Without You, There Is No Us cover art

Without You, There Is No Us

My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite

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About this listen

 A haunting account of teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class during the last six months of Kim Jong-il's reign

Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il and North Korea: Without you, there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us. It is a chilling scene, but gradually Suki Kim, too, learns the tune and, without noticing, begins to hum it. It is 2011, and all universities in North Korea have been shut down for an entire year, the students sent to construction fields—except for the 270 students at the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), a walled compound where portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il look on impassively from the walls of every room, and where Suki has gone undercover as a missionary and a teacher. Over the next six months, she will eat three meals a day with her young charges and struggle to teach them English, all under the watchful eye of the regime.

Life at PUST is lonely and claustrophobic, especially for Suki, whose letters are read by censors and who must hide her notes and photographs not only from her minders but from her colleagues—evangelical Christian missionaries who don't know or choose to ignore that Suki doesn't share their faith. As the weeks pass, she is mystified by how easily her students lie, unnerved by their obedience to the regime. At the same time, they offer Suki tantalizing glimpses of their private selves—their boyish enthusiasm, their eagerness to please, the flashes of curiosity that have not yet been extinguished. She in turn begins to hint at the existence of a world beyond their own—at such exotic activities as surfing the Internet or traveling freely and, more dangerously, at electoral democracy and other ideas forbidden in a country where defectors risk torture and execution. But when Kim Jong-il dies, and the boys she has come to love appear devastated, she wonders whether the gulf between her world and theirs can ever be bridged.

Without You, There Is No Us offers a moving and incalculably rare glimpse of life in the world's most unknowable country, and at the privileged young men she calls "soldiers and slaves." Asia Freedom & Security Politics & Government World Student Imperial Japan Human Rights North Korea
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Most relevant

What made the experience of listening to Without You, There Is No Us the most enjoyable?

The story

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Most interesting was the insight into north korea
Least interesting was the reader - who at times sounds really robotic

Would you be willing to try another one of Janet Song’s performances?

Maybe

Any additional comments?

Good book

Enjoyed this

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A memorable book based on the writer's experience as an English teacher in North Korea. unlike other books this book is not overly factual and therefore easier to follow and gives an insight into the train of thought of young students, brainwashed by the regime in North Korean. It gives a harrowing outlook of their bleak future and the poor conditions endured by them and the people of North Korea.

Worth reading!

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Even I shed a tear when they inevitably parted and felt a shred of anger when the dictator snatched away their last moments in one last spiteful act. A heartbreaking look into a country that doubles as a prison- where not even the elite are safe.

Well worth a listen, if for nothing other than the captivating way Kim writes and the connection you too will feel to these young men.

Emotional, Frank and Painfully Sad

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Beautiful in every aspect. The stark reality for these poor North Koreans bought a tear to my eye on many occasions during this book. Suki Kim, it must have been upsetting to get so close to these fantastic young men.

Absolutely fantastic from moment one until the end

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Having already read Nothing To Envy I was sceptical if another book on the topic was required reading. But this is brilliant. Somewhat more emotive and visceral given the intimate connection that forms between the author and her students as well as her own relationship to the subject matter being South Koreans herself.

Fascinating

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