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Mrs. Song Hee-suk
Dr. Kim Ji-eun is a doctor who worked for most of her life at a hospital in Chongjin in the mountainous north of North Korea. Dr. Kim worked for no pay, yet she constantly added extra shifts to her schedule in order to increase her chances of being invited to join the Workers’ Party one day. The daughter of an ethnic Korean from Manchuria, Dr. Kim was astonished when, on his deathbed, her father began speaking out against the North Korean regime for the first time in his life—and then gave her a list of Chinese relatives whom she could call if she ever wanted to leave the country. Dr. Kim grew frustrated with her superiors as the famine brought out the worst in them and forced them to pick and choose which patients would receive increasingly rare treatments and antibiotics. She switched to pediatrics, hoping that caring for children would be easier—but as she watched toddlers and children suffer and die of starvation, she realized that in order to survive, she would have to steel herself against their misery and be completely detached. In early 1999, after years of watching her young patients die, Dr. Kim had an encounter with a school friend who celebrated the deaths of her husband and son because she had “fewer mouths to feed.” Dr. Kim, who’d already learned that the Bowibu was surveilling her more heavily lately for no apparent reason, realized that the regime was irredeemable and that she’d never be allowed to join the Party. She defected in March of that year, calling upon the help of her father’s Chinese relatives to house her as she waited for an opportunity to resettle in South Korea. When she finally arrived in Seoul in 2002, Dr. Kim was disillusioned with life in South Korea: her medical degree was useless there, and she was far behind the times. Eventually, however, she found a new lease on life: she reenrolled in a medical program, made friends, and expressed hope that one day she’d see the reunification of Korea and be able to bring medical help back to her homeland. Thoughtful, earnest, devoted, and true, Dr. Kim, like Mrs. Song, spent her life in service to a regime that never cared for her—her ability to realize what was happening, cut her losses, and make a brave bid for a new life render her one of the book’s most intrepid and adaptable characters.
Dr. Kim Ji-eun Quotes in Nothing to Envy
The Nothing to Envy quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Kim Ji-eun or refer to Dr. Kim Ji-eun. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
As [Dr. Kim] did her rounds, walking through the pediatric ward, the children would follow her with their eyes. Even when her back was turned, she could feel their eyes staring at her white gown, wondering if she could relieve their pain and soon realizing that she could not.
"They would look at me with accusing eyes. Even four-year-olds knew they were dying and that I wasn't doing anything to help them," Dr. Kim told me years later. “All I was capable of doing was to cry with their mothers over their bodies afterward.”
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Chapter 15
Quotes
Dr. Kim was incredulous. Her entire life, her behavior had been impeccable. […] She was always the first to volunteer for extra work and to attend extra ideological sessions. Her father had come from China and still had relatives there, but Dr. Kim had never met or corresponded with them.
It had to be a mistake, she told herself.
Eventually the truth sank in. Comrade-Secretary Chung was stringing her along, exploiting her hard work and talent with absolutely no intention of letting her join the party. Even worse, Dr. Kim began to suspect that she was indeed under surveillance.
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What was a bowl of rice doing there, just sitting out on the ground? She figured it out just before she heard the dog's bark.
Up until that moment, a part of her had hoped that China would be just as poor as North Korea. She still wanted to believe that her country was the best place in the world. The beliefs she had cherished for a lifetime would be vindicated. But now she couldn't deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.
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Chapter 19
Quotes
After graduation, [Dr. Kim] planned to resume her medical career, this time specializing in geriatrics. Her mother had died a miserable death from Alzheimer's. Dr. Kim dreamed of opening a nursing home, perhaps even a chain of nursing homes. She hoped that one day, when the North Korean regime had fallen, she might be able to take South Korean ideas of elder care back to Chongiin. Perhaps it was a pipe dream, but it helped her bridge the divide between her past and present selves and ease the guilt about what she'd left behind.
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Dr. Kim Ji-eun Quotes in Nothing to Envy
The Nothing to Envy quotes below are all either spoken by Dr. Kim Ji-eun or refer to Dr. Kim Ji-eun. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 7
Quotes
As [Dr. Kim] did her rounds, walking through the pediatric ward, the children would follow her with their eyes. Even when her back was turned, she could feel their eyes staring at her white gown, wondering if she could relieve their pain and soon realizing that she could not.
"They would look at me with accusing eyes. Even four-year-olds knew they were dying and that I wasn't doing anything to help them," Dr. Kim told me years later. “All I was capable of doing was to cry with their mothers over their bodies afterward.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15
Quotes
Dr. Kim was incredulous. Her entire life, her behavior had been impeccable. […] She was always the first to volunteer for extra work and to attend extra ideological sessions. Her father had come from China and still had relatives there, but Dr. Kim had never met or corresponded with them.
It had to be a mistake, she told herself.
Eventually the truth sank in. Comrade-Secretary Chung was stringing her along, exploiting her hard work and talent with absolutely no intention of letting her join the party. Even worse, Dr. Kim began to suspect that she was indeed under surveillance.
Related Characters:
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What was a bowl of rice doing there, just sitting out on the ground? She figured it out just before she heard the dog's bark.
Up until that moment, a part of her had hoped that China would be just as poor as North Korea. She still wanted to believe that her country was the best place in the world. The beliefs she had cherished for a lifetime would be vindicated. But now she couldn't deny what was staring her plainly in the face: dogs in China ate better than doctors in North Korea.
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Chapter 19
Quotes
After graduation, [Dr. Kim] planned to resume her medical career, this time specializing in geriatrics. Her mother had died a miserable death from Alzheimer's. Dr. Kim dreamed of opening a nursing home, perhaps even a chain of nursing homes. She hoped that one day, when the North Korean regime had fallen, she might be able to take South Korean ideas of elder care back to Chongiin. Perhaps it was a pipe dream, but it helped her bridge the divide between her past and present selves and ease the guilt about what she'd left behind.
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