Korea
The Marine I Never Knew
He’s one of the main reasons I’m in Korea, but he died when I was two, and our family rarely talked about him. He’s always been, in the words of Winston Churchill, “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” After spending over three years researching the man who’s made such an impact on…
Read MoreTeamwork, Freedom, and Choco Pies
Remember the footage a few months ago of a North Korean soldier dashing across the border into South Korea, his fellow countrymen frantically chasing, yelling, and firing their guns at him? The video was seen by millions around the world. In the hours immediately following the dramatic escape, the 24-year-old, riddled with bullets and bleeding…
Read MoreSending Them to Die
At the age of 16, Lee Tae-won, convicted of helping a young woman escape from North Korea and deemed an enemy of the state, was sentenced to five years in a “re-education” camp, or gulag. His father, an accomplice to his son’s treasonous behavior, was given the same sentence. As traitors of the Supreme Leader,…
Read MoreHonoring the Past
They’re a loyal, fun-loving bunch. The former North Korean refugees, men now in their seventies and eighties, get together four times a year to have dinner, reminisce, sing, and give thanks for the opportunity to live in a free, democratic country. It all started five years ago when, on a whim, a few members of…
Read MorePlanes, Presidents, and Presentations – A Look Back at 2017
Nearly eight months ago, on May 11, 2017, I posted my first blog. I had written an article the day before for the Korea Times, Moon Jae-in: From Geoje to Cheong Wa Dae, with my reflections on the newly elected president of South Korea, and the blog reiterated some of the points I’d mentioned in…
Read MoreThe Kimchi Babies
At some point during the early stages of SS Meredith Victory’s December 22-25, 1950, voyage from Hungnam, North Korea, to Geoje Island, South Korea, a baby was born. The ship’s crew was astounded. The men had never dreamed that a baby would be delivered on a Victory ship, certainly not theirs. But with 14,000 refugees…
Read MoreHungnam Evacuation – A Christmas Miracle
In December 1950, dramatic events unfolding in the rugged mountains of North Korea captivated the world’s attention. The Battle of Chosin, one of the fiercest engagements in U.S. history, was taking place in sub-zero temperatures and knee-deep snow. After days of horrific fighting, U.N. troops, surrounded by overwhelming Chinese forces and suffering heavy casualties, began an…
Read MoreA Trip to the JSA
It’s one of the saddest and most intimidating and dangerous places on earth. The Joint Security Area (JSA), or “Truce Village” as it’s frequently referred to, is a complex of small buildings that literally sits on the border of North and South Korea. Five of the buildings, collectively called “Conference Row,” actually straddle the line…
Read MoreTwenty and Counting
North Korea has launched 20 (yes, twenty) missiles this year. And we still have a month to go. Tensions on the Korean peninsula are at an all-time high, and as we look back on the Trump administration’s response to Kim Jong-un’s reckless and relentless pursuit of a nuclear-armed ICBM arsenal capable of hitting the US,…
Read MorePhysically and Emotionally Frozen
Sixty-seven years ago, on November 27, 1950, one of the most monumental battles in US history began in the desolate, unforgiving mountains of North Korea. What occurred over the next two weeks was nothing short of a terrifying, grisly, and frozen nightmare. Chosin, as the savage fight between US and Chinese forces is now called,…
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