Suki Kim: This is what it's like to go undercover in North Korea
Suki Kim: Como é ir para a Coreia do Norte, disfarçada
Suki Kim's investigation, "Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite," chronicles her six months undercover in Pyongyang during Kim Jong-Il's final six months. She worked as a teacher and a missionary in a university for future leaders -- all while writing her book. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
of Kim Jong-Il's life,
de vida de Kim Jong-II,
in South Korea, their enemy.
na Coreia do Sul, sua inimiga.
North Korea a few times.
diversas vezes.
that to write about it with any meaning,
sobre o país com algum sentido,
beyond the regime's propaganda,
para além da propaganda do governo,
em Pyongyang.
of Science and Technology
e Tecnologia de Pyongyang
who cooperate with the regime
que cooperam com o regime
of the North Korean elite,
da elite norte-coreana,
which is a capital crime there.
que ali é um crime capital.
expected to be the future leaders
que deverão vir a ser os futuros líderes
dictatorship in existence.
e brutal que existe.
foram eles os meus alunos.
of North Korea's original Great Leader,
de Kim II-Sung,
shut down all universities,
o governo fechou as universidades,
Democrática da Coreia,
and prosperous nation.
e poderosa do mundo.
spared from that fate.
poupados a esse destino.
fingindo ser uma nação.
is about the Great Leader.
every song, every TV program --
canções, programas de TV
nas montanhas.
of the Great Leader at all times.
o crachá do Grande Líder.
with the birth of Kim Il-Sung.
com o nascimento de Kim Il-Sung.
prison, posing as a campus.
guardada, disfarçada de campus.
accompanied by an official minder.
acompanhados por um guarda.
to sanctioned national monuments
estavam limitados
to leave the campus,
para sair do campus
and any free time they had
e qualquer tempo livre que tivessem
their Great Leader.
of North Korean staff,
tinham que ser aprovados
every room was bugged,
e comunicadas,
portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il,
e Kim Jong-II,
to discuss the outside world.
o mundo exterior.
many of them were computer majors
muitos estudavam informática
the existence of the Internet.
of Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs.
de Mark Zuckerberg ou de Steve Jobs.
would have meant a thing.
tinha significado para eles.
para procurar a verdade.
when an entire nation's ideology,
quando uma ideologia nacional inteira,
at the universities,
na universidade,
on the chalkboard,
era verdade ou mentira.
China last year on vacation,"
do ano passado".
to leave the country.
requires a travel pass.
requerem um passe de viagem.
some truth about my students,
alguma verdade sobre os meus alunos,
e muito facilmente,
accomplishments of their Great Leader,
míticas do Grande Líder,
a rabbit as fifth graders.
um coelho no quinto ano.
seemed at times hazy to them.
parecia, por vezes, ser nebulosa.
the different types of lies;
os diferentes tipos de mentiras.
from the world,
o seu sistema do mundo,
and were just regurgitating them.
e eles apenas as repetiam.
por força do hábito.
que eles fossem de outra forma?
a escrever dissertações.
nearly impossible.
por se tornar quase impossível
one's own thesis,
uma tese própria,
argument to prove it.
para provar essa tese.
simply told what to think,
a que lhes dissessem o que deviam pensar
was not allowed.
o pensamento crítico.
of writing a personal letter,
de escrever uma carta pessoal
some of them began to write
alguns começaram a escrever
their girlfriends.
apenas um trabalho de casa,
their intended recipients,
their true feelings in them.
a revelar os seus sentimentos.
up with the sameness of everything.
da monotonia de todas as coisas.
mentioned their Great Leader.
o seu Grande Líder.
with these young men.
com aqueles jovens.
jogávamos basquetebol juntos.
played basketball together.
which made them giggle.
o que os fazia rir.
even in the tiniest of ways,
por muito pouco que fosse,
of living in their world,
a viver no mundo deles,
in fact, improve their lives.
iria melhorar a vida deles.
de lhes contar a verdade,
their rotten regime inside out,
aos seus regimes apodrecidos
connected through the world wide web,
através da rede mundial
eu estaria a pô-los em risco
I was putting them at risk --
anything in the open,
nada abertamente,
what is unspoken.
nas entrelinhas.
a student wrote that he understood
um aluno escreveu
que os tratava sempre por "cavalheiros".
to be gentle in life, he said.
gentis na vida, foi o que ele disse.
a morte de Kim Jong-Il,
sem me despedir.
como me sentia triste por eles.
how sad I was for them.
a student said to me,
um aluno disse-me:
as being different from us.
que a senhora é diferente de nós.
mas a senhora é igual a nós.
but you're the same as us.
think of you as being the same."
sinceramente que é igual a nós".
to my students with a letter of my own,
aos meus alunos, com uma carta minha,
since I last saw you.
desde que vos vi pela última vez.
maybe even as old as 23.
ou mesmo 23.
if there was anything you wanted.
o que era que desejavam.
the only thing you ever asked of me
a única coisa que me pediram
que passámos juntos,
to share that bond of our mother tongue.
esse elo da nossa língua materna.
in Kim Jong-Un's merciless North Korea
Coreia do Norte de Kim Jong-Un
liderem uma revolução,
encourage or even expect
encorajar ou ter esperança
de Primavera norte-coreana.
someone is always watching.
está sempre alguém a espiar.
what might happen to you.
no que vos pode acontecer
inspired something new in you,
de comunicar convosco
and live long, safe lives.
e tenham uma vida longa e em segurança.
your city of Pyongyang was beautiful,
que Pyongyang era uma cidade bonita
to hear that I, your teacher,
ouvirem a vossa professora,
que vos era proibido —
that you are forbidden from,
era a mais bela.
your lives there a bit more bearable,
seria um pouco mais suportável,
your capital beautiful.
e cheia de betão,
the rest of the country,
do resto do país,
são soldados e escravos.
por isso não posso odiá-la.
my lovely young gentlemen,
queridos jovens cavalheiros,
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Suki Kim - WriterSuki Kim's investigation, "Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite," chronicles her six months undercover in Pyongyang during Kim Jong-Il's final six months. She worked as a teacher and a missionary in a university for future leaders -- all while writing her book.
Why you should listen
Suki Kim is the only writer to ever go undercover into North Korea to write a book from the inside. Since 2002, South Korean-born Kim travelled to North Korea, witnessing both Kim Jong-Il's 60th birthday celebration and his death at age 69 in 2011.
Her work sheds a new light on the understanding of the North Korean society by delving into its day-to-day life and provides unprecedented insights into the psychology of its ruling class, about whom the world knows very little.
Kim's novel, The Interpreter, was a finalist for a PEN Hemingway Prize, and her nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, Harper's and The New York Review of Books. She is the author of the investigation Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite.
Suki Kim | Speaker | TED.com