tl;dr: No Kum-sok defected from North Korea to South Korea by flying a MIG-15 from Pyongyang to Seoul.
No Kum-sok's story is fascinating, dramatic, and entertaining. It is a Hollywood-ready movie, especially in the back drop of current US relationships with North Korea, China, and Russia. It is a well documented story, and yet, I suspect few people know it.
Operation Moolah
In November of 1950, a few months after the beginning of the Korean War, a Soviet MIG-15 appeared in the airspace of the Korean peninsula. It caught the United States by surprise. Previously, it was known that the Soviet Union was supporting North Korea, but the extent was not clear. The MIG-15 engaged a USAF F-86 Sabre in a dogfight. The MIG-15 outperformed the F-86 in multiple dimensions -- the MIG -15 had higher initial acceleration than the F-86, could outdistance it in a dive and was more maneuverable about 10,000 meters. It was also armed with a canon capable of shooting down USAF bombers.
The United States now knew that the Soviets, in addition to China, were supporting North Korea with weaponry such as the MIG-15 but also with personnel (e.g. pilots) to operate the sophisticated machinery. Further, much to the chagrin of the United States, the MIG-15 was superior to US aircraft. Not only was this a blow to the American psyche, it was embarrassment to the US military. The United States and Soviet Union were locked in the beginning of the Cold War. In the battle of the hearts and minds between the US and the USSR, Capitalism and Communism, Good and Evil, "we" were losing. Further, the Soviet air superiority was a real threat to the United States in military engagements.
Years would pass, and no response to the MIG-15's superiority was developed and no valuable evidence to support the claims that the Soviets were deeply involved in the war was availed.
In 1953, the United States hatched a plan, Operation Moolah. $100,000 and political asylum were offered to anyone (presumably a pilot) for the delivery of a MIG-15. The goal was get intelligence on the capabilities of the MIG-15 to understand what the United States was up against and perhaps bolster its own aircraft capabilities. Second, enticing a defection from North Korea or the Soviet Union would be a political windfall. Literally, it would be a flight from the evil of Communism to the free world of the United States. It would create uncertainty about the loyalty of North Korean and Soviet pilots and force greater scrutiny and distrust by leaders over the rank-and-file. And, finally, it would demonstrate that the Soviet Union was indeed actively supporting the North Koreans.
The plan was approved in March of 1953. On April 26, 1953 (the day armistice negotiations between the Communist forces and the United Nations began), the offer of Operation Moolah was made. Two B-29 Superfortress bombers dropped 1.2 million leaflets over Communist military bases on the North Korean-Chinese border (on the Yalu River). The leaflets. written in Chinese, Korean, and Russian announced the offer of $100,000 and asylum.
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| Operation Moolah Flyer |
A day later, shortwave radio transmissions in Korean, Russian, Mandarin, and Cantonese from 14 radio stations in Japan and South Korea were broadcasted into North Korea and China offering:
". . . To all brave pilots who wish to free themselves from the Communist yoke and start a new, better life with proper honor . . . you are guaranteed refuge, protection, humane care and attention. If pilots so desire, their names will be kept secret forever . . ."After the announcement, MIG-15 sightings were greatly curtailed. American propaganda attribute the decrease of MIG-15 activity to the success of Operation Moolah. Indeed, the Soviets and North Koreans increased surveillance and suspicion of its pilots for fear of lost loyalty and defection resulting from the enticement of Operation Moolah. Further, such a defection would only bolster the Americans in their propaganda war.
The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, effectively ending the war in Korea (of course, the War has still not officially ended -- supposedly a goal of Trump in the upcoming Summit with Kim). Operation Moolah had not delivered a single MIG-15.
Defection
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| No Kum-sok |
The armistice secured a fragile peace in the region. Stalin was dead. Kim Il-sung, Kim Jung-un's grandfather, was the great leader of North Korea. Kim warned his people that the United States could not be trusted and that the US could attack at anytime. President Eisenhower was desperate to hold the peace, as the war's bloodshed made the war deeply unpopular stateside. A break in peace would be politically disastrous.
Then, on September 21, No Kum-sok, a North Korean fighter pilot, climbed into a MIG-15 on an airfield near Pyongyang, and took off. He raced across the DMZ straight to Kimpo, an American airfield near Seoul. Without fanfare, he landed the MIG-15 on the Kimpo departure runway. No escorts intercepted the MIG-15, and radar did not pick up No, as it was turned off for maintenance. No had caught the Americans completely by surprised.
No was taken in for questioning and the MIG-15 was sequestered for examination. The MIG-15 was disassembled, inventoried, and re-assembled. Test flights were made to assess the capabilities of the MIG-15. Chuck Yeager was on of the American pilots to fly the MIG-15 to understand its capabilities.
No was indeed granted asylum and awarded the $100,000. However, No claims he was completely unaware of the reward for the MIG-15. He secretly hated Communism, North Korea, and Kim. His defection was an act of personal defiance and disloyalty -- the reward was not his motivation.
Eventually, No immigrated to the United States. He became a US citizen and changed his name to "Kenneth H. Rowe." He earned engineering degrees from the University of Delaware and married an emigre from Kaesong, North Korea. He went on to work in the US military industrial complex, taking jobs at Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics, and others.
A Child Is Born
I was born on July 18, 1963 in Seattle, WA. Unlike baby deliveries of today, fathers were not so involved. So, my dad was not in the delivery room when I entered the world, and he would see my mom and me for the first time after she she was all ready moved to a room where she would spend the night.
My father entered the hospital and hurried down the hallway to find my mother's room after talking to the receptionist. Much to his surprise, my mother's room was guarded by serious looking men in dark suits. "G-Men," my father concluded. FBI? But why?
My father had recently had his own run ins with the FBI. First, as he was working on top secret military projects at Boeing to fight the Cold War, he was under appropriate scrutiny. Further, his father's past as a Japanese Nationalist had recently entangled him with the Feds. He immediately had heightened concerns.
In talking with the FBI, my father was informed my mother was sharing a room with Bonnie Clara Rowe -- No Kum-sok's wife, who also had delivered a baby boy. Extra care has been taken to protect No's wife and newly born son. Rowe's (nee No) past raised significant concern for his wife's and son's safety. The Bay of Pigs invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis just months prior, and the Cold War in general heightened fears and caution of potential unknown mischief, from the North Korea, the United States, Russia, or loyalists to any of these countries.
My dad was, not surprising, mostly concerned about the safety of my mother and me. Would there be any possible attacks against No's family? In particular, if there were any actions attempted against No's wife of child -- assassination or kidnapping for example -- what was the likelihood of a mistake through misidentification? If perpetrators only knew that their targets were "an Asian mother and her baby," would they be surprised when encountering two Asian mothers and their babies? Did we all look alike? Maybe they would mistakenly act against my mother and me or all four of us in the confusion.
Fortunately, my mom's stay (and mine) were uneventful. While the FBI remained the entire time, there were no incidences of note. My mom and Bonnie became friends during their short stay. Maybe disappointingly, Kenneth (No) never showed up during this time. I think my dad would have enjoyed that meeting, given the circumstances plus the coincidental similarities in the work that they did.
Switched at Birth? (And 23 and NOT Me)
Tonight, as our President prepares to meet with Kim Jong-un, I think about the craziness of our situation with North Korea. That Kim has been able to successfully legitimize his role on the world stage by getting Trump to a summit is amazing in its own right. The assassination of Kim Jong-nam, Kim Jong-un's brother, presumably through a fake prank as part of a reality tv show is hard to believe. North Korea's attack on Sony because of the movie "The Interview" (a parody of Kim and North Korea) would have been comical if it was not real and serious. And, then again, Kim Jong-il kidnapped a South Korean movie star (Choi Eun-hee) and her director husband (Shin Sang-ok), forcing them to make movies for North Korea. If they were only instructed to make propaganda films, that might seem reasonable. But, they were also forced to make feature length films with artistic-aspirations and hopes for international acclaim. Maybe it all makes sense in the backdrop of a United States President who had a television reality program of his own, is obsessed with his image on the world stage, and knows how to manipulate the masses with media.
And what of my story? Was there ever (an attempt of) crazy mischief during my brief encounter with No Kum-sok's family? I sometimes wondered: What's the possibility of a crazy plot back then? Probably slim, but I look at pictures of my brother and my family. My brother indeed looks like my cousins and uncles on my mom's side of the family. Slim with a distinctive hairline.
Hope the summit goes well for all parties involved!
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