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| I was an 'undercover' teacher at North Korea's elite school – any questions? | I was an 'undercover' teacher at North Korea's elite school – any questions? |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| 12.38pm BST12:38 | |
| Did any of the students or teachers make any attempt to keep in touch after you left? | |
| Were you there for Kim Jung-Il death, and how did that affect the students? | |
| I have had no contact with the students. Some teachers (who have since left Pust) wrote me afterward thanking me revealing the truth about the place. Some other teachers wrote me threatening me, trying to stop the publication. | |
| Yes, I was there when Kim Jong-il died. They were utterly heartbroken as though they had just lost their parent. | |
| 12.33pm BST12:33 | |
| Were your teaching methods or materials monitored? | |
| What Western subjects were the main interests of the older pupils? | |
| Was there any form of aping or ridiculing their leader? | |
| Yes, we had to get all the materials approved by the North Korean staff. We were assigned to teach in teams of two in order to check that our methods aligned. | |
| 12.25pm BST12:25 | |
| The vast majority of North Koreans are reportedly unable to access the internet. Were you able to do so through your smartphone, or were you also banned from the internet whilst you were in NK? | |
| Only the teachers were allowed the internet, which was a monitored connection. The students did not know about its existence. | |
| 12.23pm BST12:23 | |
| What motivated the students the most? Fear of failure or their devotion to the DPRK and the leadership? | |
| I think it was fear that ruled their lives. Yes, there was the fear of failure – they are human beings no different from any of us – but their system operated on fear, enslaving the citizens using fear. | |
| 12.20pm BST12:20 | |
| Generally students in the DPRK are educated to a higher standard than in Britain. This despite constant imperialist agitation from outside forces. The socialist policies of DPRK and the Juche ideology have succeeded in advancing the DPRK despite the intense adversity the people face from western imperialists and their lackeys. | |
| Many of them seemed clueless, and even if they had some doubts, they could not express it for the fear of punishment. I was not allowed to talk about the outside world. | |
| 12.18pm BST12:18 | |
| Why did North Korea let somebody in purporting to be a Christian missionary? I was under the impression that the regime is quite hostile towards Christianity. | |
| There is no freedom of religion in North Korea. Proselytizing is not allowed. The group I went to North Korea with (Pust) was a group of evangelical Christians who were cooperating with the North Korean regime by funding the school – it cost over $35 million to build, and Pust have promised not to proselytize. | |
| The evangelical Christians have their own long-term missionary reasons for their project (all of which is done under the permission of the North Korean regime). These are different to the grass-root missionaries who go into North Korea under tourist visa pass out bibles and get in trouble. | |
| I went posing as one of them to find out the truth of how the country functions and how they think and live. | |
| Related: North Korea releases one of three Americans held captive, US confirms | |
| 12.09pm BST12:09 | |
| @guardian With all your preconceptions about North Korea, what was surprising to you? | |
| I had been visiting North Korea since 2002. I had done research on the topic for a decade, interviewed many defectors and travelled to all the surrounding regions. I was under the impression that the elites had it better. My experience there taught me otherwise. They might have a bit more food, a bit more electricity, but there was no freedom in their lives either. | |
| 12.08pm BST12:08 | |
| I teach in a South Korean high school, and I find that the students and teachers have a very easy, friendly, and joking-around type of relationship with each other. But I imagine this is very different in North Korea. How was the relationship between teachers and students in the school that you taught in? | |
| They were lovely, and I adored them. Trust however, is not an easy thing to build since everyone watches everyone else, and everything is reported on | |
| 12.04pm BST12:04 | |
| Hi everyone, just to let you know that Suki is online and ready to start. There have been loads of great questions so let’s press on so we can get to as many as we can in the next hour. | |
| First up: | |
| What kind of career opportunities exist in the country for these students following the end of their studies? Is there any significant job market for young professionals in a country with such poor economic stability? | |
| Thanks! | |
| It is not a culture of job markets. The country does not produce much of anything. Also they do not choose their own careers. Their government assigns them, based on the grades, their family background and the reports made by their peers and teachers. | |
| Updated at 12.05pm BST | |
| 5.00am BST05:00 | 5.00am BST05:00 |
| I was an 'undercover' teacher at North Korea's elite school– any questions for me? | I was an 'undercover' teacher at North Korea's elite school– any questions for me? |
| Suki Kim spent six months pretending to be evangelical Christian missionary in North Korea. | Suki Kim spent six months pretending to be evangelical Christian missionary in North Korea. |
| Driven by research the Korean-American writer travelled to the country in 2011 to teach at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (Pust). | Driven by research the Korean-American writer travelled to the country in 2011 to teach at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (Pust). |
| Pust is a school for the children of North Korea’s elites, who Suki describes as being a unique mix of students curious about the outside world but fiercely devoted to the DPRK and its leadership. | Pust is a school for the children of North Korea’s elites, who Suki describes as being a unique mix of students curious about the outside world but fiercely devoted to the DPRK and its leadership. |
| They had heard of Bill Gates but were clueless about Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook, she had said in a previous interviews. | They had heard of Bill Gates but were clueless about Mark Zuckerberg or Facebook, she had said in a previous interviews. |
| Undercover in North Korea Kim said she “came to think of herself as an embedded journalist” to avoid the level of scrutiny she would face under a media visa. | Undercover in North Korea Kim said she “came to think of herself as an embedded journalist” to avoid the level of scrutiny she would face under a media visa. |
| Journalists are permitted to travel to North Korea but find their movements strictly monitored by government minders. | Journalists are permitted to travel to North Korea but find their movements strictly monitored by government minders. |
| Last year makers of the BBC programme panorama were forced to apologise for a breach of editorial guidelines after a production team gained access to the country by travelling with a group of London students – although the BBC trust ruled that there was “strong public interest” in the BBC broadcasting the documentary. | Last year makers of the BBC programme panorama were forced to apologise for a breach of editorial guidelines after a production team gained access to the country by travelling with a group of London students – although the BBC trust ruled that there was “strong public interest” in the BBC broadcasting the documentary. |
| Vice had to tag along with NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman to enter the country, and have since been banned after making critical videos of the regime. | Vice had to tag along with NBA basketball star Dennis Rodman to enter the country, and have since been banned after making critical videos of the regime. |
| Kim has since written a book about her experiences which she says has angered the North Korean authorities. | Kim has since written a book about her experiences which she says has angered the North Korean authorities. |
| Any questions? | Any questions? |
| Suki will join us for a live Q&A on Thursday 2 April between 12pm – 1pm BST to talk about her experiences. Post your questions in the comments below and she’ll answer as many as she can. | Suki will join us for a live Q&A on Thursday 2 April between 12pm – 1pm BST to talk about her experiences. Post your questions in the comments below and she’ll answer as many as she can. |
| If you have any problems commenting you can email your questions to maeve.shearlaw@theguardian.com, or tweet @GuardianNK | If you have any problems commenting you can email your questions to maeve.shearlaw@theguardian.com, or tweet @GuardianNK |
| Updated at 10.17am BST | Updated at 10.17am BST |