Who is the author of Without You There Is No Us?

Suki Kim is the author of Without You There Is No Us.

Politics

Without You There Is No Us Book Summary - Without You There Is No Us Book explained in key points

Without You There Is No Us summary

Name: Without You There Is No Us
Rating: 4.3 (12 reviews)
Author: Suki Kim

Suki Kim

My Time With the Sons of North Korea’s Elite

4.3 (12 ratings)

16 mins

Brief summary

'Without You There Is No Us' by Suki Kim is a memoir about her experience as a teacher in North Korea. She gives insight into daily life in the secretive country and the indoctrination of its citizens, including her own students.

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Asian History Memoirs Autobiographies Culture

Table of Contents

Without You There Is No Us
Summary of 9 key ideas

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Key idea 1 of 9

What’s in it for me? Take an inside look at what’s really going on in North Korea today.

Can you imagine a country where even the brightest and most privileged students are so isolated from the rest of the world that they’ve never even written a letter or seen a photo of the Taj Mahal?

What about a place where government spies follow you everywhere, and you can’t even go for a jog around a university campus?

Welcome to life in North Korea, a land whose strangeness is only made more intense by how little we know about it. That’s what makes these blinks so important – they represent a rare look inside the Hermit Kingdom.

After disguising herself to gain entry, acclaimed writer Suki Kim reports back on a world full of spies, starvation, fear and complete isolation.

In these blinks, you’ll discover

why some North Koreans have to cut grass with scissors;
what happens to people who get caught listening to foreign media; and
why there are 35,000 statues of North Korea’s leaders.

It’s extremely difficult to get into North Korea.

The first problem with investigating the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) is getting in. Suki Kim had an interesting strategy: she went in with a group of missionaries, disguised as a volunteer English teacher.

If the North Korean authorities had known she was actually a Western journalist, they never would’ve allowed her into the country. Very few tourists are allowed in, and it’s especially difficult if you’re South Korean or American – the United States is the “imperialist enemy,” after all.

On average, fewer than 2,000 Westerners are granted access each year, and visas – as you might’ve guessed – are quite difficult to come by.

It takes a very long time to process a North Korean visa because it has to be approved by so many people. Even after Kim’s visa was approved, 35 North Korean government agencies had to stamp it before it could be released.

There’s another problem, too: you have to get your visa from a North Korean embassy or consulate, but very few countries have them, so you need help from a country that does. American citizens have to go all the way to Beijing to get their visas!

North Korean visas are also typically issued just before the visitor’s trip is supposed to start. Kim was approved as a teacher for the summer semester of 2011, but didn’t get her visa until late June. Her lessons started on 4 July, so she was in quite a rush. You can’t buy your plane tickets until you have your visa, so after the long wait, you have to hurry up to get there on time.

Once you get there, the craziness has only just begun.

People in North Korea are constantly monitored.

To us it may sound like a paranoid delusion. In North Korea, it’s reality: everywhere you go, someone is watching you – and they’re waiting for you to make a mistake.

Minders are tasked with keeping a constant watch on foreigners.

Even the smallest things can get you into trouble in North Korea.

So what are all those minders and informants actually looking for? Unfortunately, they aren’t just trying to protect citizens. They’re watching for a tremendous number of “crimes” – and committing these crimes can have very serious consequences.

Carelessly handling images of the Great Leader, for instance, is a crime.

No one is allowed to move around freely.

After spending all day being watched by Big Brother and getting scolded for things like folding your hands, you might want to take a walk through the forest to relax. As you might’ve guessed, however, walking around freely isn’t permitted.

Visitors can’t just go anywhere they want. If you’re a foreigner, you need to get permission before going anywhere, even if you just want to buy something from the shop in the diplomatic compound or visit a foreigners-only restaurant.

North Korea employs harsh punishments and rigid censorship.

When you think of North Korea, “human rights violations” and “nuclear weapons” might well be the first things that come to your mind.

The DPRK certainly isn’t short on the former. The country regularly abuses its citizens and suppresses dissent. Since 1948, over one million lives have been taken in executions, in concentration camps or through forced labor.

All North Korean citizens are regularly obliged to do communal service.

In 2008, every North Korean university except for PUST was apparently shut down. Why?

Well, whenever the government needs workers, citizens are required to respond. The universities were closed in 2008 because almost every student was taken out to do construction work!

North Korea is a land of poverty, shortages and hunger.

Kim once caught a glimpse of some construction workers while taking a guided tour. She was taken aback by how ghastly they looked: they were skeletal, gray-faced and hollow-eyed.

A tremendous number of North Koreans are undernourished, and the country still suffers from terrible famines. Between 1994 and 1998, a terrible famine called the Arduous March killed as many as three million citizens – a tenth of the population. The people had already been in danger when the economy and food supply system collapsed, so the ensuing famine wreaked havoc.

North Korean leaders are treated like deities.

North Korea does have some things in common with parts of the Western world. There are religious monuments and shrines everywhere, just like in many Catholic countries. In North Korea, however, these devotional places and objects praise the Great Leaders: the Eternal President Kim il-Sung, his late son Kim Jong-il, and the current leader, Kim Jong-un.

You’ll find images and symbols of the Great Leaders anywhere you go. The country has more than 35,000 statues of them. Even the smallest villages can have huge, shrine-like murals for Kim Il-sung.

North Koreans don’t apply for jobs, or write essays or letters.

Kim really learned how tightly controlled her students’ lives were when she asked them to write a job application letter.

They’d never heard of such a thing. A job application letter? North Koreans don’t apply for jobs, so the idea that they’d be able to choose their own job was alien to them. They’re assigned their jobs by the authorities. Kim’s students didn’t understand the idea of making themselves marketable for a prospective employer.

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What is Without You There Is No Us about?

North Korea is a closed society into which very few people are able to peek. This book is the story of an American journalist who got into the country by posing as an English teacher. She recounts her astonishing experiences and paints a very human picture of the country that so few are privileged to see. The phrase “Without You There Is No Us” comes from a chilling patriotic hymn sung twice a day, every day by the author’s students, expressing their devotion to their Great Leader, Kim Jong-il.

Without You There Is No Us Review

Without You There Is No Us (2014) by Suki Kim is an eye-opening memoir that gives readers a rare glimpse into life in North Korea. Here's why this book is worth reading:

With courageous honesty, the author shares her experiences as an undercover teacher in a North Korean university, unveiling a secretive world few have access to.
The book sheds light on the psychological and emotional complexities of living in such a repressive society, offering a powerful and thought-provoking exploration of human resilience.
Through skillful storytelling, the book breaks down stereotypes and challenges preconceived notions about North Korea, making it an enlightening and captivating read.

Best quote from Without You There Is No Us

Locked in that prison disguised as a campus in an empty Pyongyang suburb, heavily guarded around the clock, all we had was one another.

—Suki Kim

Who should read Without You There Is No Us?

Anyone intrigued by this enigmatic country
Anyone interested in a first-hand account by a person who actually lived in North Korea
Anyone who wants to learn more about North Korea’s cruel and unusual treatment of its citizens

About the Author

Suki Kim is a Korean-American journalist, writer and scholar. Her debut novel, The Interpreter, won the PEN Beyond Margins Award. To write this book, she lived in the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea as an English teacher at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

Categories with Without You There Is No Us

Politics Biography & Memoir

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