmann for MailOnline
At 21-years-old, a girl robbed of her youth, innocence and freedom has finally spoken out against her native North Korea - the ‘unimaginable country’ she was fortunate enough to have escaped from.
In an emotionally charged speech, Yeonmi Park tells a harrowing tale about what life was like for her family and friends under Kim Jong-il’s barbaric and oppressive regime.
Calling for a global movement to shed light on ‘the darkest place in the world’, she describes a country like no other, a place where the internet is banned, along with songs, books, international phone-calls and voicing basic opinions.
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Crying need: Yeonmi Park, 21, escaped from North Korea when she was a little girl and used her newfound freedom of speech to open up about the plight her people face under its brutal regime
Speaking at the One Young World Summit 2014 in Dublin on Saturday about the reality of life in North Korea, Yeonmi explained that people live their lives in constant fear of the brutal consequences awaiting them if they dare to step out of line.
Born on October 4 1993 in Hyesan - a notoriously cold river port along North Korea’s 850-mile northern border with China - she said:
'I was abducted at birth, even before I knew the words freedom or human rights.'
She added: 'No humans deserve to be oppressed just because of their birth place.'
'No humans deserve to be oppressed just because of their birth place' - The escapee called for action against such human rights violators
Freedom of speech: Yeonmi spoke at the One Young World Summit 2014 in Dublin on Saturday
Yeonmi revealed that only one channel is aired on TV in the closed-off country which, like films, can only be used there as a tool for propaganda.
‘North Koreans are being terrorised today. When I was growing up, I never saw anything about love stories between men and women...there is no Romeo and Juliet.'
At 9-years-old, she recalls being invited to watch the mother of her friend be publicly shot for a freedom exercised everyday in the Western world:
‘Her crime? Watching a Hollywood movie.'
'North Koreans are being terrorised today' - She tried to hold it together as she relived some horrific past experiences
‘We were prepared to kill ourselves’ - While escaping with her parents, Yeonmi recalls they would have committed suicide before returning to North Korea
Learning a vital life lesson at the age of four - to not even dare to whisper - the brave escapee recalls a childhood of paranoia as she feared the regime could ‘read my mind’.
She goes on to explain that the repercussions of criticising the dictatorship could result in three generations of a family being locked up in prison, tortured or even killed.
Meanwhile, her road to freedom was equally traumatising, as she describes escaping through the Gobi Desert by following a compass and then ‘the stars to freedom’ when it broke.
We were prepared to kill ourselves,’ Yeonmi explained in relation to what would happen if her family were caught escaping and sent back to North Korea; ‘We wanted to leave as humans.'
At one point, she recalled her father dying and how she was forced to bury him in secret at 3am: 'I couldn’t even cry, I was so afraid I’d be sent back to North Korea.’
She also remembers the horror of watching her mother allowing herself to be raped instead of her, when she was just 13-years-old.
As she walked through the desert 'scared of dying', Yeonmi burst into tears remembering how alone she felt: 'I thought no body in this world cared and only the stars were with me.'
Appearing alongside figures including Kofi Annan, Sir Bob Geldof, the former Mexican president Vicente Fox, and Dame Ellen MacArthur, the world record-breaking sailor, Yeonmi expressed her sincere gratitude for the opportunity to use the stage to finally share her story.
'But you have now listened to my story and you have cared. Thank you very much.
'We need to focus less on the regime and more on the people who are being forgotten…we are the ones who can make them visible
Moving forward: Yeonmi called for the world to do something and help the people of North Korea
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