Please note this video interview is broken into five parts, click here for part one, part two, part three, part four ,part five.
Yeonmi Park had little or no education before escaping North Korea. When she began studying at Columbia university, she was shocked by the similarities between the indoctrination taking place in American universities and the propaganda she experienced in the North Korean dictatorship. Having escaped North Korea, Yeonmi Park has a deep appreciation for American liberty and wants to remind us of the fragility of freedom, and what we must do to preserve it while time remains.
For more information on receiving her books While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector’s Search for Freedom in America and In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom please click here.
Topics discussed include: Why is Yeonmi Park thankful to have been born in North Korea? (3:30); what is it like to live in North Korea? (5:15); North Korea is the world’s largest concentration camp (6:50); the difference between North Korea and South Korea illustrates the importance of political ideologies and systems (7:40); what is Juche? the state ideology of North Korea and the official ideology of the Workers’ Party of Korea (13:50); the cult of Kim Jong Un—how does North Korea maintain it’s power over the people? (16:00); what motivates Yeonmi Park to speak out against North Korea and the rise of authoritarianism in America? (18:35); why the indoctrination in American universities reminds Yeonmi Park of propaganda in North Korea (24:40); how should we respond to threats to freedom in America today? (26:45); the importance of reading and critical thinking (30:25); the problematic cultural capture by American elites (33:40); the case for capitalism (36:35); should Americans be more concerned about the threats posed by China? (39:15); why does China support North Korea? (43:05); how powerful is North Korea? the significant threat of North Korea to the world (45:35); the difference between leftism and liberalism (48:30); how dangerous is Critical Race Theory? (51:20); the catalytic assault that exposed the madness of crowds to Yeonmi Park and inspired her to write While Time Remains (53:30); is there hope for a free American civilization? (56:00); the control China has over America (58:35); the importance of parenting and education (1:00:40); what happens when a society loses respect for the truth? (1:04:45); the terror of cancel culture and the dictatorship of the mind (1:06:20); despite being raped and sold into slavery Yeonmi Park’s mother is the happiest person she knows because she understands the importance of gratitude (1:10:00); “Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times, good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times” (1:14:10).
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