Book Review: While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector’s Search for Freedom in America by Yeonmi Park
While Time Remains by Yeonmi Park offers a bold and deeply personal follow-up to her first memoir, In Order to Live. Having survived the horrors of North Korea and the trauma of her escape, Park now turns her attention to the free world — particularly her new home in the United States — and reflects on the meaning of liberty, truth, and moral courage.
What makes this memoir so compelling is Park’s raw honesty. She does not simply celebrate her freedom; she questions it. In a voice sharpened by experience, she warns that the freedoms so many take for granted in the West are fragile — and often misunderstood. Drawing from her own life and observations, Park critiques what she sees as the rise of censorship, ideological conformity, and victimhood culture in democratic societies. Whether readers agree with all of her conclusions or not, it is impossible to deny the depth of her conviction.
This book is more than political commentary — it’s a continuation of Park’s emotional journey. She shares her struggles with identity, belonging, and the unexpected challenges of life in America. Through it all, she remains unflinchingly brave in speaking her truth, even when it places her at odds with popular opinion.
While Time Remains is both a memoir and a warning. Yeonmi Park’s voice is urgent, unapologetic, and necessary. Her journey from the darkness of dictatorship to the uncertainties of freedom forces readers to ask difficult questions about what it truly means to live in a free society — and what must be done to preserve it.
Check out all my reviews of North Korean Defector Memoirs here.
About While Time Remains: A North Korean Defector’s Search for Freedom in America by Yeonmi Park
The North Korean defector, human rights advocate, and bestselling author of In Order to Live sounds the alarm on the culture wars, identity politics, and authoritarian tendencies tearing America apart.
After defecting from North Korea, Yeonmi Park found liberty and freedom in America. But she also found a chilling crackdown on self-expression and thought that reminded her of the brutal regime she risked her life to escape. When she spoke out about the mass political indoctrination she saw around her in the United States, Park faced censorship and even death threats.
In While Time Remains, Park highlights the dangerous hypocrisies, mob tactics, and authoritarian tendencies that speak in the name of wokeness and social justice. No one is spared in her eye-opening account, including the elites who claim to care for the poor and working classes but turn their backs on anyone who dares to think independently.
Park arrived in America eight years ago with no preconceptions, no political aims, and no partisan agenda. With urgency and unique insight, the bestselling author and human rights activist reminds us of the fragility of freedom, and what we must do to preserve it.
