North Korean defector tells of life ‘purged from rest of the world’ under Kim Jong-Un rule
A NORTH Korean defector who made it to United States has opened up about what it was like growing up "completely purged from the rest of the world," under Kim Jong-Un rule.
In an interview with the this week, Yeonmi Park – a 26-year-old human rights activist who escaped North Korea in 2007 – has recounted her troubling past "eating insects" and seeing dead bodies in the street.
“What you need to know about North Korea is that it’s not like other countries like Iran or Cuba," she told the news outlet.
“In those countries, you have some kind of understanding that they are abnormal, they are isolated and the people are not safe.
“But North Korea has been so completely purged from the rest of the world, it’s literally a Hermit Kingdom."
Park fled to China with her mom at the age of 13 in search of freedom.
She explained how she wasn't aware she was "isolated," telling the news outlet: "I didn’t know that I was praying to a dictator."
According to The Post, Park was told that Kim Jong Il, who passed away in 2011, and his son, North Korean leader , were gods.
Park was also told they could read people's minds.
Faults in classmates were pointed out during "criticism sessions" at school, the idea of love and friendship didn't exist, electricity wasn't common, and people were starving.
According to the , North Koreans are "trapped in a vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption, repression and endemic bribery."
Last year, a report by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea stated that approximately 10.9million people in North Korea - more than 43 percent of the population - are hungry, the UN said.
Back in July, Kim's amid .
And in August, the leader reportedly ordered to to send their meat to restaurants.
Park told The Post that she needed to eat insects growing up and malnutrition was the norm for North Koreans - especially seeing "dead bodies in the street."
She explained: “I have visited slums in Mumbai, I have visited slums in other countries, but nothing is like North Korea because North Korean starvation, it’s a systematic starvation by a country that chose to starve us.
“North Korea spends billions of dollars to make this nuke test system. If they would spend just 20 percent of what they spent on making nuclear weapons, nobody would have to die in North Korea from hunger but the regime chose to make us hungry.”
In 2007, Park and her mom managed to leave North Korea by crossing over the Yalu River - which was frozen.
Both her and her mom were sold to Chinese men and her mom was raped by human traffickers, she told the news outlet.
They later made it to Mongolia, crossed the Gobi Desert, and met up with Park's sister in South Korea.
Park made her transition to New York City in 2014.
She later detailed her life experiences in a book titled
Park wrote the book, which was published in 2016, along with her co-author Maryanne Vollers.
“I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea," Park stated in the prologue.
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Meanwhile, Park uploaded a new video to her on Wednesday about the "Top 5 Shocking Differences Between America and North Korea."
She described the lack of food in North Korea and how people who are considered overweight are admired for their status and wealth.