'Pyongyang's English Teacher' - Author Suki Kim
Last October, a book unlike any other about North Korea was released in the United States. "Without You, There Is No Us" is Korean-American author Suki Kim's account of her half-year stay in North Korea as an English teacher. The book received overwhelming praise upon its publication, and in January of 2015, was released in South Korea.
Since 2002, when Suki Kim began working as a freelance journalist, she has made several visits to North Korea. But it wasn't until the summer of 2011 that she entered the country with the intention of working undercover as an English teacher at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology. She witnessed firsthand the conditions and routine of everyday life of the children of high-ranking North Korean officials, gleaning an inside experience of a notoriously secluded state.
Suki Kim emigrated to the U.S. with her parents at a young age, going on to study English Literature at Columbia University and East Asian Literature at SOAS, University of London. In 2003, her first full-length novel, "The Interpreter," was published to positive reviews from American literary circles.
This week on [Heart to Heart], we talk to author Suki Kim about her unparalleled story of life in North Korea