They did not want to use. Remember, the court controls its docket. So they dont have to decide the case. All right. Thank you very much. [applause] the signing line will start here your [inaudible conversations] booktv is on facebook. Like us to get publishing is, schedule updates, behind the scenes pictures and videos, author information and to talk directly with authors doing all my programs. Facebook. Com booktv. North korean the factor yeonmi park is next on the tv. She describes her experience escaping into chinatown being sold into slavery and then finding freedom and south korea. All right. Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for coming to tonights event. Just a few announcements before we begin. Please take this moment of silence your cell phones. We want to let you know you can keep up with the comings and goings at powells. Com or we have the calendars active information desk. For your information see spend will be filming this event and your image may be captured your presence indicator permission or it could be filled. Because we are being filmed when it gets to the russian and answer portion, please raise your hand and wait for the man with the microphone to come by in order to ask your question. I also have announcements about the store. Due to a technical the of needing to move to a new web platform, we are closing early tonight. We are not asking anyone to leave early but we will close down probably at 8 55 p. M. So we are asking all purchases be made by 8 45 p. M. The bathrooms will also close at 8 45 p. M. Tonight were happy to welcome yeonmi park was her memoir in order to live a north korean girls journey to freedom. She was born in north korea under the rule of kim jongil and she spent much of her childhood hungry in fear of the governments controlling rule and with only a knowledge of what statecontrolled media told her of the outside world. At 13 effeminate a daring escape into china but then she faced for the challenges from being sold to traffickers to having to across the gobi desert into mongolia before finding freedom and south korea. Her new memoir which is called an elegant a wrenching on a sort of vaguely represents the plight of many North Koreans details all the struggles in her new life, giving speeches to crowded auditoriums in cities around the world. Connected that will put an author question and answer as to mention in didnt show the other to sign books. When the time comes please let up on the left hand side of the room. We have books available for purchase. Thank you for coming fortunate event. Now please welcome yeonmi park. [applause] tuesday. Very short. Thank you so much. Im really honored to be your and i just cannot believe this. I am in the biggest independent bookstore in the u. S. And ive never seen this many books in my life. So, yeah, i dont know. Its very humbling to you know, lots of things if you have this attitude of books and you know lots of things, so i dont know what i can tell you something that you never knew before. Im here to tell you today about the people. Im not going to talk about politics and im not going to talk about how strong kim jongil is a what kind of corruption has. Im here to talk about the heart of north korea, people just like us who are trapped in that country for almost 70 years. I was remembering my life in north korea, and i remember it, i was not only not physically but i will now say emotionally. Theres two different dictatorship in north korea. One physical dictatorship. That you are not allowed to wear earrings. You are not allowed to wear jeans and your not allowed to go to sea without permission and youre not allowed to watch movies. Youre not allowed to listen to phones. You only have one channel on tv, tell you how great the regime is. The other dictatorship in north korea that exists, that is, emotional dictatorship. They control emotions in that country. They teach as they are gods. So the very first thing my mom told me was not to even whisper because they can do. And i believed. And i thought might leader can read my thoughts. He could read my mind and it would punish me if i think of them badly. So from the very, very beginning i was not allowed to think for myself. I didnt even know what independent thinking or Critical Thinking was. That was something we never know that we never allowed to know. Of course, i never dreamed of is going to be in displays, i can millions of books here, and in front of you. Because its very different. When i was in north korea i never knew how many countries exist in the world. I never knew what satellite was. Of course, i never knew what internet was. And i only played what the School Teacher told me that they never taught me about canada or australia but they told me our enemies. And my enemies were very clear and very simple. One American Ambassador and one another japanese entry list, and south korea called unamerican bastards, so we have to freedom. And they are time to take us every moment so we need are due later to defend us. Because unamerican bastards, they have big nose and they have they are monsters. I never knew how diverse america was. I really thought all big nose people walking around, but so many diversity in this country. I cannot believe that. And i learned math at school and the meth problem was like this. Darfur american bastards and you kill two of them. How Many American bastards are left to kill . Was my question, and you can see me, im here today in front of my enemies. So you never know, its like, you really never know. And the application poverty, starvation, operation, its all part of north koreas life. We dont know things can be different. We are taught this is how life has been. This is how life is supposed to be. You cannot think of different possibility. Life can be different because we are not allowed to watch her go to movies, for information. And also your not allowed to read books like year. Youre not allowed to watch batman or the philosophers. I didnt know what philosophy was or evolution. All i knew was how i regime treated the whole humanity during the second war. Hotplate he brought the world peace. That was my worldview, and they tell me theres nothing to envy in these words. We are the best country on earth and everybody wants to be like us and they want to come to our country. And i would sing the songs, but our life was not that good. It was not really paradise. It was living here. I remember because i was born in 1993, and after soviet union collapsed there was stop providing food to north korea and thats how they stopped the russian system and only give food to the elite people. People were discriminated by the regime. Thats how during the 19951998 some people say 3 Million People die, and total population was 22 million, 24 million you can imagine how many people died during that time. Many people lost their family members, including mine. One day i was very young and i saw my grandma was taking thoughts of medicine, and i was asking her, trauma, why are you taking so many medicine . She was telling me i want some rest. And she was 59 american age, theyre young. After a few hours later i hear my uncle was screaming and asking my grandma to wake up, and thats how she ended her life before the famine gets her. That was something, no more for us. That was something that like, it was odd and nobody told me what compassion was. Theres no word for freedom in north korea. Theres no word for human rights and there is no word for love. Only love you can express in the country is the love for the regime. I could never imagine i could tell my mom i love you. Everybody had two flat and promise that they were willing to die for the regime. Dvds came from china to north korea and had some access to media. The regime killing people with gunfire for watching dvds and getting access to dvds. Likely i didnt get caught i watched a foreign dvd. I watched 007, the action movie, and i thought okay, americans shooting each other all the time. And they climbed atop buildings but i dont have a good but i cannot live there. And later i saw prowrestling and i thought it all out american men looked like your i was so disappointed. [laughter] and i saw the movie titanic. I know it is a great movie but to me, i couldnt processed even iced saw that movie. I was shocked, how somebody there to make a movie . If you love story. I could not imagine somebody can make the movie about the love story. And in north korea theres no room you and juliet. I never knew what shakespeare was. I never knew a teen center, 15 center, 19th century old books. Whole history is forgotten for north Korean People. We are not allowed to know where we are coming from. We just know that youre the people of thats out to me was shocking. In a movie theres no propaganda and i could feel some cases of freedom and humanity. I was very hungry and i couldnt processed anything after that because i didnt internet to check what that was. My life has been unbearable because my father was a member but he got arrested for his later Business Trading with china, and he was sent to prison. But here i have to mention, he was born in this country. Because he was born in north korea, he was illegal, he got tortured and allow states dignity. But when he was in prison, its not the love we can think of. The presence of some cannot look at the card i is because they are not human beings. These people are not human beings. Its when they are in prison. We hear that a lot, political camps and we had a lot of labor camps in north korea. They treat people less than animals. They treat the normal people outside less animals and why do they care about these prisoners . And thats how my father, my mother got interrogated. I went to wash clothes and take baths and go to mountain, eat grasshoppers, dragonflies, plants, anything i can get from the nature. Thats what i said i bet if i but what can i do . Thats how bad malnutrition is. I was so surprised when they came to the west, often described spring as a season of life. Spring and the light comes back. Things grow again but in north korea spring is not that. Nobody takes spring as life because people suffer during the winter and they cannot wait until summer to plan and many people died during the spring and thats why i have three bad memory of spring. Its so different how we can lead this life. And only what i could leave was go to china. I did not what was happening but i knew if i go to china im not going to die from starvation. At the age of 13, and my sister was 15, she left to china with her friend. She left me a note that she said if the code to find this lady, they can help you to go to china. And thats how the morning after seven days later i could barely walk. We found the lady and she told we cant go to china that they. I didnt question why this lady was going to help us, why this lady didnt ask for money. We were so desperate, and thats have we crossed the frozen river in 2007. But i thought if i go to china, i didnt know about freedom, i escaped. Once in china i saw my mother raped in front of my eyes, and i was 13 years old and they told me that if i want to be in china we have to be sold. And my mom asked me what you want to do . And i thought im 13, and they were not human beings. I was merchandise at that moment. They were negotiating price at this is that somebody, i was fortunate, this is typical story what factors are quicker and china. Everyone being victimized by human trafficking. So my mom was being sold for 65 i was sold for 260. And it reminds me, you can buy an iphone for that money in this country, that somebodys life. Thats the people paying price for two people. Those people did nothing wrong. It which is going to this country. Its nightmare, rape, enslavement. The man who bought me let me go and then i met christian missionaries and they told me that for the first time you can be free if you go to south korea. And asked, i didnt know what it meant to be free. What do you think i can be free . And that person heard me, you can wear jeans and you can watch movies, and freedom to me, that was freedom. Not the freedom of speech, not the freedom of elections. Just freedom was very simple to me. And thats how we risked our lives and want across the gobi desert in 2000. We had a little compass with his and we crossed correlator we fathered northern stars to freedom. And thats how i became free. It was my house, a thousand miles of journey to be free. I had to cross another desert that i had to start thinking for myself, and i had to learn about this world. I was a time traveler or i never knew how the airplane flies. I thought they might have wings over, i did not how they were flying, and i didnt know what lights was. I remember when i saw on tv when i was in south korea i could not believe it or type of animal rights. I didnt even know i had rights. In this country animals have rights. How different this world is. And not only that i had learned about atm machines. I learned about toilet, how to use toilet and what copy machine, what a Movie Theater is, what a supermarket line, everything. Just learned, i was a big baby who could walk but didnt know anything. And that was very painful but for the first and people start asking me, what do you think . I never had the privilege to choose what i was going to wear a watch us go to study, but people ask me what do you do in the future . I didnt know what i want to do, and i was asking, i was hoping someone can tell me what i should do for my life. And then, but not only then, i just lost faith in humanity. I just couldnt trust anybody taken. How i trust again what youre telling me is true. I just couldnt do it. Its not american bastards that cannot be true. The one book changed me, and that was the animal farm. And timmy was i just picked a book on the bookshelf. I did know. I thought this book was going to be about animals, and i picked a very thin book because i didnt want to read a thick book. I just couldnt believe it because my grandma was in that book. My mother was in that book, and myself in that book. That showed me the path of north korea and showed me the president of north korea come at a realized most Korean People dont deserve that. What theyre going to do is injustice. If we say we believe in justice how can we let that happen . Its almost a holocaust. How people get arrested for watching a movie . Why are people not allowed to write a book . They are just like us. They have a whole potential to be like south korea. Is to me tragic. Warn people after they had a different political system, what the south most develop country, north korea is the most darkest place on earth. We need to stop this. Antennae, like the rest say, i often get to that. Is it really that bad . They cannot be true. How come that is a bad . It is really that bad but youre not allowed to go to country and see people. Thats what i am telling my story. Thats why i wrote this book. I hope we can learn something and you can do something about this tragedy. We have lots of things. I said if i had the things that you throw away in this country, i never escape and i never be blamed. My father, he passed away in the words of freedom and debate in china in the middle of the night. I couldnt even cry because i was scared if somebody give me. I hope you can spread the word and we want the world to know that north korea people can pretty free like this. Thank you so much time, come listen to my talk. Thank you. [applause] should i do q a no . Does anybody have questions . I am very fond of going on youtube at looking at a north korean videos that are posted, and would always see the north Korean People cheering madly and crying, weeping when they see their grand leader at all like the. How much of that you think is real and how much is just because they know they better do that . Its a good question. And actually i wonder the same thing. Whenever the north korean, everybody is watching each other and she cannot trust each other. We dont know who despise. I can be spider and my mother was sold and i was assigned to be a spy, like i spy on you, someone spy on you, so much by a nurse we cannot escape the process. Somebody is watching you may have to report you. But it does and doesnt watch, does report become that person will be punished again. Everybody is watching each other. They can be spotted and they can be spotted an asset they keep this country going, for the fear. Thats what it was like the truman show. Nobody is telling me the truth. I didnt tell the truth either. I told nobody really. So i dont know. If people just have to clap to survive. If they dont cry, they dont clap, they will get killed thats their fate. Even if its real or not, its not right that people dont clap they will get killed. Economic or and thats what matters. The question is, is that true or not . These people have to do to survive. So yeah, crazy. Thank you. About three years ago there was another author who cowrote a book with a guy by the name of chen. Have you met in . He is my friend. Good. Yeah. Any question about that . I just wondered if you had a chance to contact him yet or knew him, but you do. Yeah. Like he does. He just married and he was she was american bastards. She is an american lady. Yet, like hes living in freedom and lots of difficult as activist and spokesperson, but i think hes doing really well after that. Thank you. Thank you. What were the circumstances when, for the first time you actually felt free . Thank you. I still dont know honestly what it means to be fully free. I think i am learning everyday. Freedom means lots of things. I think freedom is everything for me. Once i found freedom i became a new human being. I can talk and i can think for myself. I think when i was a bullet to read a book, i read all the books. I had to catch lots of stuff. I just had to read to survive again in south korea, lets im not going to get to talk to you guys because i would be like alien. I would ask you what is march, you know . Wants satellite . I think that freedom. To me like when i fly to portland, its freedom. How imagine as good to take airplane, i didnt even know what passport was what i was in north korea. I just did know traveling freely was allowed for human beings to do. So everything that we do, and even have this voice. Thank you. I have a question about your english, which is quite good. Where did you learn it and have you been practicing . And also another question about whats the story with your sister . So my sister, she came to us after long seven years ago, and we met in freedom again. After that we survived and we carried, never gave up, and thats how we are current. So she is in freedom now and she is safe. And for english, its kind of not that, i watch american tv show friends last night i know, its like when she have 24 episodes, 240 episodes. And if you repeat that for like 30 times you have english for sure. Very, very sure. So i know lots of like a disease, 90s slang and people like him to look at me like whats wrong with you . But yeah, thats how i used the information from the tv shows but that show not only teach me english. Itami the culture that we eat turkeys for the thanksgiving. New years eve, those kinds of things. I really liked it. Right down here. Ive read that a lot of north korean defectors once they get to south korea, they felt tremendous hostility towards them, meaning they were not welcomed. Did you have the same experience about the South Koreans toward you . Yeah. Its kind of another tragedy. You think, okay, youve escaped north korea and u. S. Gave china, and south korea and everything would be all right. But no. This world is really hard for us, i should say that. I dont know. Its very dilemma for me why South Koreans have so much things that have lots of, other countries, its not like they dont have compassion. They have compassion, generosity and kindness. But they have very ignorant attitude towards north korea and human rights issue. I think because of the korean war, but often but once i got to south korea, they might joke about it but thats kind of thinking, what are your . Are you a spot i . Spy . Theres increase competition and theres other like less educated people so we might be terrorist and we might be, we have like more higher crime rates. And those kind of stereotypes and you dont understand the free market. Duties have the mentality, you dont work hard, you dont know anything. And jeff different accent. So thats the kind of general stereotype against us. So we also had to fight against that again. The mic case, i dont know but i was from north korea. My university, to my professor i said i am from south korea and thats the way i can survive again. Things are changing and that everybody is treated that way, but actually many people still have those kind of attitudes, but i hope we will change soon. Thank you so much for your question. Has the regime tried to discredit you and your story . Yeah. I am a human scum, according to them. I am a poisonous mushroom that grew up in garbage something. They really cant Say Something very clearly. But not only that, i have told my story before, and last october was my first time telling my story in dublin big enough that allowed to share my rate. I was in 13 Year Old Girl when i lived up to that. In south korea, purity, virginity is everything for a girl. I thought if i tell people what i went through they will not see me as a normal person. And i want to be somebodys mother, too, someday and i thought i have to survive this. But once i started writing i realized i have to tell the whole story. I have to tell the whole story and thats how i wrote everything down in the book. They came after me. You can see my relatives, all my neighbors are denouncing me that im propaganda of the west. So obviously kim jongun doesnt like me. Isnt everything to try to discredit me and start their campaigns against me. So its a fight. It is a fight and he is nasty but he is still trying to control me at this point. I just had a question. So you said you did know how many come in north korea how many other countries. What were north korean maps like . Good question. When you are talking about poverty, i think theres a different level of poverty. And when i say a poor we are, its not the way how i can describe. Icon for example, we have one pencil and you dont use it because its very, very valuable for us. Its very hard to have one pencil. You rewrite, the race, we write and erase it again. Thats what real poverty means. Youll never imagine that textbook can be colored. One textbook, one class has put and its like really, really old and everybody, their mothers are copping it for the textbook and thats outrageous. So theres no way i can, i did know there was a desert so that was the first but when i saw desert. Wow, its all said and. Its part of the desert and thats how things got here. We do have colored photos. I think pyongyang is different. But the country where we live, poor people are living, that our community. Forgive this question can you feel safe . Do you feel safe when youre traveling in the United States or overseas . I guess. Im 22 years old, and after that i feel like i lived a thousand years, literally. I feel so many things, what humans can inflict to each other. And i saw a starvation and kindness. I live in a lot of different countries. I was a slave. I am a free personnel. So feels like my life now is kind of almost after life. I think winterson somebody whos faced death several times. If you like extra life and, unfortunately, thats my case. Like most regimes, they were trying to get information from north korea and it scares me. Im like working with them. [inaudible] but that, i guess, you know. We have to pay price for that. So thank you. Can you speak a little bit of how you got involved with the nonprofit liberty in north korea speak with actually not working with them but i was hoping with project. There was environment there. So i actually not really engaged but i was really supporting their work. So i was trying to do the Campaign Online to rescue people, yeah. Thats how i met like liberty north korea. Thank you. I was wondering do you ever miss anything . And what is love or dating life in north korea . Dating . Do miss anything about north korea and what isnt like if you love someone or if youre dating someone in north korea speak with you have, i hope this can be a fun part. I really hope because i feel bad, so imagine you dont have all these lights and you dont have this big giant building. And you dont have the music. You dont have any technology sound. You only hear the sounds a human can make because they are washing dishes and cooking and theyre talking to each other, and thats how its in north korea. Its almost like time has stopped, and its not easy moving but you can have very close Human Connection that you had to talk to each other. We dont have any toys. That children have to cling onto your parents. Parents have to look out for them. Thats the really, i mean, north korea, human intimacy. And i think dating life was, my mother got married to my father, and both parents decided to let them get married and they didnt even hold hands before they get married. And asked my mom, why did you get married . She told me i just didnt hate him. So its a kind of like stifled love. I love you, like romance. I never knew what romance was. We have nowhere to go on dates. We had coffee shops, movie Movie Theaters, someplace to go. I recently read an article and it broke my heart on a guy who escaped, history is take his wife thats his dream. I drove. I drive today like several times and i can be somebodys dream. Thats what hes looking for. He is working really hard in south and tried to make money and bring his wife to the south, and he wants to take his wife to a drive. Thats our dream. And i think, north korea, we dont have the luxury to think about romance. We dont have romantic novels. You just have nothing. But i guess some people fall in love, but we dont know. We can say i love you. We can say, like mr. Conrad, look. Go somewhere. Everybody as comrade and everybody is revolutionary. And thats more like our romance i think