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

Translator: Doris Kos Reviewer: Klavdija Cernilogar

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

Leta 2011, v zadnjih 6 mesecih življenja Kim Jong Ila,

I lived undercover in North Korea.

sem pod krinko živela v Severni Koreji.

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

Rojena in vzgojena sem bila v Južni Koreji, pri sovražniku.

I live in America, their other enemy.

Živim v Ameriki, ki je njihov drugi sovražnik.

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

Po letu 2002 sem večkrat obiskala Severno Korejo.

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

In ugotovila sem, da če hočem pisati o tem

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

ali razumeti dogajanje preko režimske propagande,

the only option was total immersion.

potrebujem popolno poglobitev.

So I posed as a teacher and a missionary

Zato sem se izdajala za učiteljico in misijonarko

at an all-male university in Pyongyang.

na moški univerzi v Pjongjangu.

The Pyongyang University of Science and Technology

Pjongjanško univerzo za znanost in tehnologijo

was founded by Evangelical Christians who cooperate with the regime

so ustanovili evangeličanski kristjani, ki sodelujejo z režimom,

to educate the sons of the North Korean elite,

da bi izobrazili sinove severnokorejske elite,

without proselytizing, which is a capital crime there.

brez spreobračanja v vero, kar se tam kaznuje s smrtjo.

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

270 mladih fantov je študiralo tam, postali naj bili bodoči vodje

of the most isolated and brutal dictatorship in existence.

najbolj izolirane in brutalne diktature na svetu.

When I arrived, they became my students.

Ko sem prispela, so postali moji študentje.

2011 was a special year,

2011 je bilo posebno leto,

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

ki je zaznamovalo 100. obletnico rojstva prvega velikega vodje Severne Koreje,

Kim Il-Sung.

Kim Il Sunga.

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

Ob tej priložnosti so zaprli vse univerze

and sent students off to the fields

in študente poslali na polja,

to build the DPRK's much-heralded ideal

da bi zgradili ideal, ki so ga na veliko napovedovali,

as the world's most powerful and prosperous nation.

ideal najmočnejšega in najuspešnejšega naroda na svetu.

My students were the only ones spared from that fate.

Samo mojim študentom je bilo to prihranjeno.

North Korea is a gulag posing as a nation.

Severna Koreja je gulag, ki se pretvarja, da je narod.

Everything there is about the Great Leader.

Tam se vse vrti okoli velikega vodje.

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

Vsaka knjiga, vsak članek, pesem, vsak TV program -

there is just one subject.

obstaja samo ena tema.

The flowers are named after him,

Po njem so poimenovane rože,

the mountains are carved with his slogans.

v gorah so izklesani njegovi slogani.

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

Vsak državljan ves čas nosi njegovo značko.

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

Celo koledar se začne z njegovim rojstvom.

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

Šola je bila močno varovan zapor, ki je izgledal kot kampus.

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

Učitelji so na skupinske izlete lahko hodili le v uradnem spremstvu.

Even then, our trips were limited to sanctioned national monuments

In celo takrat smo bili omejeni na obiske državnih spomenikov

celebrating the Great Leader.

v čast velikemu vodji.

The students were not allowed to leave the campus,

Študentje kampusa niso smeli zapuščati

or communicate with their parents.

niti niso smeli komunicirati s starši.

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

Njihovi dnevi so bili skrbno načrtovani in ves prosti čas

was devoted to honoring their Great Leader.

je bil namenjen čaščenju velikega vodje.

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

Učni načrt je moralo odobriti severnokorejsko osebje,

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

predavanja so se snemala, sobe so ozvočili

and every conversation, overheard.

in poslušali vsak pogovor.

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

Vsak prazen prostor je bil prekrit s portreti Kim Il Sunga ali Kim Jong Ila,

like everywhere else in North Korea.

tako kot povsod drugje v Severni Koreji.

We were never allowed to discuss the outside world.

Ni nam bilo dovoljeno govoriti o zunanjem svetu.

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

Kot študentje znanosti in tehnologije

so mnogi za glavni predmet imeli računalništvo,

but they did not know the existence of the Internet.

a niso vedeli za obstoj interneta.

They had never heard of Mark Zuckerberg or Steve Jobs.

Niso vedeli, kdo je Mark Zuckerberg ali Steve Jobs.

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

Facebook, Twitter - nič od tega zanje ni imelo pomena.

And I could not tell them.

In jaz jim nisem mogla povedati.

I went there looking for truth.

Tja sem šla z namenom, da bi poiskala resnico.

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

A kje začneš, ko je ideologija celotnega naroda,

my students' day-to-day realities,

dnevna resničnost mojih študentov,

and even my own position at the universities,

celo moj položaj na univerzi,

were all built on lies?

vse zgrajeno na lažeh?

I started with a game.

Začela sem z igro.

We played "Truth and Lie."

Igrali smo se "Resnica ali laž".

A volunteer would write a sentence on the chalkboard,

Prostovoljec je na tablo napisal stavek,

and the other students had to guess

ostali študentje pa so ugibali,

whether it was a truth or a lie.

ali je bil resničen ali ne.

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

Nekoč je nekdo napisal: "Lani sem med počitnicami obiskal Kitajsko."

and everyone shouted, "Lie!"

In vsi so zakričali: "Laž!"

They all knew this wasn't possible.

Vsi so namreč vedeli, da to ni bilo mogoče.

Virtually no North Korean is allowed to leave the country.

Skoraj nobenemu Severnokorejcu ni dovoljeno zapustiti države.

Even traveling within their own country requires a travel pass.

Že potovanje po državi zahteva prepustnico.

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

Upala sem, da bo igra razkrila kakšno resnico o mojih študentih,

because they lie so often and so easily,

ker lažejo zelo pogosto in enostavno,

whether about the mythical accomplishments of their Great Leader,

naj gre za dosežke njihovega velikega vodje

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

ali za čudne trditve, da so v 5. razredu klonirali zajca.

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

Razlika med resnico in lažmi jim ni bila vedno jasna.

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

In vzelo mi je kar nekaj časa, da sem razumela različne tipe laži;

they lie to shield their system from the world,

lagali so, da bi zaščitili svoj sistem pred svetom,

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

ali pa so jih teh laži naučili in so jih oni samo ponavljali.

Or, at moments, they lied out of habit.

Vsake toliko pa so lagali preprosto iz navade.

But if all they have ever known were lies,

A če je vse, kar so poznali, laž,

how could we expect them to be otherwise?

kako lahko od njih pričakujemo, da bodo drugačni?

Next, I tried to teach them essay writing.

Zatem sem jih poskušala naučiti pisanja esejev.

But that turned out to be nearly impossible.

Izkazalo se je, da je to praktično nemogoče.

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

Bistvo esejev je, da si izmisliš svojo tezo

and making an evidence-based argument to prove it.

in jo na podlagi dokazov tudi argumentiraš.

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

Tem študentom pa so enostavno povedali, kaj morajo misliti,

and they obeyed.

in ubogali so.

In their world, critical thinking was not allowed.

V njihovem svetu kritično razmišljanje ni bilo dovoljeno.

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

Prav tako sem jim dala tedensko zadolžitev, da so napisali pismo,

to anybody.

komurkoli.

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

Minilo je kar nekaj časa, preden jih je nekaj začelo pisati

to their mothers, their friends, their girlfriends.

svojim mamam, prijateljem, puncam.

Although those were just homework,

Čeprav je bila to samo domača naloga,

and would never reach their intended recipients,

ki nikoli ne bi dosegla končnega prejemnika,

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

so moji študentje počasi začeli razkrivati svoja prava čustva.

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

Zapisali so, da so siti tega, da je vse vedno enako.

They were worried about their future.

Skrbelo jih je za svojo prihodnost.

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

V pismih so redko omenjali velikega vodjo.

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

Preživljala sem ves svoj čas s temi mladimi fanti.

We all ate meals together, played basketball together.

Skupaj smo jedli, igrali košarko.

I often called them gentlemen, which made them giggle.

Pogosto sem jih klicala gospodje, kar jih je nasmejalo.

They blushed at the mention of girls.

Zardeli so ob omembi deklet.

And I came to adore them.

Začela sem jih oboževati

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

in opazovati, kako so se počasi odpirali,

was deeply moving.

je bilo zelo ganljivo.

But something also felt wrong.

A hkrati je bilo čutiti težave.

During those months of living in their world,

V času, ko sem bivala v njihovem svetu,

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

sem se pogosto spraševala, ali bi resnica izboljšala njihova življenja.

I wanted so much to tell them the truth,

Tako zelo močno sem jim želela povedati resnico

of their country and of the outside world,

o njihovi državi in zunanjem svetu,

where Arab youth were turning their rotten regime inside out,

kjer arabska mladina spreminja svoj režim

using the power of social media,

z uporabo družabnih medijev,

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

kjer so vsi, razen njih, povezani preko spleta,

which wasn't worldwide after all.

ki pa le ni tako zelo svetovni.

But for them, the truth was dangerous.

A za njih je bila resnica nevarna.

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

Če bi jih spodbujala, da jo odkrijejo, bi jih izpostavila -

of persecution,

preganjanju,

of heartbreak.

zlomu srca.

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

Ko ti ni dovoljeno, da bi karkoli javno izpostavil,

you become good at reading what is unspoken.

postaneš dober v prebiranju neizgovorjenega.

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

V enem od osebnih pisem meni je študent napisal, da razume,

why I always called them gentlemen.

zakaj jih vedno kličem gospodje.

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

Bilo naj bi zato, ker jim želim, da bi bili nežni v življenju.

On my last day in December of 2011,

Na moj zadnji dan, decembra 2011,

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

na dan, ko je bila objavljena smrt Kim Jonga Ila,

their world shattered.

se je njihov svet sesul.

I had to leave without a proper goodbye.

Morala sem oditi brez pravega slovesa.

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

A mislim, da so vedeli, kako žalostna sem bila zanje.

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

Nekoč mi je študent, proti koncu mojega bivanja tam, rekel:

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

"Profesorica, o vas nikoli ne mislimo, da ste drugačni od nas.

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

Naše okoliščine so drugačne, a ste isti kot mi.

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

Želimo, da veste, da vas imamo resnično za nam enako."

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

Če bi jim danes lahko odgovorila v svojem pismu,

which is of course impossible,

kar je seveda nemogoče,

I would tell them this:

bi jim povedala sledeče:

"My dear gentlemen,

"Moji dragi gospodje,

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

minila so že več kot tri leta, kar sem vas nazadnje videla.

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

Stari morate biti 22 - morda celo 23 let.

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

Na našem zadnjem predavanju sem vas vprašala, če si česa želite.

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

Edina želja, ki ste jo izrazili, vse, kar ste me prosili

in all those months we spent together,

v vseh mesecih, ki smo jih preživeli skupaj, je,

was for me to speak to you in Korean.

da bi z vami govorila v korejščini.

Just once.

Vsaj enkrat.

I was there to teach you English;

Bila sem tam, da bi vas naučila angleško;

you knew it wasn't allowed.

vedeli ste, da tega ne smem storiti.

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

A sem razumela, da želite deliti vez našega maternega jezika.

I called you my gentlemen,

Klicala sem vas moji gospodje,

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

a ne vem, če je nežnost v Kim Jong Unovi neusmiljeni Severni Koreji dobra stvar.

is a good thing.

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

Nočem, da začnete revolucijo -

let some other young person do it.

dopustite, da jo začne nekdo drug.

The rest of the world might casually encourage or even expect

Preostali svet bi mimogrede morda spodbudil ali celo pričakoval

some sort of North Korean Spring,

neke vrste severnokorejsko pomlad,

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

a nočem, da naredite karkoli tveganega,

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

ker vem, da vas v vašem svetu vedno nekdo opazuje.

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

Nočem si niti predstavljati, kaj bi se vam lahko zgodilo.

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

Če so moji poskusi, da vas dosežem, navdihnili nekaj novega v vas,

I would rather you forget me.

bi raje videla, da me pozabite.

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

Postanite vojaki velikega vodje in živite dolga in varna življenja.

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

Nekoč ste me vprašali, če mislim, da je vaš Pjongjang lep,

and I could not answer truthfully then.

in takrat vam resnično nisem mogla iskreno odgovoriti.

But I know why you asked.

A vem, zakaj ste me vprašali.

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

Vem, da vam je bilo pomembno slišati, da jaz, kot učiteljica,

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

kot nekdo, ki je videl svet, ki je vam prepovedan,

declare your city as the most beautiful.

razglasi vaše mesto za najlepše.

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

Vem, da bi vam ta stavek malce olajšal življenje,

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

a ne, žal se mi vaše glavno mesto ne zdi lepo.

Not because it's monotone and concrete,

Ne zato, ker je monotono in iz betona,

but because of what it symbolizes:

ampak zaradi tega, kar simbolizira:

a monster that feeds off the rest of the country,

pošast, ki se hrani na preostalem delu države,

where citizens are soldiers and slaves.

kjer so državljani vojaki in sužnji.

All I see there is darkness.

Vse, kar vidim, je tema.

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

A to je vaš dom, zato ga ne morem sovražiti.

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

In namesto tega upam, da ga boste vi, moji ljubi mladi gospodje,

will one day help make it beautiful.

nekega dne naredili lepega."

Thank you.

Hvala lepa.

(Applause)

(aplavz)