Astonishing Experiences of a Family from 1870s to the 1960s,

the Most Tragic Moments in Modern Korean History

Twin brothers believe they were born into an inseparable destiny, only to be betrayed by fate. Kim Hyung-cha is conscripted to serve as a student soldier during the Japanese occupation under conditions of severe cruelty, while his older twin, Kim Hyung-tae, who remained in the North after liberation, goes missing in the turbulence of the Korean War. Kim Hyungcha joins the allied forces and advances to the Yalu River with the war, where he miraculously finds his brother’s family and manages to evacuate them to the South.

Beyond stripping Korean contemporary history bare, this book forces an introspective look into the common yet esoteric concept of human

destiny. Through a most peculiar interlacing of events and encounters that confront the family, leading towards an uncanny untangling of ties,

readers will walk the “tunnel of destiny,” where mere coincidences are proven to be indisputable fate.

Table of Contents

Foreword _7

Translator’s Preface _11

Author’s Preface _15

1 Hanging the House Nameplate _19

2 A Soldier without a Country _23

3 The Dirge-like Farewell Banner _29

4 Across the Straits Again _33

5 The Black Wooden Barracks _39

6 An Undreamed-of Happenstance _42

7 To the Latrine and Back _45

8 All Punished for a Piece of Bread _48

9 No Time Even to Go to the Latrine _54

10 Inspection of Underpants _58

11 The Encouragement of Love _65

12 The Day My Wife Left Hiroshima _73

13 Boating and Tunneling Practice _77

14 Cadet Officer Training _81

15 The First B-29: The Time at the Engineering Academy _84

16 Fighting to Lose _95

17 Return to My Country and a Week in My Home Town _101

18 A Shame-Faced Visit to the Ancestral Grave _105

19 Father’s Final Instructions _126

20 Faith and Love in Opposition _131

21 “Nan Desuka?” _144

22 Shinto Shrine Worship _147

23 Preparing His Grave _151

24 Things Father Taught _156

25 Life in the Pyongyang Engineer Corps _161

26 Sergeant Arai _164

27 A Farcical Interview _172

28 Liberation, but Apprehension _176

29 Forming Ranks to Return Home _181

30 The World Upside Down _186

31 The Evil Hand Reaches Out _193

32 A South-Bound Coast Runner _198

33 Shoemaker in Freedom _202

34 The Last Day of Hiroshima _205

35 The Wave of the Korean War _266

36 Carried by the Flood _272

37 An Unexpected Trip to Japan _278

38 The First KATUSAs _284

39 Following the Historic Battle _290

40 The Advance to the Yalu _297

41 The Return from the Door of National Unification _305

42 Meeting My Hamheung Family _309

43 We Were Twins _318

44 My University Years _331

45 The Dramatic Way South _336

46 My Wife’s Story _347

47 Standing Again before the Name-plate _352

Afterword _361