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"There's no difference between me and suicides," she replied quickly.But there is, obviously: You're alive and they're not.She paused and then blurted out, "I attempted suicide twice. I ate lots of medicine, but luckily my mum saved me." She started speaking faster. "And you know what? Those moments taught me a lesson, that life is a gift, no matter how hard it is. Who knows what will happen? Who knew I would come to London? That is a dream come true for me."For a long time people thought that change wasn't possible in North Korea. But, as Park [told me earlier this year](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/26/north-korea- defector-titanic), the invisible walls around North Korea are being knocked down, thanks to the influx of foreign books, films and music. The regime can't seem to stem the flow, [despite heavy crackdowns](https://news.vice.com/article/north-korean-officials-reportedly- purged-for-watching-soap-operas)."Reading Animal Farm set me free from the dictatorship in my head," said Park. "I could see all the tactics used by the regime to control us--they were all in that book. Until then I thought everything that wasn't part of the regime was evil."The North Korean government are out to get me
On any given day in North Korea, bales of DVDs are smuggled in, covertly tuned radios pick up the BBC World Service and USB sticks full of South Korean soap operas float over the border [attached to balloons](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ world/asia/defector-disrupts-korean-peace-talks-with-antinorth-korea-airborne-leaflets- 9797654.html). "People think that change is impossible in North Korea," said Yeonmi. "But foreign media is setting us free."
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