Book Review: In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park
In Order to Live by Yeonmi Park is a harrowing, deeply personal account of her escape from North Korea and her fight to reclaim her life and dignity. From the outset, Park’s story pulls no punches. Her vivid, courageous storytelling draws readers into a world marked by oppression, fear, and unimaginable hardship — but also by extraordinary resilience.
Park’s narrative does not shy away from the brutal realities of her journey: the constant hunger she endured in North Korea, the terrifying exploitation she faced during her escape through China, and the overwhelming challenges she encountered while trying to rebuild her life in South Korea. Yet through it all, Park’s voice remains clear, honest, and filled with a fierce determination that commands admiration.
What makes In Order to Live especially powerful is Park’s emotional honesty. She does not present herself as a perfect heroine, but as a young woman forced to make impossible choices in impossible circumstances. Her vulnerability, self-reflection, and courage to confront even the most painful parts of her past make her story not just inspiring, but profoundly human.
Beyond her personal story, Park sheds light on the broader human rights abuses that continue in North Korea and reminds readers of the countless others who remain voiceless. Her memoir is not just a call for awareness, but a plea for compassion and action.
Professional, emotional, and deeply moving, In Order to Live is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the unyielding pursuit of freedom. It is a book that challenges, humbles, and ultimately inspires its readers to see the world — and their own lives — differently.
Check out all my reviews of North Korean Defector Memoirs here.
About
“I am most grateful for two things: That I was born in North Korea, and that I escaped from North Korea.” – Yeonmi Park
In In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park shines a light not just into 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, but also onto her own most painful and difficult memories. She tells with bravery and dignity for the first time the story of how she and her mother were betrayed and sold into sexual slavery in China and forced to suffer terrible psychological and physical hardship before they finally made their way to Seoul, South Korea—and to freedom.
Park confronts her past with a startling resilience. In spite of everything, she has never stopped being proud of where she is from, and never stopped striving for a better life. Indeed, today she is a human rights activist working determinedly to bring attention to the oppression taking place in her home country. Park’s testimony is heartbreaking and unimaginable, but never without hope. This is the human spirit at its most indomitable.
