North Korean defector Yeonmi Park was horrified when Donald Trump paid a friendly visit to Kim Jong Un in 2019, describing it as a sign of a “weak man who had failed on his campaign promises to the nation”.
But just six years later, she reversed her disdain and publicly endorsed the Republican presidential candidate.
“I am a survivor of a socialist system in North Korea and I will be voting for @realDonaldTrump this November,” she wrote on X.
“This system of ours, call it Americanism, call it capitalism, call it whatever, gives each and every one of us a great opportunity if we seize it with both hands and make the most of it.”
It’s a surprising change of direction for Park, who told DailyMail.com that she was “adored by the liberal media” when she hummed her song. It even appeared in the New York Times as a result.
North Korean defector Yeonmi Park has put a sensational spin on her disapproval of Donald Trump and endorsed him.
But now, after announcing her change of heart, she says she is being harassed by trolls.
Park used the hashtag ‘MAGA24’ in her post which featured three photographs of herself.
The first was of her posing outside a building with an American flag, and the last two were of her drinking wine at Tiffany & Co.’s Blue Box cafe, with Chanel pearls around her neck.
Park said she is “grateful that Trump did not persecute and imprison me, as North Korean dictators would do” if she had expressed dissatisfaction with her home country’s leadership.
“That was my privilege, to have freedom of speech, so I have no regrets. We have the right to make mistakes in a democracy,” she told DailyMail.com.
Park fled North Korea for China in 2007, when she was 13, and moved to South Korea before settling in the United States. She has spoken out repeatedly about the horrors of life under the dictatorship, but has faced intense scrutiny for perceived inconsistencies in her recollections.
His endorsement is the latest in a gradual shift away from the disdain he showed toward Trump’s leadership in 2019.
He accused Trump of bowing to Kim Jong Un in a “blatantly obvious” attempt to “pretend he has accomplished something,” arguing: “Only a weak man would bow to criminals. Only a weak man who has failed in his campaign promises to the nation.”
He later wrote an op-ed for The Hill accusing Trump of “diminishing my chances of returning (to North Korea) alive and free.”
In the article, Park accused Trump of going “where other American presidents would not go” by “legitimizing the Kim regime” with photo ops.
“State media celebrates and publicizes these occasions. It sends a signal to the rest of the country that the regime will be there to last. You are giving this to the regime for free, Mr. President. I thought you told us you were a good negotiator,” he wrote.
Would you have congratulated yourself for being the first president to visit Auschwitz, not as a liberator but as a “friend” of Hitler?
He accused Trump of bowing to Kim Jong Un in a “blatantly obvious” attempt to “pretend he has accomplished something,” arguing: “Only a weak man would bow to criminals. Only a weak man who has failed in his campaign promises to the nation.”
“I’m not asking Americans to fight a war to free them, but I am asking them not to collude with Kim’s criminal regime or hinder others’ work to free my people. I’m asking this for selfish reasons. I would like to go home one day.”
This marks a surprising about-face for Park, who told DailyMail.com she was “loved by the media” when she held her more liberal views and was even featured in the New York Times as a result.
His thoughts were also included in the New York Times, with a direct call to Trump, as the “leader of the free world,” to “hold the worst dictator on Earth accountable.”
She told DailyMail.com today that her willingness to be “one of the biggest advocates of opposing Trump” was largely a product of falling victim to “corruption” within the media.
“I was one of the biggest advocates of the anti-Trump cause, so I was very beloved by the mainstream media at the time. I was literally on every major media outlet criticizing Trump. I was on the cover of the New York Times criticizing Trump,” she said.
“But years later, when I started to question the government’s policies, the mass mandates, everything that was happening, they started to attack my legitimacy because my opinions did not coincide with theirs.”
She added that during the pandemic she felt the tide turning against her as she questioned government policies around mandates and became a more outspoken advocate for conservative values and the Republican Party. But it was not until this week that she publicly confirmed she would vote for Trump.
That moment made her begin to question her own understanding of how other people’s opinions of Trump had shaped her own, and she has since realized that she “loves America more than she hates any politician.”
“I love this country. I love this constitution. For other people, I think, their hatred of a particular politician outweighs their love for the country.
“Kim really feared Trump,” he said, noting that North Korea stopped testing long-range nuclear missiles during his presidency.
“I think the world became a lot less safe when Biden came into power. What we need is a strong leader who can force them to behave. Trump can do that.”
In 2019, he wrote an op-ed for The Hill accusing Trump of “diminishing my chances of returning (to North Korea) alive and free.”
Critics have claimed that Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has enjoyed fawning coverage from left-leaning publications since she began her presidential campaign on July 21. This is despite the fact that she has repeatedly refused to grant interviews to the press.
Former Republican Congressman Zach Wamp said last week that the current vice president was in a “honeymoon period.”
Speaking to Sky News Australia, she said: “The media is helping to portray her as not being progressive or a real liberal. No one is holding her to account.”
Trump supporters, meanwhile, have long argued that he has not been given a fair shake.
Polls across the country show the gap between the two candidates closing following Joe Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, particularly in key states.
And an exclusive poll by JL Partners for DailyMail.com reveals that public confidence in the ability of the 78-year-old Trump to carry out the nation’s top job is plummeting.
Voters now have less confidence than when they were last asked in March that the former president can fully digest his national security briefings, defend his position in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin or even survive a full four-year term.
Park has received a lot of criticism online since she gave her endorsement. She has been called vile insults and accused of “selling out” her morals to the Republican Party.
She said she had never met Trump and made her decision like any other American voter.
She also bears no ill will toward her critics.
Instead, he welcomes the criticism, because that, too, is a direct reflection of his new life in the United States.
“I left North Korea for a reason. I love living in a country where I can hear different opinions. I want to live in a country where people can have different opinions. Criticism is the privilege of being able to live in a free country.
“That’s why I can’t support anyone who believes in cancel culture.”