Suki Kim: This is what it's like to go undercover in North Korea
Suki Kim: Inilah rasanya mengajar di Korea Utara
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,
terakhir hidup Kim Jong-Il,
di Korea Utara.
in South Korea, their enemy.
di Korea Selatan, musuh mereka.
musuh mereka yang lain.
North Korea a few times.
Korea Utara beberapa kali.
that to write about it with any meaning,
untuk menuliskannya dengan arti,
beyond the regime's propaganda,
yang berada di bawah rezim propaganda,
sepenuhnya berbaur.
menjadi seorang guru dan misionaris
of Science and Technology
who cooperate with the regime
yang bekerja sama dengan rezim tersebut
of the North Korean elite,
putra-putra elit Korea Utara,
which is a capital crime there.
yang merupakan kejahatan besar di sana.
expected to be the future leaders
diharapkan menjadi pemimpin masa depan
dictatorship in existence.
tertutup dan brutal yang pernah ada.
mereka menjadi murid-murid saya.
of North Korea's original Great Leader,
Pemimpin Besar Korea Utara yang asli,
shut down all universities,
menutup semua universitas,
yang digembar-gemborkan
and prosperous nation.
dan termakmur di dunia.
spared from that fate.
yang terhindar dari nasib itu.
yang berpose sebagai suatu negara.
is about the Great Leader.
mengenai si Pemimpin Besar.
every song, every TV program --
setiap lagu, setiap acara TV --
of the Great Leader at all times.
si Pemimpin Besar setiap waktu.
with the birth of Kim Il-Sung.
diawali dengan kelahiran Kim Il-Sung.
prison, posing as a campus.
yang dijaga ketat, berpose seperti kampus.
accompanied by an official minder.
darmawisata dikawal penjaga pemerintah.
to sanctioned national monuments
ke monumen nasional yang telah disetujui.
to leave the campus,
untuk meninggalkan kampus,
dengan orang tua mereka.
and any free time they had
dan waktu bebas yang mereka punya
their Great Leader.
Pemimpin Besar mereka.
of North Korean staff,
staf pemerintahan Korea Utara,
every room was bugged,
setiap ruangan disadap,
portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il,
dengan foto Kim Il-Sung dan Kim Jong-Il,
to discuss the outside world.
untuk membicarakan dunia luar.
many of them were computer majors
banyak dari mereka yang jurusan komputer
the existence of the Internet.
keberadaan internet.
of Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs.
Mark Zuckerberg atau Steve Jobs.
would have meant a thing.
hal-hal ini yang berarti.
untuk mencari kebenaran.
when an entire nation's ideology,
jika ideologi seluruh bangsa,
at the universities,
saya sendiri di universitas,
menulis kalimat di papan tulis,
on the chalkboard,
China last year on vacation,"
ke Cina tahun lalu untuk berlibur,"
to leave the country.
diijinkan untuk meninggalkan negaranya.
requires a travel pass.
membutuhkan ijin bepergian.
some truth about my students,
kebenaran tentang murid-murid saya,
sangat sering dan sangat mudah.
accomplishments of their Great Leader,
Pemimpin Besar mereka,
a rabbit as fifth graders.
mengkloning kelinci di kelas lima.
seemed at times hazy to them.
terkadang kabur bagi mereka.
the different types of lies;
perbedaan jenis kebohongan;
from the world,
sistem mereka dari dunia,
and were just regurgitating them.
dan hanya memuntahkannya.
berbohong karena kebiasaan.
ketahui adalah kebohongan,
mengajari mereka menulis esai.
nearly impossible.
one's own thesis,
argument to prove it.
berdasarkan bukti untuk membuktikannya.
simply told what to think,
apa yang harus dipikirkan,
was not allowed.
berpikir kritis tidak diijinkan.
of writing a personal letter,
tugas mingguan menulis surat pribadi,
some of them began to write
beberapa mulai menulis
their girlfriends.
dan pacar-pacar mereka.
their intended recipients,
si penerima yang sesungguhnya,
their true feelings in them.
perasaan mereka yang sesungguhnya.
up with the sameness of everything.
dengan kesamaan semua hal.
mentioned their Great Leader.
menyebut Pemimpin Besar mereka.
with these young men.
dengan pria-pria muda ini.
played basketball together.
bermain basket bersama.
which made them giggle.
terhormat, yang membuat mereka terkikik.
even in the tiniest of ways,
bahkan sekecil apapun,
of living in their world,
hidup di dunia mereka,
in fact, improve their lives.
akan, faktanya, memperbaiki hidup mereka.
kebenaran kepada mereka,
their rotten regime inside out,
rezim busuk mereka mentah-mentah,
connected through the world wide web,
terhubung jaringan dunia,
kebenaran itu berbahaya.
I was putting them at risk --
saya membahayakan mereka --
mengekspresikan apapun di luar,
anything in the open,
what is unspoken.
membaca apa yang tersirat.
a student wrote that he understood
seorang murid menulis bahwa ia mengerti
pria terhormat.
to be gentle in life, he said.
terhormat dalam kehidupan, katanya.
perpisahan yang layak.
betapa sedihnya saya untuk mereka,
how sad I was for them.
a student said to me,
masa tinggal saya, seorang murid berkata,
as being different from us.
Anda berbeda dari kami.
but you're the same as us.
sama dengan kami.
think of you as being the same."
menganggap Anda sama dengan kami."
to my students with a letter of my own,
murid saya dengan surat saya sendiri,
sejak terakhir saya melihat kalian.
since I last saw you.
maybe even as old as 23.
-- mungkin bahkan 23.
if there was anything you wanted.
apakah ada yang kalian inginkan.
satu-satunya hal yang kalian minta
the only thing you ever asked of me
dalam bahasa Korea.
mengajar bahasa Inggris;
to share that bond of our mother tongue.
berbagi ikatan dengan bahasa ibu kita.
in Kim Jong-Un's merciless North Korea
Utara Kim Jong-Un yang tanpa belas kasih
mendorong atau bahkan mengharapkan
encourage or even expect
melakukan sesuatu yang berisiko
someone is always watching.
seseorang selalu saja mengawasi,
apa yang bisa terjadi pada kalian.
what might happen to you.
inspired something new in you,
menginspirasi hal baru di diri kalian,
and live long, safe lives.
dan berumur panjang, aman sentausa.
your city of Pyongyang was beautiful,
menurut saya kota Pyongyang itu indah,
menjawab dengan jujur.
to hear that I, your teacher,
untuk mendengar bahwa saya, guru kalian,
that you are forbidden from,
di mana Anda dilarang,
sebagai yang paling indah.
your lives there a bit more bearable,
hidup kalian akan sedikit tertahankan,
your capital beautiful.
ibukota kalian indah.
the rest of the country,
hanyalah kegelapan.
saya tak dapat membencinya.
my lovely young gentlemen,
pria-pria terhormat saya tercinta,
membuatnya indah.
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