An Unexpected Journey
The story of my Grandfather's Life and Travels
By: Jason Chon
College Now Course - BSS 1
Some people complain of having too many family members; others, that they do not have
enough. In my case, I have family literally all over the world, but I do not know
very much about them. That is why when we do get together, I take the time to learn
as much of the rich history behind my families relatively short but widespread diaspora
around the globe.
Many years ago, I had heard bits and pieces of my grandfather's (Maternal side) past
and immigration to this country, but never had the motivation to dig much deeper then
what I already knew. This project inspired me to ask more questions behind why my
grandfather left his home and family to travel to a country thousands of miles away
that he had no connections to and very little information about. Over the Thanksgiving
break, I had the opportunity to sit with him and hear his story; one of determination,
daring, and long sought after happiness, a tale that began nearly eighty years ago
in a small rural community in North Korea.
Born to a privileged family, my grandfather was the eldest son in a family of respected
government officials in North Korea. This meant that he was raised with special advantages;
he was educated, well cared for, and pampered, while the rest of the population starved,
died and were left largely to fend for themselves by the corrupt and evil government.
Of course, his upbringing meant he was exposed daily to the propaganda prevalent in
the times, and while can now look back and scoff at the sociological ideas that he
was brought up to know as correct, it was the only form of government and life that
was known to him. Still, whenever he was off of his families estate, wandering around
the country side seeing first-hand the destruction and death wrought by corrupt politics
and failed government systems, he could not help feel a sense of inherent wrongness.
There he was, living, if not in luxury, then comfortably, while his countrymen starved
and were killed indiscriminately by the people who were supposed to serve and protect
them. The hypocrisy angered him, and he was left deeply troubled with concerns for
his future in such a bleak and oppressive world.
At around sixteen years of age, he began to actively seek ways of escaping the country
to South Korea, where he had heard rumors that others had managed to flee to in order
to escape the tyranny of life in North Korea. He was, however, left at a loss at how
to do so. Not only that, but if he did leave, what was he to do about his family?
If the government ever discovered that he had fled, his family would be held accountable
and sent to prison camps, or worse. Eventually, however, he quietly slipped away without
informing anyone, in order to leave no one he knew and loved accountable for his actions.
He did not intend to leave them forever, but merely make an excursion to the outside
world, and see what "the other side" had to offer. That fateful night, he snuck out
of his families manor and ran into the woods, not looking back. That would be the
last time he would see his brothers and sisters, mother and father, ever again.
There were of course, guides; daredevil underground railroad type people-runners,
who, for the right price, would help sneak you across the border. However, many of
these people were not running these services for altruistic purposes. Indeed, many
left their charges to die and fled at the first sign of trouble. Wary of such con
artists and backstabbers, my grandfather set off alone across the wilderness, crawling
through minefields, sprinting across battlefields and harsh terrain, until finally
he crossed over onto South Korean soil. What he saw didn't impress him very much at
all. South Korea had long suffered under Japanese colonial rule, leaving it little
better off than the dirt-poor North. This was not helped by the fact that the area
he had stumbled into was a poor province of subsistence farmers.
Already home sick, my grandfather decided that he should simply return home, when
the Korean War came to a climax, and the current border between the North and South
Koreas was established. This border, heavily guarded and well patrolled, was an impassable
barrier to a teenager with nothing to his name but the clothes on his back, leaving
my grandfather stranded, alone in a strange society with no friends and no family
to help him.
Fortunately, my grandfather would eventually come across a US army base, where he
quickly struck up a friendship with an elderly captain. This captain, on his last
tour before he retired, was a kindly old man with a heart of gold. He taught my grandfather
english, and some basic skills needed to survive in a free market world. In the year
that followed, they became as close as father and son, and eventually, in the few
weeks before his tour ended and he was free to return to the States, the captain announced
his intentions to legally adopt my grandfather. He had never had children, and he
and his wife were far too old to begin considering to do so now. It came as only natural
to him to take this orphaned youth back with him to the land of opportunity and new
beginnings. However, my grandfather, still clinging to the hope of one day reuniting
with his family, declined, and the two parted as merely good friends, the captain
reminding my grandfather that he would always have a home back in America, in case
he changed his mind.
In the years that passed, my grandfather made a living as a mechanic, fixing cars
in a rapidly industrializing economy. He witnessed first hand the boom that would
come over time, South Korea becoming the highly developed, trillion dollar economic
superpower that it is today. It was also in this period of time that he would meet
and fall in love with my grandmother, and begin planning a family.
Unsatisfied with the relatively slow paced life in Korea, he and my grandmother would
come to America, ready to start a family and join the rising number of success stories
that would often be heard from those that had already made the transition. Arriving
in Seattle, Washington (I'm not quite sure of the year-though my grandfather was in
his mid twenties at the time), my grandfather fully embraced capitalism, casting aside
years of indoctrination to become the owner of a string of restaurants, clothing stores
and retail outlets in several states. Decades passed, my mother and her two brothers,
my uncles, being born in the meanwhile, and life became peaceful for him, though rough
patches came in abundance, from catastrophically bad investments to phony lawsuits
again him. Through it all, he persevered with the only value he kept from the propagandic
teachings of his youth - good, honest hard work.
There were a few loose ends to this story, as there should be, considering that my
grandfather is still going strong in his seventies. He may be retired and old, but
he has no intentions of giving up his full life any time soon.
My grandfather still has no idea what became of his family, as North Korea today remains
tight lipped about the many deaths within the ruling class after the war. He fears
the worst but hopes the best for his siblings, and wishes that he had had the chance
to say a proper goodbye to his parents before he left home. The kindly old captain
that had so helped my grandfather in his youth passed away along with his wife peacefully
in their sleep a few years before my grandfather managed to find out what happened
to them. Now retired, my grandfather lives in Pennsylvania where he can be close to
watch his grandchildren, my two young cousins, grow up. My grandfather calls this,
his life story to me, the product of his unexpectedly long foray into the world. Now
that I am recording his progress in life. I call it his Unexpected Journey
