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

Yeonmi Park

Sep 2015 · Penguin UK

About this ebook

'I am most grateful for two things: that I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.'

Yeonmi Park was not dreaming of freedom when she escaped from North Korea. She didn't even know what it meant to be free. All she knew was that she was running for her life, that if she and her family stayed behind they would die - from starvation, or disease, or even execution.

This book is the story of Park's struggle to survive in the darkest, most repressive country on earth; her harrowing escape through China's underworld of smugglers and human traffickers; and then her escape from China across the Gobi desert to Mongolia, with only the stars to guide her way, and from there to South Korea and at last to freedom; and finally her emergence as a leading human rights activist - all before her 21st birthday.

'Clear-eyed and devastating' Observer

Ratings and reviews

Wonderful book! I absolutely recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the people around the world who are suffering but who have the will-power and courage to try to get a better life.

The only book that makes my tears flow at the end. Yeonmi Park thank you for telling us the inspirational story of your journey to freedom. May God bless you.

Nicely wrote and really open my eyes on how cruel the dictatorship of North Korean was. Before this, I only thought about their struggles to start again but this book really gave me the overall perspective on how tough and difficult their life/ journey inside the North, after the escape and how they manage to reboot their new life to the max! I finished this book in one sitting, truly inspiring and makes me appreciate my life even more.

About the author

Yeonmi Park was born in Hyesan, North Korea in 1993 and currently lives in New York.