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1-Page Summary of Without You There Is No Us
Overview
Suki Kim’s memoir Without You, There Is No Us is about her experiences in North Korea. She was born in South Korea but moved to the United States when she was thirteen years old. When her homeland was divided into two countries, Suki wondered what life would be like for those who remained behind and decided to find out by going back there herself.
Suki first went to North Korea in 2008 to cover a concert of the New York Philharmonic. While she was there, she heard about Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST). She emailed James Kim, president of PUST, for more information. She then applied for a job at the university and waited two years before getting hired. Joan was her main contact while waiting for her application to be approved by the government.
Everywhere Suki went in Pyongyang, she heard music and messages about Kim Il-sung. She also saw images of the Great Leader and his son General Kim Jong-il. The regime dominated all. Suki had to give up her cell phone and passport when she arrived at the airport because minders watched over them to make sure they followed protocol given by the government.
Suki saw Mr. Ri at breakfast, who had previously watched her during a previous trip to North Korea. She was concerned that he would recognize her as an undercover journalist rather than a missionary, but when she approached him he didn’t bring it up and treated her normally.
The first day of class at PUST, a Korean university that is funded by the North Korean government and located in Pyongyang, was July 4th. Suki dressed conservatively so as not to offend her counterparts who were present for the lesson plan approval. She had to submit all materials and lesson plans prior to teaching them in order for her counterparts to approve them. The counterparts also monitored teachers’ actions and sometimes used students as spies on their behalf, creating an atmosphere of distrust among teachers.
Other teachers were Christian missionaries, and they believed that Suki was too. She didn’t correct them because she didn’t want to lie about her beliefs. During the first class, they taught letter writing to the students. They learned from their letters that most of the students came from wealthy families.
As a result of the low quality of life and lack of entertainment in North Korea, students there would only have one birthday party every year. Every year on their birthdays, they would recite skits for one another, which is rare in most countries. They also played sports and watched the same TV drama together with other people (on a communist television), even though casual dating was forbidden.
Suki was surprised how little the students knew about other countries. They lived in a secluded place and were lied to by their government, so they didn’t know much about North Korea or its position in the world. Suki tried hinting at things she could talk about, but she had to be careful because of her minders and counterparts who monitored her.
It was exhausting for Suki and other teachers to be constantly aware of their surroundings. They were only allowed to leave the university on rare occasions, such as grocery shopping or visiting a nearby church. Even then, they were accompanied by government officials who monitored all their movements and kept them in sight at all times. For example, once when Suki went grocery shopping with her colleagues she saw people walking alongside the road whom she assumed were slaves because they looked so skinny and underfed, with ripped clothing and shaved heads. When she got closer she could feel these people’s fear radiating from them like heat waves in summertime.
