Frustrated at seeing North Korea ridiculed by Western media, author Suki Kim challenged herself to write a book portraying the hermit kingdom in a more realistic light.

"It was always going to be difficult because what is accessible in North Korea is made up. Propaganda. A lie," she said.

Korean-American writer Suki Kim hid the notes for her book on North Korea. Credit:Ed Kashi

The Korean-American writer persevered, spending six months in the country posing as an English teacher at the Western-funded Pyongyang University of Technology where she taught 270 sons of North Korea's elite.

Kim, who is in Sydney this week to speak at the Festival of Dangerous Ideas, knew her mission was risky but was already committed to writing her non-fiction account of North Korea, Without You, There Is No Us.