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The College Republicans at Syracuse University invited North Korean defector, conservative activist and author Yeonmi Park to speak at the Shaffer Art Building Wednesday evening in a Q&A discussion titled “The Fundamentals of Freedom: We Must Fight Against Tyranny.”

Park, the author of a 2015 memoir titled “In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom,” has criticized concepts like political correctness, trigger warnings and “woke culture” in her career. In the discussion, she shared her experiences living in North Korea under the nation’s communist Workers’ Party and her observations of American political thought and dialogue since coming to the United States in 2016. The event was sponsored by Young America’s Foundation, an organization that aims to educate young Americans about conservative values.

In the past few years, College Republicans has hosted commentator Michael Knowles of The Daily Wire, then-New York state Supreme Court justice candidate Danielle Fogel and then-Town of Manlius Board Rebecca Shiroff. The organization secured funding from Student Association’s Finance Board in March 2020 to host conservative commentator Ben Shapiro before SA’s Assembly put pressure on College Republicans to cancel the visit. College Republicans has previously voiced concerns about its members’ voices being “attacked” at SU.

The College Republicans at Syracuse University hosted Yeonmi Park, a conservative activist and author from North Korea, to speak about her views on American culture and race relations.

Abbey Fitzpatrick | Contributing Photographer

On an episode of Fox Business Tonight, Park claimed that America’s education system is “brainwashing” children into believing the United States is racist. During her talk, Park referenced her time at Columbia University, where she claimed she was being taught to hate the United States. During her speech, Park also accused people of pushing an “agenda of equity.”

“They don’t want people to suffer. They want everybody to have equal opportunity and chances. But now, they’ve gone too far. They’re pushing this agenda of equity, which is of equality of outcomes,” Park said.

An unnamed senior from SU’s School of Architecture who attended the event said while she was sympathetic to Park’s experiences of oppression in North Korea and China, she had reservations about Park’s comparison of the United States’ “woke culture” and conditions in North Korea. The student also said Park’s claims had “lots of nuance.”

“There’s extremists on both sides. I think that’s probably the most dividing part because they’re the loudest,” she said. “But I think for the most part, a lot of people are quite reasonable and somewhere in the middle, and we all have good intentions.”

When asked about potential inconsistencies about her memoir and atrocities in North Korea, Park cited complications with language or journalists taking her claims out of context.

A 2022 report by Human Rights Watch labeled North Korea as one of the most repressive countries in the world, citing bans on independent media outlets and a lack of individual freedoms for speech and expression, among other factors.

Published on April 6, 2023 at 1:52 am

Contact Dominic: dcchiapp@syr.edu | @DominicChiappo2