In Order to Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom

Park and her group are caught by the Mongolian police, and she at first believes they are saved. However, the policemen threaten to send them back to China. Both Yeonmi and her mother hid blades in their clothes, ready to die before they are sent back. However, they are escorted past the Chinese border post, and Yeonmi wonders if this was the Mongolian officer’s idea of a cruel joke.

Yeonmi’s group is sent to a military base in Ulan Bator to await their departure for South Korea. During their stay, they are fed and lodged in groups but are treated like criminals rather than refugees. Park later learned her group was among the last to leave successfully, as the Qingdao mission was shut down and their guides arrested by Chinese authorities.

On April 20, 2009, Yeonmi and her mother meet a representative from South Korea who arranges their departure. On the plane, Yeonmi hopes for the future and struggles with survivor’s guilt. After they land, Yeonmi marvels at the display of technology she can glimpse from Seoul’s airport alone. They are escorted from the plane by an agent from the National Intelligence Service and are subsequently searched, questioned, and sent for a medical examination.