A Quote by Park Yeon-mi
People would ask me about my hobbies and what I liked. I had never been asked those questions because what I thought didn't matter. I didn't know what a hobby was. In North Korea we used 'we,' and to say - 'I like this,' - was the worst thing you could say.
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Some people criticize North Koreans and ask, 'Are they stupid? How can they believe those ridiculous things?' But I say, It doesn't matter if you're smart: if you were born in North Korea, you would be exactly like us. We don't know what freedom is. We have never enjoyed it.
I remember in grammar school the teacher asked if anyone had any hobbies. I was the only one with any hobbies and I had every hobby there was... name anything, no matter how esoteric. I could have given everyone a hobby and still had 40 or 50 to take home.
If we had a relationship with Russia, that would be a good thing. In fact, it would be a great thing, not a bad thing. Because Vladimir Putin could really help us in North Korea. We have a big problem with North Korea. And China is helping us. And because of the lack of a relationship that we have with Russia because of this artificial thing that's happening with this Democratic-inspired thing, we could really be helped a lot, tremendously, with Russia having to do with North Korea.
I think the regime in North Korea is more fragile than people think. The country's economic system remains desperate, and one thing that could happen for example would be under a new government in South Korea, to get the South Korean government to live up to its own constitution, which says any Korean who makes it to South Korea, is a Korean citizen. A citizen of the Republic of Korea. And you could imagine the impact that would have inside North Korea if people thought, "If I could get out and make it to South Korea, I could have a different life."
I can't say that I ever worried much about what people thought or said of me. I like to be liked, and have often wished that I could be as much loved as Jim Driscoll, say, but I have never been able to bow down to rules and regulations
What you need to know about North Korea is that it's not like other countries like Iran or Cuba. In those countries, you have some kind of understanding that they are abnormal, they are isolated and the people are not safe. But North Korea has been so completely purged from the rest of the world, it's literally a Hermit Kingdom.
When people ask me, 'What are you most proud of,' I say it's that I've had five people close enough to ask me to present them at the World Golf Hall of Fame. There were any number of people they could have used, but they asked me. It really means a lot to me.
I like to engage the public because when I was in high school, I had all these questions about anti-matter, higher dimensions and time travel. Every time I went to the library, every time I asked people these questions, I would get some strange looks. Nobody could answer any of these questions.
I've been demonized as a racist and an extremist. Now, no matter what I say, I mean, I've served in the military with people of all ethnicities and all races but it doesn't matter what I say, I still get demonized and implied to be a racist. So if anybody has any questions on where I stand on that they can ask my good friend Doug Taft who is sitting here on the side and ask him what he thinks about me being a racist.
Earlier, I used to always ask people if they want me to answer as Supriya or Hansa. If they said Hansa, and asked me a question, I would say, I don't know. That's because Hansa doesn't know anything! For me, it was important to reach that state of thing in mind where I don't question anything.
He was one of those people who made you feel like they either didn't know or didn't care that you were in the room and if they ever did acknowledge your existence it was bizarrely score one to you, and twenty years later they'd tell you they'd always had a crush on you but never had the courage to say anything and you'd tell them, What? I didn't even think you liked me? and they'd say, Are you crazy? I just never knew what to say!
Whenever I'm giving talks, I always ask people to think of the most obscure questions because I enjoy those the most. I always get the same questions: Why does Pickwick say "plock" and will there be a movie? I like the really obscure questions because there's so much in the books. There are tons and tons of references and I like when people get the little ones and ask me about them. It's good for the audience [and also] they realize there's more there.
People always used to ask me 'What makes a celebrity?' and I used to say: 'Being asked to comment mostly on things you know nothing about.'
When people asked Socrates, ‘What is wisdom?’ he always gave the same answer: ‘I don’t know’. In fact, Socrates never claimed to know much of anything except how to ask questions. And by asking questions, he would prove to other people that they didn’t know what they thought they knew.
"What would people say about you when you're gone?" That to me was a very important question. I thought about that for a couple of years and said, "What people say about you when you're gone doesn't matter. You're gone." What really matters is, "What do you say about yourself in the here and now? Are you proud of what you're doing?" If you had a short lease and it ended today, or it ends tomorrow, what would you wish you would have done? You better do it.
What's the worst, is when people clearly haven't researched you. One time an interviewer asked me if I do a lot of plays. I'm like, yeah. Have you Googled me? There's this thing called Google, and you can ask Google that question. Then you could come to me with informed questions that didn't make me feel like I am brand new to the world.
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