The first thing my mother told me was, don't even whisper, because the birds and mice can hear me.

Hi, I'm Ian Bremmer, and welcome to the GZero World Podcast, an audio version of what you can find on public television where I analyze global topics, sit down with big guests, and make use of little puppets.

This week, I sit down with North Korean defector and human rights activist Yonmi Park.

She'll recount her harrowing escape from the totalitarian regime

that involves crossing a frozen river into China and subsisting on dragonflies. Let's get to it.

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I was born in 1993 in the northern part of North Korea.

There was a river that divided China and North Korea,

and I was right there in the northern part in the border area.

My day would be, you know, going to school in the morning,

and I had to bring work clothes because

in North Korea,

we don't really say

someone's minor that they cannot

do labor work, even the seven

years or the eight years or they all have to work.

And because

we are revolutionaries.

Our existence is only for the party.

...