Quotes from Park Yeon-mi

I heard about desert, but I never seen them with my eyes. I just couldn't believe there was nothing, except sand and except the stars in the sky.

I literally crossed through the middle of the Gobi Desert to be free. But what I did was nothing, so many people fought harder than me and didn't make it.

I'll live longer than Kim Jong-un - he's fatter than me. He doesn't like me.

I thought Kim Jong Il was a god who could read my mind. I thought his spirit never dies, and I never thought he was a normal human being.

I thought North Koreans were the only people who hated Americans, but turns out there are a lot of people hating this country in this country.

They said if you are in China you have to be sold, you have to get married. And something that still saddens me is that I actually didn't care, I was so hungry.

I thought, if I go to China, I might find food to eat. The only reason to escape was to find a bowl of rice. And I was trafficked and sold in China.

My mum was sold for $65 and I was sold for $260 - at the age of 13.

I was a slave. I was sold in China in 2007 as a child at 13 years old.

I have a dream to have a normal life, someday have a child, get older. But it is hard, it's a big commitment.

I wanted to show North Korean people that they have hope, and they can be free someday, like myself.

When I was in South Korea, the books that I read about Americans were actually Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama. If this country actually oppresses people and enslaves the people, how are those two women billionaires?

I came to South Korea with a feeling of deep kinship, but people here perceive me only as a talbukja, someone of a different nationality.

I never asked to be a spokesperson or public figure. It just happened.

Family are everything; everyone understands the strength of family. For me, they were the reason that I managed to get by while I was in captivity and now they are the reason to live in freedom.

In North Korea I literally believed that my Dear Leader was starving. He's the fattest guy - how can anyone believe that?

I was determined that I was going to have a successful and normal life.

I couldn't imagine that I'd ever see men as normal people and I could never trust them. I couldn't bear any human connection with men.

Everything in North Korea was about the leader, all the books, music and TV.

We don't have friends in North Korea. We only have comrades. There's no concept of friends.

In North Korea, when there is an alarm, it means that there is a war drill. It means that you need to run.

If I could've had the things that Americans throw away, I never would've escaped North Korea. That's how much we were desperate.

North Korea is a very Confucius country. We respect the elders, the hierarchy. It's not like America where anyone can step up and do things, we have our tradition.

Nothing is forever, and I believe that North Korea will change in my lifetime.