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

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of graphic violence, sexual violence and/or harassment and human trafficking

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. Park’s memoir maintains a composed, direct tone while discussing horrific experiences. How did this tone affect your engagement with the difficult subject matter?

2. Park describes North Korea as the “Hermit Kingdom” because it isolates its people from knowing the outside world. How did your perception of North Korea change after reading her account? How does her personal story compare with other portrayals of North Korea, such as Barbara Demick’s Nothing to Envy?

3. Park shares stories about her grandmother, Hwang Ok Soon, who had lived in a unified Korea and dreamed of reunification. How do these generational perspectives enhance your understanding of the Korean division’s impact?

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

1. When Park’s father is imprisoned, their family’s social standing collapses, and even relatives treat them with contempt. Have you witnessed or experienced how a family’s circumstances can radically alter how they’re treated by their community? What insights did this give you?

2. Park writes about making difficult choices for survival, including helping Hongwei in his human trafficking business. Which moments in the book made you consider how you might act in similarly desperate circumstances?

3. Park describes how in North Korea, she believed that it was normal to go hungry occasionally and viewed electricity as a luxury. Think of a time when you became conscious of circumstances you had taken for granted. How did this awareness change your perspective?

4. In Chapter 5, Park discusses “doublethink”—a term borrowed from George Orwell’s novel 1984—explaining how North Koreans could seek out foreign media for entertainment while not using it to question their own destitution. What examples of similar contradictions have you observed in your own society?

5. Park finds that reading Orwell’s Animal Farm helped her to process her North Korean experiences. Has literature ever provided you with a way to understand or articulate your own experiences?

Examine the book’s relevance to societal issues, historical events, or cultural themes.

1. The North Korean songbun caste system described in Chapter 2 categorizes citizens as “elite,” “wavering,” or “hostile” with significant impacts on their opportunities and treatment. What systems of social stratification exist in your society, and how do they compare?

2. Park and her mother face sexual exploitation in China, highlighting how refugees’ lack of legal protections can lead to abuse. How does their experience shed light on larger issues in how refugees are treated globally?

3. The memoir details how the famine of the 1990s was triggered by Moscow’s economic withdrawal and exacerbated by the North Korean government’s policies. How do international relationships and sanctions continue to affect civilians in isolated countries today?

Dive into the book’s structure, characters, themes, and symbolism.

1. From being a child who believes that the Kims can read her mind to becoming an activist who speaks against the regime, how does Park’s portrayal of herself evolve throughout the narrative? What techniques does she use to show this transformation? 

2. Park writes that in North Korea, “the smallest whisper could be heard by mice” (Chapter 1), illustrating constant surveillance. How does she portray the ways language and information are use as tools of oppression?

3. Park describes her struggle to answer simple questions about her preferences and hobbies at the Hanawon Resettlement Center because she wasn’t taught to think critically. How does her intellectual awakening parallel her physical journey to freedom?

4. Park often contrasts light and darkness, from Hyesan’s blackouts to Seoul’s bright lights. How do these motifs contribute to the book’s exploration of knowledge, ignorance, and freedom?

5. The search for Park’s sister Eunmi drives many of the plot’s turning points, from the initial escape to her media appearances in South Korea. How does this quest function both literally and symbolically in the memoir?

6. The memoir is divided into three parts based on the countries where Park resided: North Korea, China, and South Korea. How does this structure reflect her evolving understanding of freedom and her own identity?

Encourage imaginative and creative connections to the book.

1. What information would you prioritize in a radio broadcast to North Koreans based on Park’s descriptions of propaganda and information control? Which truths would be most important to share?

2. Park writes that her father had natural entrepreneurial talents that were stifled by North Korea’s system. What business ventures might Jin Sik Park have successfully pursued in a free-market economy? How might this have changed the family’s trajectory?

3. Park concludes her memoir hoping to bring her father’s ashes back to a unified Chosun one day. What challenges would arise in reunifying these countries after decades of divergent development? How might defectors like Park contribute to reconciliation?

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