Exposing secrets: American journalist posed as teacher in North Korea gains insight into an intesnse lifestyle
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Students from the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology had no reaction when Suki Kim, an American writer and journalist posing as their Christian missionary teacher, flashed images of the United Nations, Taj Mahal and the Great Pyramids of Giza, as she told the Daily Mail.
Highlights
Catholic Online (https://www.catholic.org)
3/31/2015 (1 decade ago)
Published in Asia Pacific
Keywords: North Korea, Education, School, System, Strict, Authority, Elites, Nation
MUNTINLUPA, PHILIPPINES (Catholic Online) - Kim went undercover in the North Korea back in 2011 and went home after the death of Kim Jong-Il, the country's "beloved leader." According to Kim, the school she attended hosts the sons of the regime's elite and most loyal citizens.
Kim documents her experiences in her book "Without You, There Is No Us: My secret life teaching the sons of North Korea's elite."
She wrote: "Hardly anyone knew what country had first landed men on the moon, despite the fact that they were science and technology major."
Every piece of her lessons had to be scrutinized and approved by the "counterparts," a group of North Koreans designated to oversee what foreign teachers are bringing inside the classrooms. However, she surprisingly was allowed to show her students "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," which the boys enjoyed.
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Kim recognized how strict the system really is, even for the country's elite. She witnessed one of her students laugh after meeting his mother for his birthday for only 21 minutes, and how he held back his tears while talking to his peers about it.
Lives revolve around their "dearest leader"; young lives are sacrificed just to guard the leader's study halls in the winter, despite the poverty people in the country suffer from.
"It's a whole world of lies. Coming from a world where everything is a lie in some ways, it's just been ingrained, but they also lie because they are constantly being watched," Kim explained.
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