<P> When they reached the Mongolian border, guards stopped them and threatened to deport the pair back to China . Park recalls that at this point she and her mother pledged to kill themselves with their own knives . "I thought it was the end of my life . We were saying goodbye to one another ." Their actions persuaded the guards to let them through, but they were placed under arrest and kept in custody at a detention center at Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia . On 1 April 2009, Park and her mother were sent to Ulaanbaatar's Chinggis Khaan Airport to fly them to Seoul . Park felt relieved to be free at last; the Daily Telegraph reported, "' Oh my God,' she thought when Mongolian customs officials waved her through .' They didn't stop me ."' </P> <P> Park and her mother had difficulty adjusting to their new lives in South Korea, but they managed to find jobs as shop assistants and waitresses . Park also continued her education in Dongguk University in Seoul . In April 2014, South Korean intelligence informed Park that her sister, Eunmi, had escaped to South Korea via China and Thailand . Park and her mother eventually reunited with Eunmi . </P> <P> Park moved to New York City in 2014 to complete her memoir while expanding her role as an activist . She audited classes at Barnard College and then applied and was accepted to the Columbia School of General Studies, starting there in the Fall 2016 semester . She currently pursues her Bachelor's degree in Economics . </P> <P> Since escaping, Park has written and spoken publicly about her life in North Korea, having written for the Washington Post, and has been interviewed by The Guardian . Park volunteers for activist programs such as the Freedom Factory Corporation, a free market think tank in South Korea . She also became a member of LiNK (Liberty in North Korea), a nonprofit organization that rescues North Korean refugees hiding in China and resettling them to South Korea and the United States . On June 12--15, 2014, Park attended LiNK's summit at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California . She and the other North Korean activists, Joo Yang and Seongmin Lee, worked in sessions and labs, educating participants in the conditions of North Korea and how LiNK can support the refugees . Park took part in LiNK's campaign, the Jangmadang (장마당). Park has also been outspoken about tourism in North Korea, as visitors are encouraged to bow to statues of Kim Jong Il and Kim Il Sung, which she sees as "(aiding) the regime's propaganda by allowing themselves to be portrayed as if they too love and obey the leader ." She was selected as one of the BBC's 100 Women in 2014, and is a member of the Helena Group . </P>

I was from the north she was from the south