Ideas worth spreading

What I learned about freedom after escaping North Korea

4,992,974 views | Yeonmi Park • TED2019

"North Korea is unimaginable," says human rights activist Yeonmi Park, who escaped the country at the age of 13. Sharing the harrowing story of her childhood, she reflects on the fragility of freedom -- and shows how change can be achieved even in the world's darkest places.

"North Korea is unimaginable," says human rights activist Yeonmi Park, who escaped the country at the age of 13. Sharing the harrowing story of her childhood, she reflects on the fragility of freedom -- and shows how change can be achieved even in the world's darkest places.

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Support Flash Drives For Freedom, a campaign to help bring outside information into North Korea.

About the speaker

Yeonmi Park

Human rights activist

See speaker profile

North Korean defector Yeonmi Park is becoming a leading voice of oppressed people around the world through her writing, speaking and work as a director at the Human Rights Foundation.

Yeonmi Park | Penguin Books, 2016 | Book

In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl's Journey to Freedom

YeonmiPark shines a light on the darkest corners of life in North Korea, describing the deprivation and deception she endured, and which millions of North Korean people continue to endure to this day, as well as her most painful and difficult memories. She tells, for the first time, the story of how she and her mother made their way to Seoul, South Korea — and to freedom.

Yeonmi Park and Thor Halvorssen | Wall Street Journal, 2017 | Article

"Focus on the Suffering of North Koreans"

For a tiny cost, Seoul could send a million USB sticks into the North packed with information.

Learn more

This talk was presented at an official TED conference. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Support Flash Drives For Freedom, a campaign to help bring outside information into North Korea.