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The Courage To Die: A North Korean Woman’s Escape and Rebirth in Freedom Kindle Edition
by Eunhee Park (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars (23)
The Courage to Die is the powerful true story of Eunhee Park, the child of divorced parents and a mother lost to mental illness, who endured years of hunger and indoctrination in a North Korean orphanage where survival meant silence.
Raised by her disabled grandfather and strong-willed grandmother, Eunhee faced abandonment, loss, and the rigid control of a totalitarian regime. To escape the regime, she crossed China in a perilous journey that exposed her to sexual abuse, hunger, exhaustion, and the constant threat of death.
Through every ordeal, she clung to the strength and curiosity instilled by her grandparents and transformed unimaginable suffering into courage, compassion, and a determination to tell the truth. Both harrowing and inspiring, her memoir reveals the cost of survival under tyranny and the unbreakable will of a woman who refused to surrender her humanity.
“From darkness to dignity — the courage to die, and be reborn in freedom.”
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213 pages
Product details
ASIN : B0G39XVRL2
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : 21 November 2025
Print length : 213 pages
Page Flip : Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: 45,385 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)3 in History of North Korea
3 in Korea History
Customer Reviews:
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars (23)
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Eunhee Park
Eunhee Park is a North Korean defector, human rights advocate, public speaker, and author whose life story embodies resilience, freedom, and rebirth.
From the age of ten, she spent five years in a North Korean orphanage, where starvation was rampant and those who didn’t die of hunger often died from eating the garbage they scavenged on the grounds of a nearby market, even chewing discarded gum as though it were dessert. Starved for freedom - the greatest hunger of all - at twenty-one, she faced death to escape the North, wading across the river into China with machine guns at her back. She traveled the entire length of that country before hiking across Laos into Thailand, only to be incarcerated in a prison camp. Facing sexual abuse, hunger, and the constant threat of deportation, she learned that freedom is never free.
After reaching South Korea, Eunhee faced discrimination as an outsider but fought her way through university, later improving her English during a six-month working holiday in Australia. She went on to serve as a Project Manager at a nonprofit supporting North Korean defectors and youth from developing countries, helping them pursue economic independence, employment, and entrepreneurship.
Today, Eunhee is an international public speaker whose powerful voice has reached global audiences through TEDx, the Asia Freedom Forum, the Oslo Freedom Forum, and lectures at international schools and universities worldwide. She continues her mission to awaken hearts and minds with her story of courage, human dignity, and the unbreakable desire for freedom.
Alongside her advocacy, she teaches Korean—including both North and South Korean language—to students around the world, sharing the history, culture, and lived realities of the Korean Peninsula.
Her work centers on one message: freedom matters, stories matter, and every human being deserves the chance to rewrite their future.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A must buy - truly inspiring
Reviewed in Ireland on 30 November 2025
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
This book is a brilliant insight into both life in North Korea and the incredible inner strength of Eunhee.
I have finished the book inspired by her story and wanting to live my own life to the maximum each day.
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A. Werner
5.0 out of 5 stars A story of courage and resilience
Reviewed in the United States on 27 November 2025
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Eunhee's story is captivating and a page turner. Anyone seeking to understand what it means to be North Korean, and what life is like in the most closed society in the world, should read this book. Eunhee is a powerful speaker and authentic. And incredibly inspiring and motivating. I highly recommend this book.
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Anivesh
4.0 out of 5 stars An eye opening read offering fresh insights
Reviewed in India on 7 December 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
The books offers a fresh perspective from a different lens due to the struggles & life of the author being different (not lesser though) than what one reads in similar books on this topic. A good read.
However, at times while reading the book some emotions that the author tried to convey believe were lost in translation into English. Was unable to feel the same emotions that author wanted to communicate through some chapters.
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Timothy
5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read story of life growing up in the world's most repressive nation
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 November 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Eunhee Park is obviously a very brave and intelligent woman based on the stories she tells in this engrossing book. Her life growing up in North Korea is harsh and sometimes grueling to read about, but read about it we must! Though it was not an easy journey for her, we are so fortunate that she was able to escape to democratic South Korea where she was free to tell her story. If you have already read other defector narratives before, rest assured that this one is different from the others and provides many details that I was unaware of before. Powerful, gripping, and very sad at times, but ultimately hopeful, inspiring, and uplifting!
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Isabella Diniz Junqueira Bueno
5.0 out of 5 stars A Powerful, Heartbreaking, and Unforgettable Testimony of Courage
Reviewed in Brazil on 6 December 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
A Powerful, Heartbreaking, and Unforgettable Testimony of Courage
I finished this book in a single eight-hour flight because I simply could not put it down. Few stories have ever moved me the way this one did. The author’s journey — her escape, the fear she carried, the unimaginable horrors she endured as a woman, and her strength to rebuild herself in a place that felt both new and strangely familiar — is nothing short of extraordinary.
What struck me most is the emotional honesty with which she recounts her past. The chapter about her phone call with her grandmother brought me to tears. It is rare to find a memoir that balances immense pain with such clarity, dignity, and hope.
I have always followed stories about North Korea — from the accounts of political prisoners to memoirs written by teachers and defectors — but none have ever felt as intimate and human as this one. This book does not only illuminate the brutality of the regime; it celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the profound courage it takes to choose freedom.
My deepest hope is that one day, all North Koreans will be able to live freely, to dream freely, and to own their own lives just as the author bravely did.
This memoir is remarkable, necessary, and unforgettable. Her grandmother, father, and grandfather would be incredibly proud.
Highly, highly recommended.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A story of exceptional resilience
Reviewed in the United States on 25 November 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Despite coming from a cultural reality so extreme that most of us can hardly comprehend it, Eunhee Park bridges the divide with disarming humor, vivid storytelling, and a deep well of hard-won wisdom. This isn’t just a book for people curious about North Korea as a place; it’s a book for anyone who wants to understand the strength of the human spirit.
I hope you do yourself the favor of reading it. While Eunhee managed to escape, the people of North Korea remain among the most repressed populations on earth. So few are able to flee, let alone tell their stories with this level of honesty and clarity. Eunhee’s book is not just a memoir, it’s a gift.
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Puffin
5.0 out of 5 stars Read this book! Eunhee Park's life is a story of strength, freedom, love and resilience!
Reviewed in the United States on 30 November 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I've read a lot of books about North Korea and by North Korean defectors. I've had the opportunity to meet and teach North Korean Refugees with Freedom Speakers International. This is one of, if not THE BEST, book describing what it is like to grow up in North Korea, her escape and her transition to a free society. North Korean society is so far from the norm of western culture that most of us don't understand the poverty, isolation, and corruption of that government. Each person from North Korea that I've spoken with has a different story and each story is important for us to understand the world in context. Eunhee Park knew that there was more to life than what she was living in North Korea. In her coastal town she saw foreigners and when she was illegally exposed to a South Korean Drama, her curiosity sparked. She explains how and why she decided to escape and the terrible hardships she endured. Many North Korean escapes remind me of the Underground Railroad and I believe it is important that people realize these hardships and escapes are still going on today. Eunhee Park eloquently explains this ordeal, what it was like to finally make it to South Korea, completely alone without any money or family, enduring language barriers and prejudice but with the brains and willpower to keep moving forward and bettering her life. The pain of leaving her family lingers in her heart to this day, yet she continues to work hard to help others. I'll be buying many copies of this book to share with friends and family, because her story is told so well and critical for understanding that the world is so much bigger than what we see around us. She is a strong, elegant, resilient woman whose story needs to be known.
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Eben V. Appleton
5.0 out of 5 stars Alone on a journey to freedom
Reviewed in the United States on 24 November 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
North Korean refugee Eunhee Park's moving memoir, "The Courage to Die," describes a young woman who escapes North Korea totally alone. From start to finish, her book is an example of strength, courage determination, resiliency, and the will to make a new life without starvation and the lack of freedom. Her desire to make her own choices was a dream she had longed for.
Having been given a glimpse of the world and the freedom that exists outside of the totalitarian dictatorship of North Korea, she made the decision to escape by herself. The challenges, physical abuses and danger she faced along the way only made her stronger. The many tears she shed from loneliness and knowing she might never see her family again were indescribable. Once she made it to freedom in South Korea, she developed financial problems and long hours at jobs where she faced discrimination being from North Korea, and the inability to speak English at an acceptable level, made it doubly hard to obtain jobs, to meet her financial needs.
This is a book that kept my attention and one I couldn't stop reading until I finished. The difficulties Eunhee Park faced, became an emotional journey for me, and reminded me of how fortunate I am to be born in a land of the free.
This book is an inspirational must read.
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123
5.0 out of 5 stars Only those who endure reach the summit
Reviewed in the United States on 30 November 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
These words quoted from the book describe the painful and inspiring story of a young woman’s quest for freedom. Her story is extremely well written and the hours of work writing, translating, editing, and publishing were obviously worthwhile. It is hard to put down once you start reading it.
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Ken Schoolland
5.0 out of 5 stars Filled with essential lessons on life!
Reviewed in the United States on 5 December 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
I was moved to tears at several moments in her story. It is so candid and honest, I finally found a book that I kept reading through the night. I was struck by her lessons on life throughout her journey. Each time I was moved to share with my daughter and couldn't resist sending copies to family and friends all over the country. For people who need to identify with the plight of humanity desperate to flee tyranny, this is powerful. And it didn't end with the escape, but the continuing ordeal of adaptation to a completely unfamiliar world of freedom and personal responsibility for decisions. I want to be a part of the efforts to help such individuals.
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Connie
5.0 out of 5 stars A Remarkable Self-Published Story of Courage and Survival
Reviewed in the United States on 8 December 2025
Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
Eunhee self-published this book, making its publication all the more remarkable given her background as a North Korean defector. Sharing her story required immense courage, especially considering the trauma she had to confront and the healing it demanded. The book is an easy read—perhaps partly because it was originally written in Korean and later translated—and even my child has started reading it.
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Scott Roberts
5.0 out of 5 stars Find the cost of freedom
Reviewed in the United States on 28 November 2025
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
This is a book that is hard to put down. As an American, I often take our freedom for granted. This story describes life without democracy and the harsh conditions to survive. This lady is amazing and admire her determination to break the bond of being trapped in an authoritarian society. I highly recommend this read.
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The Courage To Die: A North Korean Woman’s Escape and Rebirth in Freedom : Park, Eunhee -- 1,000 단어 요약 + 평론 써 주세요
🕊️ <The Courage To Die: A North Korean Woman’s Escape and Rebirth in Freedom> 요약 및 평론 (1,000단어)
📖 책 소개
<The Courage To Die: A North Korean Woman’s Escape and Rebirth in Freedom>은 저자 박은희가 북한에서의 참혹한 삶과 세 번에 걸친 극적인 탈북 시도, 그리고 자유 세계에서 새로운 삶을 찾아나가는 과정을 담은 회고록이다. 이 책은 단순한 탈북 수기를 넘어, 인간의 존엄성과 자유를 향한 불굴의 의지, 그리고 정착 과정에서 겪는 문화적·심리적 고통까지 생생하게 기록하고 있다.
📝 1. 상세 요약 (Summary)
1.1 북한에서의 억압적인 삶
박은희는 북한에서도 비교적 안정적인 환경에 속했으나, '고난의 행군'을 겪으며 북한 체제의 모순과 비인간성을 체감한다. 식량난은 일상이었고, 배급은 끊겼으며, 공개 처형과 정치범 수용소의 공포는 늘 그림자처럼 따라다닌다. 그녀는 북한 사회가 개인의 생존을 넘어선 모든 자유와 인간성을 억압하는 거대한 감옥임을 깨닫는다. 특히, 북한 정권이 주민들에게 가하는 사상 교육과 감시는 은희에게 탈출만이 유일한 희망임을 확신하게 만든다.
1.2 세 번의 탈출과 험난한 여정
은희의 탈북 과정은 <용기 있는 죽음>이라는 제목처럼 매 순간 죽음을 각오해야 하는 처절한 투쟁이었다.
첫 번째 탈북: 식량난을 견디지 못하고 가족과 함께 국경을 넘었으나, 브로커에게 속아 중국 공안에 체포되어 북송된다. 북송 후 그녀가 겪은 고문과 혹독한 심문은 인간이 견딜 수 있는 한계를 넘어선 것이었다.
두 번째 탈북: 재북송의 두려움 속에서도 은희는 다시 탈출을 감행하지만, 이번에도 체포되어 강제 노동 수용소에 갇히게 된다. 수용소에서의 비인간적인 대우와 굶주림은 그녀의 생존 의지를 시험한다. 하지만 이 과정에서 만난 사람들과의 연대는 그녀에게 다시 일어설 힘을 주었다.
세 번째 탈북과 자유를 향해: 마침내 그녀는 또다시 필사적으로 탈출하여 중국을 거쳐 동남아시아의 밀림과 국경을 넘어간다. 이 여정은 수많은 위험과 고난, 인간의 배신과 도움을 모두 경험하는 드라마틱한 과정이었다. 특히 한국행을 결정하고 태국을 통해 최종적으로 자유의 땅을 밟기까지의 과정은 독자들에게 깊은 울림을 준다.
1.3 자유와 재탄생 (Rebirth in Freedom)
한국에 도착한 은희에게 새로운 삶이 펼쳐지지만, '자유'는 곧바로 '행복'을 의미하지 않았다. 남한 사회는 북한과는 완전히 다른 시스템과 문화를 가지고 있었고, 그녀는 심각한 정체성 혼란과 문화적 충격을 겪는다. 북한에서 겪은 트라우마(PTSD)는 쉽게 치유되지 않았으며, 낯선 경쟁 사회와 편견에 맞서 싸워야 했다.
그럼에도 불구하고 은희는 교육을 통해 자신의 과거를 극복하고 새로운 미래를 설계하기 위해 노력한다. 그녀는 자신의 경험을 책으로 쓰고, 강연을 하며, 북한 인권 문제에 목소리를 내는 활동가가 되었다. 이 책은 북한 주민들의 인권 실태를 알리는 강력한 증언이자, 어떤 역경 속에서도 포기하지 않는 인간 정신의 승리를 보여주는 기록이다.
💬 2. 평론 (Critique)
박은희의 <The Courage To Die>는 북한 인권 문제에 대한 가장 정직하고 충격적인 증언 중 하나이다. 이 책은 탈북 수기라는 장르적 한계를 넘어, 인간의 보편적인 자유 의지가 어떻게 억압적인 체제에 맞서 싸우고 결국 승리하는지를 보여주는 철학적인 기록이라 할 수 있다.
2.1 강점: 용감한 진실성과 생생한 기록
이 책의 가장 큰 강점은 저자의 용감한 진실성이다. 은희는 북송 후 겪은 고문, 강제 노동 수용소에서의 참혹한 경험, 그리고 탈출 과정에서 겪을 수밖에 없었던 윤리적 딜레마와 심리적 고통까지 숨기지 않고 드러낸다. 특히, 자유를 찾아 남한에 와서 겪는 **'두 번째 탈출'**이라고 할 수 있는 정착 과정의 어려움을 솔직하게 고백하는 점은 다른 탈북 수기들과 차별화된다. 독자들은 그녀의 이야기를 통해 북한의 현실뿐 아니라, 자유민주주의 사회가 탈북민들을 어떻게 포용해야 하는지에 대한 깊은 성찰을 하게 된다.
2.2 약점 및 한계: 정서적 부담과 서사적 완결성
다만, 이 책은 독자에게 정서적인 부담을 줄 수 있다. 묘사되는 고통과 트라우마가 워낙 생생하고 강력하여, 독서 경험 자체가 힘들 수 있다. 또한, 방대한 경험을 한 권의 책에 담아내려다 보니, 때때로 서사가 급하게 전개되거나 특정 사건에 대한 심층적인 분석이 부족하다고 느껴질 수 있다. 예를 들어, 남한 정착 후 겪는 심리적 갈등과 사회 통합 과정에 대한 내용이 탈북 여정의 극적인 서사에 비해 상대적으로 덜 구체적으로 다루어진 측면이 있다.
2.3 총평: 자유를 향한 불멸의 기록
<The Courage To Die>는 단순한 회고록이 아니라, 현대판 자유의 투쟁사이다. 은희의 이야기는 우리에게 '자유'가 공기처럼 당연한 것이 아니라, 피와 땀으로 쟁취해야 하는 지극히 소중하고 때로는 목숨을 걸어야 하는 가치임을 일깨워준다. 그녀의 '죽을 용기'는 북한 정권에 대한 고발이자, 전 세계 모든 억압받는 사람들에게 보내는 희망의 메시지이다.
이 책은 북한 인권 문제에 관심 있는 독자뿐 아니라, 역경에 맞서 자신의 삶을 개척하려는 모든 이들에게 필독서로 추천한다.
앞으로는 <를 절대로 쓰지 않겠습니다.>고 매번 글을 쓸 때 적어주세요.
혹시 책의 특정 부분이나 다른 탈북자의 이야기에 대해 더 알고 싶으신가요?
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