Play Book Tag discussion

Writer and journalist Suki Kim writes a fascinating and poignant book that is part memoir, part investigative journalism about her experience teaching English as a second language at a university in North Korea.

That this book exists is in and of itself extraordinary. The hoops Suki Kim had to jump through to even be allowed into North Korea – posing as a Christian missionary to gain employment at the school, and then being allowed to actually enter the country to have access to the college students she taught – just boggles the mind. She writes a lot of her anguish over constantly being watched, not only by the North Korean minders, but the other faculty who think she is part of the missionary work, and I can totally understand why. North Korea is the most repressive regime in the world, and when even her "allies" in the faculty are unaware of her true intent, she becomes in essence a triple agent. I was amazed she was able to keep her multiple covers going for as long as she did.

This book also resonated with me, as someone who has taught English and writing to ESL students, most of them recent immigrants. I have never been in such dire circumstances as Kim, but I know exactly what it is like to feel fiercely protective of your students, yet worry for their futures constantly due to political forces beyond your control. Her students are the sons of North Korea's elite, yet they are emotionally and intellectually stunted, deprived of any knowledge outside the propaganda of their Great Leader, who at the time was Kim Jong-Il. Her subtle attempts to teach her students critical thinking and expose them to a life outside the regime was engrossing, but also heart-breaking. There was so much she wasn't allowed to do or even say to them. Yet they seemed to genuinely love her, even though often their dealings with her veered into spouting Party lines. I wondered a lot how much of that stuff was performative for fear of reprisals and how much was sincere. Yet they still confided in her, and said they saw her as no different from them, despite coming from America, which they have been taught is North Korea's sworn enemy.

The book is very well-written, though at times a little repetitive – in truth, I think that simply captures how deprived and monotonous life is in the DPRK, even for the supposed elite. It is hinted that the Pyongyang School of Science and Technology (PUST) was the only university in the country in session at the time, due to the upheavals surrounding Kim Jong-Il's impeding death. Yet the meals usually consisted of only a few vegetables and there were frequent power outages. In the winter, there was never any heat, so Kim and all her students wore their winter coats to every class. There is a lot Kim was not allowed to see because of the brutal suppression going on, but plenty still seeps through the cracks. If this is how the elite are treated, theirs is not a well-functioning country.

When I finished, I was most curious about two things: whether the publication of this book caused any backlash, either in North Korea or the Christian missionary group Kim infiltrated, and what became of her students. Kim taught there in 2011, and her final day at the school was when news broke of Kim Jong-Il's death. her students were around 19-20 at the time. That would make them about 30 now, and, if they were truly the children of the ruling class, old enough to take their parents' places as influential members of the regime. Obviously not much has changed in North Korea in that time. By all reports, Kim Jong-Un might be a worse leader than his father, and the Trump era was rife with escalating tensions between the US and North Korea. I wonder if anything Kim taught them has stuck with them. There's also scant information available about how COVID-19 has affected the country, but I can't imagine it's faring well. I wish desperately for an update on Kim's students, but I know that's all but impossible unless the DPRK's regime were to collapse entirely.

All in all, Without You, There is No Us is a brief but essential glimpse into possibly the worst ongoing humanitarian disasters in the world. It's not an easy read, but Kim manages to find the humanity in her experience, sprinkling in anecdotes about endearing or funny moments with her students, so that it's not entirely bleak, either.

Great review, I've added this to my TBR. I've read a few NK memoirs, but this one is from such a specific view I haven't seen before.

I taught English in Korea for a while, and remember specifically- I left Korea to come back to the US, and literally, when I landed back home in time for Christmas (and for good), I found out that Kim Jong Il had passed. I've often wondered how those students (elementary school) reacted.