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North Korean defector Yeonmi Park criticises West for laughing at ‘funny’ Kim Jong-un: ‘He is a murderer’

The campaigner was 13 when she escaped the oppressive regime

Friday 20 November 2015 13:05 GMT

Park returned to the 2015 summit a year after her viral speech (One Young World Summit)

A North Korean human rights activist has hit out at Westerners for laughing at Kim Jong-un instead of treating him like a “murderer”.

Yeonmi Park, 22, escaped the totalitarian regime with her family when she was 13 and now campaigns against the alleged human rights abuses taking place under Kim’s dictatorship.

Speaking at the 2015 One Young World Summit in Bangkok, the North Korean defector said after escaping she didn’t understand why the West made fun of Kim Jong-un.

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

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1/11North Korea's worst human rights abuses

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Starvation

A UN report said that policies leading to mass starvation in North Korea amounted to crimes against humanity. Deaths peaked during the 1990s North Korean famine.

Al Jazeera

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Executions

Defence minister Hyon Yong Chol is believed to be the latest official executed after falling foul of Kim Jong-un. As well as gruesome public executions, thousands of people have been killed in state 'purges' and for alleged anti-state crimes

Getty

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Torture

Torture is prevalent in prison camps, as well as in police and security service custody.

AP

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Freedom of religion

American missionary Kenneth Bae was one of the many people detained after trying to practice their religion. The DPRK Constitution claims to protect freedom of religion but not if it as alleged of being used a a pretext for 'drawing in foreign forces or for harming the state and social order'. Christianity is frequently considered a political crime

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Freedom of expression

All media is tightly-state controlled and expressing facts of opinions critical of the government or Juche ideology can lead to arrest and imprisonment. As well as being under extensive surveillance, people are encouraged to 'inform' on friends and neighbours

Getty

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Freedom of thought

A UN report found that the 'DPRK operates an all-encompassing indoctrination machine which takes root from childhood to propagate an official personality cult and to manufacture absolute obedience to the Supreme Leader, effectively to the exclusion of any independent thought from the official ideology and state propaganda'

Reuters

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Forced labour

Prisoners are subjected to forced labour in camps, including children as young as five. Some workers are also reportedly being sent abroad to fund the government's projects

AFP

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Sexual discrimination

Although women are permitted to serve in the military, their role is restrained by the Juche ideology and the UN reports that 'discrimination against women remains pervasive in all aspects of society'

AP

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Freedom of movement

Freedom of movement is severely restricted within North Korea and very few citizens are allowed to leave the country. Immigrants found in China can be forcible repatriated and punished on their return. The right for foreigners to enter is also severely restricted.

Reuters

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Prison camps

Many of the worst abuses reported take place at prison camps, some specifically for political crimes. The camps officially do not exist but have been photographed using satellite. Inmates are 'forcibly disappeared' and usually imprisoned until death

REUTERS

North Korea's worst human rights abuses

Reproductive rights

Forced abortions have been reported for imprisoned women, often after being raped by guards. Mothers and babies frequently die in childbirth because of a lack of adequate care, often delivering babies unaided at home.

AP

She said: “His haircut is funny. He is fat. He is like a cartoon character somehow, and he might try to kill me but now I am free, so I can say anything I want.

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“But Kim Jong-un is not a joke to me. He was a God I had to worship every day. He is a murderer. Making fun of dictators cannot be enough. Why is it so funny?”

Park told the audience how after she escaped to China, she was sold for $205 as a bride and her mother $65 – less than the cost of an iPhone.

She urged: “Human lives like you guys are being sold for less than $100, and people don’t even know what is human dignity. All they know is they are hungry and oppressed and they don’t even know they are oppressed. They don’t know human life can be like this.”

At last year’s summit in Dublin, Park recalled her life in North Korea, saying she grew up to believe Kim Jong-un could read her mind.

In the emotional speech she detailed burying her father, who had been imprisoned at a North Korean labour camp for ‘illegal business activity’. She also told the audience she witnessed her mother being raped after escaping into China.

Park travelled to South Korea with her mother and studied at Dongguk University in Seoul. She now lives in New York.

The clip of her speech went viral, and has since amassed over two million views. This year she released her memoir, In Order to Live.

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