What is Yeonmi Park's history with North Korea?
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Yeonmi Park was born in North Korea in 1993 in the city of Hyesan in Ryanggang in North Korea. Her father was a prominent businessman but was later arrested for allegedly trading in forbidden items. Her father was sent to a prison camp and, while there, contracted colon cancer. Fearing that his time was short, Mr. Park arranged for his release and he and his family fled to China, where he believed they would be safe. Yeonmi's father died during their journey to South Korea by way of Mongolia, buried in the hills in an unmarked grave. The Parks, mother and daughter, continued to Seoul where they were finally reunited with Yeonmi's older sister. Today, she continues her fight against oppression and human rights violations across the globe with her work as an activist and spokesperson. Her stated goal is to begin the dialogue she believes will be necessary between South Korea and the people of North Korea to work together for unification.
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What does she do to promote human rights?
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Yeonmi works tirelessly to promote human rights through a variety of channels. It must be remembered that the 21-year-old is still a college student; nevertheless, she has been able, in an incredibly short amount of time, to bring together people from around the world under the banner of protection of human rights. She hosts her own podcast with Casey Lartigue and speaks regularly around the world at a wide range of venues. She also appears on television and radio shows to promote human rights discussions. Her ideal is to create a dialogue between the people of South Korea and North Korea so that the North Korean refugees are better understood by their southern counterparts. She also hopes to help those who are fleeing totalitarian regimes across the world by bringing attention to their plight and inspiring others to donate their time, money and efforts to ending human rights oppression around the globe.
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