In this interview, Dennis Prager speaks with North Korean defector Yeonmi Park about her experiences at Columbia University. Park describes an oppressive classroom atmosphere where classmates silently share her concerns but fear speaking out, likening it to North Korean repression. She recounts a Western Civilization Music course where the professor asked who had a problem with the term, and most students raised their hands, while she did not. Park explains that she sees no issue with studying Western music, contrasting this with the Korean approach to teaching Korean music. The conversation also touches on the lack of public support from her peers, private encouragement from friends, and broader critiques of perceived anti‑Russian and ideological bias in the curriculum. Throughout, Prager highlights the paradox of seeking freedom in the U.S. while encountering what Park perceives as censorship and conformity.
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You events. I know you know about my work, and I'm very, very happy about that. Obviously means a lot to me. The—
it's— yeah, it's— I feel like I cannot believe this is really happening. I have been following your work many, many years now. Thank you for everything that you do to protect the freedom of speech.
Well, God bless you. It means a lot to me that you said that. So How have— has there been any response at Columbia to your comments?
Well, actually, I have not gotten any comments from the school, but I actually got some notes from my classmates. Actually, they said that they felt the exact same way, but back then they couldn't like express to me because nobody knows. It's almost a little bit like in North Korea. That we cannot really reveal what we think inside, and it's always like going along with the climate of the class and professor. And I never knew there was someone like me thought the same thing, but they never told me. They never expressed it. So that's how oppressive environment is that in America, in Manhattan, in this 21st century, we could have talked about it openly, but nobody did. So back then I thought I was the only one, the weird one, thinking this is like unthinkable. And one of my classmates, like she texted me two days ago after reading Fox, and you know, she supports me in this and she felt the same way.
But she won't go public.
No, she would not. She said like, even now I have a job, I can never talk about it in public, but what you did is very brave. I, you know, I support you, just know that. And that meant a lot to me because I've been getting a lot of messages from my friends and they say, I'm so worried about you, I'm concerned about you, I don't understand what you said on Fox, and I need to talk to you. So I have some calls scheduled ahead from now on and I have to, in a way, explain to people. And these are all my close friends.
So I was going to ask you, do you have close friends?
Um, I do have a close friend in America. Yeah.
And is, uh, I assume it's a she. Is she at Columbia?
No, no, she, uh, she's a lot older than me and yeah, they are not coming from Columbia.
So Do you have any friends at Columbia?
I do, but we never gotten that close. It was a very superficial level, and given how I thought about the whole thing, I could never become like respecting their, I mean, academic integrity. For me, it was, it was, it was not a place to search for truth. It was a place to be becoming anti-Russian, a tool almost.
Has any professor thus far said in class how bad America is?
It's not if any professor, Dennis. Every single one of them. Not just professors, the instructors, you know, the visiting, every single one of them. Yeah.
So I want to know, have you ever raised your hand to say, you know, I've seen repression, there is no repression in this country? I'm not expecting you to say that, but I'm curious if you ever did.
So I didn't go that far. I guess I wasn't that courageous enough.
But you're very courageous. That's not an issue with you. I'm just curious what you said. Go ahead.
Yeah, so Columbia has this core curriculum where you have to take the Western Civilization Music and Art. And in the right before the class, right, orientation, they ask every single one of you what's your pronouns. And then after we do all of that, then the professor was saying, so who has a problem calling this course Western Civilization Music? And everybody raising their hands. I didn't like raise my hand. And then everybody was saying, you know, because of this Russian evil white man silenced all those minority people, now we have to ending up starting this like, you know, biggest like battle and more, more start. So, you know, if we could have put the same energy studying somebody from Africa or somebody in the East or Asia, And I raised my hand and I told them, I mean, after all, we are in the West, you know. In Korea, when you study Korean music, we don't say— who have problems in Korean music, right?
Wait, you said this in class?
Yeah, I said, like, I don't—
go on, right, right, go on, go on.
Yeah, so I thought, I don't have problems studying Western music. After all, this is in the West, and, you know, every talent matters, every story matters. This is just one of them. I don't take it that, like, as an oppression. But then, of course, a whole lot The professor is looking at me horrified and say, I'm brainwashed.
You're brainwashed?
You're brainwashed?
Exactly. Wait, I feel like I've entered Pyongyang here. It's bizarre. First of all, this is a Western civilization music course at Columbia, and the professor asks 'Who has a problem with studying or calling it Western civilization music?' Then most of them raise their hands.
All of them.
All of them except you. Right. Your point, by the way, I just want to repeat it for my listeners. In Korea, we don't ever have a problem with teaching Korean music. Why in the West do you have a problem teaching Western music? But I would go further. Uh, in, in this regard, Yanmi, I, I would note that Korea is producing a disproportionate number of the world's greatest Western musicians.
The—
some of the greatest pianists, violinists in the world today are Korean, and they're playing Beethoven.
Yep, this is a thing where this The Western civilization created so much value into humanity, our advancement. But now I'm coming to the heart of the West and they despise it.
Yes, yes, we're going to continue in a moment. Yeonmi Park escaped from North Korea and it's almost eerie to say, but she came to America for freedom and is watching it destroyed. We'll be back.
