Yeonmi Park was a child in North Korea, where she learned early that to speak was fraught with danger. Any talk that crossed the government's narrative could result in prison camp or execution for you and generations of your family. Even someone who seems friendly with you would have to report it, so don't trust anyone.
There is no word for friend. They use the word "comrade," meaning someone you work with for the "glory of the party." There is no word for love, except in the sense that you must love the "Dear Leader." They were taught that they lived in a socialist paradise.
Vocabulary control is thought control. Another tool for controlling thought is plain old hunger. Weak and desperate citizens who worry about every meal have little thought to spare for political change. Starving North Koreans are taught that former leader Kim Jong Un died of exhaustion working for the good of the people.
In 2007 her family could no longer find food. Yeonmi had never seen a map of the world, but saw lights across the border to China. That looked better to her, and that's where the family went.
from Epoch Times
(cont'd tomorrow)
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