North Korea was a colony of the Japanese Empire in the early years of the 20th century. The differences in their beliefs and the fact that their sister nation was under another leadership led to the conflicts that have been added to the list of Korean wars in documented history. This story is focused on a young, brave boy named No Kum Suk who fled the injustices of North Korea to become a citizen of the United States of America. While some may tell this tale in a bid to highlight his endeavor as treason and his actions as those of a traitor, we leave it to you to judge his actions accordingly based on your morals and values.
No Kum Suk was a North Korean citizen born in 1932 in Sing Hung County. His father was well-to-do, as he was a senior manager at a construction company located in their city. This meant No Kum-Suk was partially absolved of the lack of wealth and poverty that was rampant in North Korea at the time, as he was better than most of his peers due to his father’s financial capacity.
![North Korean Pilot Defector No Kum Suk](https://historycaptain.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/North-Korean-Pilot-Defector-No-Kim-Suk.jpg)
Being under the rule of imperial Japan, as a young boy, Kum-Suk was fascinated by the military prowess and activities of the Japanese army. He idolized the emperor of Japan, and like a committed knight of ancient cities, he was ready to go to battle for him. At the age of 12, he asked his dad for permission to join the Japanese army, as he wanted to become a Kamikaze pilot. His father was not supportive of his wishes, which is believed to stem from his staunch hatred for the Japanese occupation of North Korea.
Kum-Suk’s journey to the military was not extinguished, however, as the end of the Second World War brought an end to the Japanese occupation and a rise in the presence of the Soviet military in North Korea. The Soviets treated the city as they did every other colony that belonged to the Japanese during that war, and the destruction and damages they brought forced many North Koreans into the southern part of Korea, which was under the control of the USA. In South Korea, Kum-Suk encountered magazines and fascinating books that endeared the American people and culture to him. Some authors believe that one of the striking insights from the picture books was one where a man, his wife, and his dog were taking a road trip in a motorcar.
No Kum Suk, who has always been militarily fascinated, picked out the unique qualities of the American army and noted how they treated citizens with respect and affection, a sharp contrast to that observed with the Japanese army. He and his family returned to their home country after order was restored, and the bad representation of the United States by his teachers during history lectures made him question whether his teachers were truthful in all they taught. He decided to escape to the United States while still a young boy, but he never knew how he would do it.
He was conscripted into the navy in 1949, at the age of 17, to fight alongside many successful cadets in the Korean War. For his training, he was to pass basic courses while showing satisfactory progress to the history professor on the ideologies of communalism. Kum-Suk, who was not a believer in this ideology and economic system, however, was the best cavalcade in the course, and this impressed the professor. On the recommendation of the professor, Kum-Suk was selected for pilot training exercises in China. He completed his training in 1951, and he became a certified elite jet pilot with over 100 completed air missions. All these years as a pilot of the MiG-15 craft allocated to him by the government of North Korea, Kum-Suk could not use his flight to finally escape into the United States or any of their bases across Asia. He was always monitored and supervised by superiors or fellow cadets, and he failed to acquire the details of the landing details of the airstrip used to accommodate planes at the US base in South Korea.
In the year 1953, he was promoted to senior lieutenant and was given a special mission to Sunan. However, this was all Kum Suk needed, as he used information memorized a year ago to fly his plane away from the mission indications into South Korea almost unnoticed.
His chaotic landing at the US military base came from a series of lucky events that saw the switch off of the airspace scanners for maintenance that morning and the poor observational skills of the American pilots, who could not identify the enemy’s MiG-15 craft.
His landing was as confusing as it could be. Kum-Suk, who could hardly speak English, had to persuade the battalion not to shoot him by appearing friendly and offering to shake hands while screaming for a motorcar. His eventual wishes were granted; he was offered a bottle of Coca-Cola for the first time and taken by car to meet the commanding officer.
No Kum Suk also received $100,000 in cash for being the first Korean to bring an undamaged mig-15 craft to the United States and for their observation and analysis in improving the United States military. He changed his name to Kenneth Rowe and started a family in the United States, while his extended family was murdered and executed by the North Korean government for his defection. He sadly passed away on December 26, 2023, and will always be remembered for his heroic national change.