This is what it's like to go undercover in North Korea | Suki Kim

Translator: Núria Brufau Reviewer: Cristina Domínguez Roca

In 2011, during the final six months of Kim Jong-Il's life,

El 2011, durant els sis últims mesos

de vida de Kim Jong-II,

I lived undercover in North Korea.

vaig viure clandestinament a Corea del Nord.

I was born and raised in South Korea, their enemy.

Vaig néixer i créixer a Corea del Sud,

el seu enemic.

I live in America, their other enemy.

Visc a Amèrica, el seu altre enemic.

Since 2002, I had visited North Korea a few times.

Des del 2002 havia visitat Corea del Nord

algunes vegades.

And I had come to realize that to write about it with any meaning,

I m'havia adonat que,

per poder escriure sobre Corea del Nord lliurement,

or to understand the place beyond the regime's propaganda,

o per poder entendre el país més enllà

de la propaganda del règim,

the only option was total immersion.

l'única opció era la immersió total.

So I posed as a teacher and a missionary

Em vaig fer passar per professora i missionera

a una universitat de nois de Pyongyang.

at an all-male university in Pyongyang.

The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology

La Universitat de Ciències i Tecnologia de Pyongyang

va ser fundada per cristians evangèlics

was founded by Evangelical Christians who cooperate with the regime

que van cooperar amb el règim

per educar els fills de l'elit nord-coreana,

to educate the sons of the North Korean elite,

sense proselitisme, que allà és un crim capital.

without proselytizing, which is a capital crime there.

Els estudiants eren 270 nois,

The students were 270 young men, expected to be the future leaders

que se suposava que serien els futurs líders

of the most isolated and brutal dictatorship in existence.

de la dictadura més aïllada i brutal que existeix.

When I arrived, they became my students.

Quan vaig arribar, van esdevenir

els meus estudiants.

2011 was a special year,

El 2011 era un any especial

marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's original Great Leader,

se celebrava el 100è aniversari del naixement del Gran Líder de Corea del Nord,

Kim Il-Sung.

Kim-II Sung

To celebrate the occasion, the regime shut down all universities,

Per celebrar l'esdeveniment,

el règim va tancar totes les universitats

and sent students off to the fields

i va enviar els estudiants al camp

to build the DPRK's much-heralded ideal

per elaborar la proclamació del Partit Democràtic de Corea del Nord

com la nació més pròspera i poderosa.

as the world's most powerful and prosperous nation.

Els meus estudiants van ser els únics

My students were the only ones spared from that fate.

que es van salvar d'aquella sort.

North Korea is a gulag posing as a nation.

Corea del Nord és un gulag que es fa passar per nació.

Everything there is about the Great Leader.

Tot el que passa allà té a veure amb el Gran Líder.

Every book, every newspaper article, every song, every TV program --

Cada llibre, cada article, cada cançó, cada programa televisiu

there is just one subject.

té un únic tema.

The flowers are named after him,

Les flors duen el seu nom,

the mountains are carved with his slogans.

els seus eslògans s'excaven a les muntanyes,

Every citizen wears the badge of the Great Leader at all times.

tots els ciutadans porten sempre la insígnia del Gran Líder.

Even their calendar system begins with the birth of Kim Il-Sung.

Fins i tot el calendari comença amb el naixement de Kim II-Sung.

La unversitat era una presó totalment vigilada,

The school was a heavily guarded prison, posing as a campus.

que es feia passar per campus.

Teachers could only leave on group outings accompanied by an official minder.

Els professors només podien sortir en grup,

acompanyats per un escolta oficial.

Even then, our trips were limited to sanctioned national monuments

Tanmateix, les nostres excursions es limitaven a

monuments nacionals autoritzats que homenatjaven el Gran Líder.

celebrating the Great Leader.

The students were not allowed to leave the campus,

Els estudiants no tenien permís ni per sortir del campus

or communicate with their parents.

ni per comunicar-se amb els seus pares.

Their days were meticulously mapped out, and any free time they had

Els seus dies es planificaven meticulosament

i tot el temps lliure que tenien

was devoted to honoring their Great Leader.

el dedicaven a homenatjar el Gran Líder.

Lesson plans had to meet the approval of North Korean staff,

Les lliçons havien d'estar aprovades per personal de Corea del Nord,

every class was recorded and reported on, every room was bugged,

es gravava i declarava cada classe

i hi havia micròfons ocults a cada aula.

and every conversation, overheard.

Cada conversa s'escoltava.

Every blank space was covered with the portraits of Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il,

Cada espai buit s'emplenava amb retrats de Kim Il-Sung i Kim Jong-Il,

like everywhere else in North Korea.

com a tot arreu a Corea del Nord.

We were never allowed to discuss the outside world.

Mai no teníem permís per parlar sobre el món de fora.

As students of science and technology, many of them were computer majors

Molts dels estudiants de ciències i tecnologia s'especialitzaven en informàtica,

but they did not know the existence of the Internet.

però desconeixien l'existència d'Internet.

They had never heard of Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs.

Mai no havien sentit a parlar de Mark Zuckerberg o Steve Jobs.

Facebook, Twitter -- none of those things would have meant a thing.

i no sabien què era Facebook o Twitter.

And I could not tell them.

I jo no els ho podia explicar.

I went there looking for truth.

Me'n vaig anar allà a buscar la veritat,

But where do you even start when an entire nation's ideology,

¿però com pots començar quan tota la ideologia d'una nació,

my students' day-to-day realities,

la realitat diària dels meus estudiants,

and even my own position at the universities,

i fins i tot la meva pròpia posició a la universitat,

were all built on lies?

estava basada en mentides?

I started with a game.

Vaig començar amb un joc:

We played "Truth and Lie."

jugàvem a "Veritat i mentida".

A volunteer would write a sentence on the chalkboard,

Un voluntari escrivia una frase a la pissarra

i els altres estudiants havien d'endevinar

and the other students had to guess

si es tractava d'una veritat o d'una mentida.

whether it was a truth or a lie.

Once a student wrote, "I visited China last year on vacation,"

Un dels estudiants va escriure:

"L'any passat me'n vaig anar a la Xina de vacances",

i tothom va cridar: "Mentida!"

and everyone shouted, "Lie!"

Tots sabien que era impossible.

They all knew this wasn't possible.

Virtually no North Korean is allowed to leave the country.

Pràcticament cap nord-coreà te permís per sortir del país.

Even traveling within their own country requires a travel pass.

Fins i tot, per viatjar pel país cal un passaport.

Tenia l'esperança que aquell joc revelés alguna veritat sobre els meus estudiants,

I had hoped that this game would reveal some truth about my students,

because they lie so often and so easily,

perquè menteixen molt sovint i molt fàcilment,

whether about the mythical accomplishments of their Great Leader,

ja sigui sobre les mítiques proeses del Gran Líder

or the strange claim that they cloned a rabbit as fifth graders.

o afirmant que van clonar un conill a Cinquè de Primària.

Per ells, la diferència entre veritat i mentida és borrosa.

The difference between truth and lies seemed at times hazy to them.

It took me a while to understand the different types of lies;

Vaig necessitar temps per entendre els seus tipus de mentides.

they lie to shield their system from the world,

Mentien per protegir el seu sistema del món,

or they were taught lies, and were just regurgitating them.

o repetien com a lloros mentides que els havien ensenyat.

A vegades, mentien per inèrcia.

Or, at moments, they lied out of habit.

Però si tot el que saben són mentides,

But if all they have ever known were lies,

how could we expect them to be otherwise?

¿com podem pretendre que siguin?

Després, els vaig intentar ensenyar a escriure redaccions,

Next, I tried to teach them essay writing.

But that turned out to be nearly impossible.

però va resultar ser gairebé impossible.

Essays are about coming up with one's own thesis,

Amb les redaccions cadascú ha d'escriure la seva pròpia tesi,

and making an evidence-based argument to prove it.

argumentant-la amb evidència per validar-la.

These students, however, were simply told what to think,

Però a aquests estudiants els diuen el què han de pensar

and they obeyed.

i ells obeeixen.

In their world, critical thinking was not allowed.

Al seu món, el pensament crític no estava permès.

I also gave them the weekly assignment of writing a personal letter,

També els vaig donar els deures setmanals

d'escriure una carta a algú.

to anybody.

Va caldre molt de temps, però finalment

It took a long time, but eventually some of them began to write

alguns d'ells van començar a escriure a la seves mares,

to their mothers, their friends, their girlfriends.

als seus amics, a les seves xicotes.

Although those were just homework,

Encara que només eren deures, i mai no arribarien als seus destinataris,

and would never reach their intended recipients,

els meus alumnes van començar a revelar

my students slowly began to reveal their true feelings in them.

els seus sentiments a les cartes.

They wrote that they were fed up with the sameness of everything.

Escrivien que estaven farts de la monotonia de tot.

They were worried about their future.

Estaven preocupats pel seu futur.

In those letters, they rarely ever mentioned their Great Leader.

En aquelles cartes, mencionaven el Gran Líder en molt poques ocasions.

I was spending all of my time with these young men.

Passava tot el meu temps amb aquells nois:

We all ate meals together, played basketball together.

menjàvem junts, jugàvem a bàsquet junts...

I often called them gentlemen, which made them giggle.

Sovint, els anomenava "gentleman",

cosa que els feia riure nerviosament.

They blushed at the mention of girls.

Es ruboritzaven si es mencionaven noies.

And I came to adore them.

Vaig acabar per adorar-los.

And watching them open up even in the tiniest of ways,

I veure'ls obrir-se, encara que molt a poc a poc,

was deeply moving.

era, senzillament, emotiu.

But something also felt wrong.

Però alguna cosa em feia sentir malament.

During those months of living in their world,

Durant aquells mesos en els que vivia al seu món,

I often wondered if the truth would, in fact, improve their lives.

em vaig preguntar, sovint,

si la veritat milloraria les seves vides.

Desitjava dir-los la veritat,

I wanted so much to tell them the truth,

of their country and of the outside world,

la del seu país i la del món exterior,

where Arab youth were turning their rotten regime inside out,

on el jovent àrab estava capgirant el seu règim podrit

using the power of social media,

amb el poder de les noves tecnologies;

where everyone except them was connected through the world wide web,

on tothom, excepte ells, estava connectat a la xarxa.

which wasn't worldwide after all.

But for them, the truth was dangerous.

Però, per a ells, la veritat era perillosa.

By encouraging them to run after it, I was putting them at risk --

Encoratjar-los a buscar la veritat era posar-los

en perill de persecució, d'angoixa.

of persecution,

of heartbreak.

Quan no tens permís per expressar res obertament,

When you're not allowed to express anything in the open,

you become good at reading what is unspoken.

aprens a llegir el silenci.

In one of their personal letters to me, a student wrote that he understood

En una de les cartes personals, un estudiant

va escriure que entenia perquè jo els anomenava "gentlemen".

why I always called them gentlemen.

It was because I was wishing them to be gentle in life, he said.

Va dir que era perquè jo els desitjava que fossin tranquils, amables, a la vida.

Al meu últim dia, el desembre de 2011, quan es va anunciar la mort de Kim Jong-II,

On my last day in December of 2011,

the day Kim Jong-Il's death was announced,

their world shattered.

el seu món es va trencar en mil bocins.

Vaig haver de marxar sense acomiadar-me com Déu mana,

I had to leave without a proper goodbye.

But I think they knew how sad I was for them.

però crec que sabien com de trista estava per ells.

Once, toward the end of my stay, a student said to me,

Un cop, cap al final de la meva estada, un alumne em digué:

"Professor, we never think of you as being different from us.

"Professora, no et considerem diferent de nosaltres.

Our circumstances are different, but you're the same as us.

Les nostres circumstàncies són diferents, però ets la mateixa que nosaltres"

We want you to know that we truly think of you as being the same."

Volem que sàpigues que realment et veiem com una de nosaltres.

Today, if I could respond to my students with a letter of my own,

Avui, si pogués respondre als meus alumnes

which is of course impossible,

amb una carta escrita per mi, -cosa impossible, és clar-,

els respondria:

I would tell them this:

"My dear gentlemen,

"Estimats "gentlemen" meus,

It's been a bit over three years since I last saw you.

han passat moltes coses des que us vaig veure

per últim cop ara fa tres anys.

And now, you must be 22 -- maybe even as old as 23.

I ara, deveu tenir 22 anys, o fins i tot 23.

At our final class, I asked you if there was anything you wanted.

A la nostra última classe, us vaig preguntar

si volíeu alguna cosa.

The only wish you expressed, the only thing you ever asked of me

L'únic desig que vau expressar,

l'única cosa que mai em vau demanar

en tots els mesos que vam passar junts,

in all those months we spent together,

va ser que us parlés en coreà.

was for me to speak to you in Korean.

Només un cop.

Just once.

Jo estava allà per ensenyar-vos anglès,

I was there to teach you English;

you knew it wasn't allowed.

i sabíeu que no es podia fer.

But I understood then, you wanted to share that bond of our mother tongue.

Però vaig entendre que volíeu compartir

el lligam de la nostra llengua materna.

Us anomenava "gentlemen" meus,

I called you my gentlemen,

però no sé si ser un "gentlemen" a la despietada Corea del Nord de Kim Jong-II

but I don't know if being gentle in Kim Jong-Un's merciless North Korea

is a good thing.

és quelcom bo.

I don't want you to lead a revolution --

No vull que lidereu una revolució.

let some other young person do it.

Deixeu que altres joves ho facin.

The rest of the world might casually encourage or even expect

La resta del món encoratjarà o esperarà, potser,

some sort of North Korean Spring,

algun tipus de "primavera coreana".

but I don't want you to do anything risky,

Però no vull que feu res arriscat,

because I know in your world, someone is always watching.

perquè sé que al vostre món sempre hi ha algú observant.

No em vull ni imaginar què us podria passar.

I don't want to imagine what might happen to you.

Si els meus intents d'arribar a vosaltres

If my attempts to reach you have inspired something new in you,

us han inspirat quelcom nou en vosaltres,

I would rather you forget me.

preferiria que m'oblidéssiu.

Become soldiers of your Great Leader, and live long, safe lives.

Esdeveniu soldats del vostre Gran líder

i tingueu una vida llarga i segura.

Una vegada, em vau preguntar si creia que la vostra ciutat, Pyongyang,

You once asked me if I thought your city of Pyongyang was beautiful,

era bonica.

and I could not answer truthfully then.

Aquell cop, no vaig poder respondre honradament.

But I know why you asked.

Però sé perquè ho vau preguntar.

I know that it was important for you to hear that I, your teacher,

Sé que per vosaltres era important que jo,

la vostra professora,

the one who has seen the world that you are forbidden from,

la que ha vist el món prohibit per vosaltres,

declare your city as the most beautiful.

proclamés la vostra ciutat la més bonica.

Sé que escoltar això us faria més tolerables,

I know hearing that would make your lives there a bit more bearable,

but no, I don't find your capital beautiful.

però no, no considero la vostra capital bonica.

Not because it's monotone and concrete,

No perquè sigui monòtona i de formigó,

but because of what it symbolizes:

sinó pel que simbolitza:

a monster that feeds off the rest of the country,

un monstre que alimenta la resta del país,

where citizens are soldiers and slaves.

on els ciutadans són soldats i esclaus.

Tot el que hi veig és foscor.

All I see there is darkness.

Però és casa vostra, i no la puc odiar.

But it's your home, so I cannot hate it.

And I hope instead that you, my lovely young gentlemen,

En lloc d'això, espero, estimats "gentlemen" meus,

will one day help make it beautiful.

que algun dia ajudeu a fer-la bonica.

Thank you.

Gràcies.

(Aplaudiments)

(Applause)