Before is an illusion. Everything comes after.
On a frigid December day in 1950, ten-year-old Myun Haing Kim witnesses one of the most harrowing sights of the Korean War: refugees plunging into the icy depths of the Daedong River from the heights of a sunken truss bridge.
To flee geography that casts them as the enemy, Myun Haing joins millions of fellow North Koreans who journey south for the chance to escape communism's brutality. With family scattered across the peninsula, distrust inside every moment, and love's depth defined by the moment of separation on the bridge, Myun Haing grows into manhood chasing traces of happiness on a hurried wind.
Quiet and thunderous, poetic and grounding, this memoir of resilience transcends the 'Land of the Morning Calm' to offer a timeless reflection anywhere the human spirit is challenged to soar. Longing for a North Korean Sky is the heart song for a collective people who continue to endure one of the most heartbreaking political lines ever drawn.
