By Sarah Kloth
Tae-hyok Kim and Nicole Kim Rogers, co-authors of Beyond the Border, share the extraordinary story of Tae-hyok’s journey from North Korea as a teenager, seeking freedom and education during one of the most volatile periods in Korean history. The book chronicles his escape from communism, enlistment in the South Korean Army, and the emotional toll of possibly fighting against his own countrymen during the Korean War. Their conversation offers a powerful reflection on survival, resilience, and the impact of a divided nation on personal and collective identity.
Can you tell us about the inspiration behind writing Beyond the Border and why you felt it was important to share your grandfather’s story?
NR: There are so many untold stories from Koreans during the 20th century, and those that have been shared are mainly in Korean, kept within families. We’ve seen and heard a lot about World War II, mostly from the perspective of an American soldier, especially in movies. However, we often miss the perspective of someone who lived on the land being fought over, with their family and friends caught in the crossfire.
When I uncovered my grandfather’s stories, they took me back to the tales he shared with me when I was a kid. I realized that more people needed to hear not only about what Korea and its people endured during this time, and for the nations that fought for South Korea during the Korean War to understand more about the people they were fighting for, but also how determination, resilience, and hope can carry a person through difficult times.
Tae-hyok Kim’s journey spans several decades and covers significant historical events. What was the most challenging aspect of recounting these experiences, and how did you approach it in the book?
TK: Writing down my story brought back so many memories of my family, home, and the everyday life of war. While for some, it’s difficult to relive that loss and separation—be it from family, friends, or even a place—for me, I wanted to remember where I came from and everything I went through to get to where I am today in America. While I wrote, I relived those experiences and tried to portray how I felt during that time. It was important to me to share that story with my daughter, son, and grandchildren so that they would know more about their family, people, and where they came from.
NR: Many historical events significantly impacted Koreans, often driven by the power struggles of other nations or as consequences of larger global events, such as the United States’ decision to divide Korea along the 38th Parallel. We wanted to ensure that the reader could follow the complex historical context behind the stories. To address this, beyond the storytelling, we included short historical sections to help readers better understand what was happening in the world at the time.
The memoir covers a range of experiences, from life under Japanese rule to the Korean War and eventual migration to America. How did you manage to weave these diverse experiences into a cohesive narrative?
TK: I decided to take writing courses to improve my English, and the easiest story for me to tell was my own life story. So, I wrote it all down—where I grew up, farming life in North Korea, crossing the 38th Parallel, joining the Republic of Korea Army, meeting my wife, and more. Those courses helped me shape it into a cohesive narrative, and I received great feedback from my classmates. I stopped writing after I had a stroke, so I never finished my memoir. It was one of the first things I told my granddaughter, Nicole after that stroke impacted me. She later picked it up and interviewed me for years to fill in the gaps.
NR: A person’s story is always full of ups and downs, with new experiences, people, and events. It’s never a straight line but rather a winding path. When I asked my grandfather how he remembered everything, he said, “There was nothing else going on. Things were so much simpler.” Today, we have so many distractions—whether it’s technology or the busyness of life—that we often need a reminder to step back, observe, and also live in the moment.
My grandfather’s diverse experiences were a reflection of the times, and I believed the narrative flowed naturally because it was his story from start to finish. However, I did have to cut out a lot of sections about food; he practically wrote about every meal he had. When I asked him why, he told me, “I was always hungry!” which showed me even more how poor his family was and how little he had growing up. The main feedback we actually receive from readers is that they want more! Many have expressed a desire to read more about his story in America.
Tae-hyok Kim endured incredible hardships, including arrest and torture. How did you handle these sensitive topics in the memoir, and how did you ensure that they were presented with the respect and accuracy they deserve?
TK: Writing about these hardships was therapeutic for me. While some war veterans find it difficult to talk about their experiences, writing them down helped me process those dark memories. My hope is that by sharing not only what happened to me but also what my people and my fellow soldiers (who were like brothers to me) experienced, readers will gain a better understanding of what Korea went through as a nation.
There are still many people alive today who were teenagers or children during those times, or who have heard stories from their parents about what they endured. I hope my story offers them a perspective on the hardships their families faced.
NR:: My grandfather has an incredible memory. He can recall events down to the exact date they occurred. For instance, he’ll describe a specific day as rainy, or another day when his regiment entered a certain town, and when I cross-reference that with historical Korean War records, I’ll find that he was right. We did, however, have to change some of his friends’ names in the memoir because many of them shared the same last name such as Lee. This was done to help the reader distinguish between different characters more easily.
What was it like working with your grandfather to co-author this memoir? Can you share any insights or anecdotes from the writing process?
NR: Working with my grandfather on his story brought me much closer to him. I had always known him as my grandfather, of course, but never as the boy who spent time farming, walked miles to school, or as the teenager who endured the hardships of war. Through this process, I felt like I was living in his shoes, experiencing his life as he did.
I interviewed him daily via video calls over the Amazon Echo device. What might take someone else five to ten minutes would take me around thirty, due to the effects of a stroke he suffered in 2018. The stroke caused him to lose much of his speech, and he stopped writing altogether. Although he can still talk, it takes him longer to express his thoughts verbally even though he knows the answer to my question and all the words are inside of his head. I interviewed him so often that my grandmother once joked that I was the “night show.” She passed away before the book was published, but she was always there by his side every evening when I video called to ask my questions and better understand the characters or fill in the gaps of the story.
It was incredibly important to me for my grandfather to hold this book in his hands, and he’s so proud of it! We even have postcards with a QR code to purchase the book, and he has handed them out to so many strangers. He once gave them to his town’s police officers—two of whom bought the book and visited him to get his signature! He’s even handed them out to people at Home Depot!
Throughout the process, I also had to research into the history of Korea during the 20th century, always considering the reader’s perspective, essentially what they would know or not know. Many people aren’t familiar with the events that took place in Korea, so while my research was meant to help the reader, it actually helped the writing process for me as well, allowing me to bring in the historical context needed to make the narrative more understandable and impactful.
The book sheds light on the Korean War, often referred to as “The Forgotten War.” How do you hope the memoir contributes to the broader understanding of this conflict and its impact on individuals and families?
NR: One of the main themes we hope readers take away is to never forget: To never forget that political figures and their choices impact many countries and all their people. To never forget the sacrifices made by so many military personnel who came to a country they’d never heard of and fought for the freedom of a people they never knew. And to never forget all of the Korean people, both North and South. It is often forgotten because it’s a three-year war that took place in between World War II and the Vietnam War.
One person told me they read this memoir to their father-in-law, who had fought in the Korean War. She went to his home every few days to read a chapter. She told me that he would ask her to stay longer to keep reading because he wanted to know what happened. He said that the story shed so much light on who he had fought for that he became even more grateful that he served to bring freedom to millions.
We often recognize South Korea today for its pop culture, foods like kimchi and Korean BBQ, K-dramas on Netflix, and global companies like Samsung. However, South Korea endured tremendous hardship—the country was literally flattened during the war due to all the bombing—and had to rebuild itself from the ground up to become what it is today. The war had a huge impact on individuals and families, tearing them apart in ways that often meant they never saw each other again. Husbands left their wives and children behind, thinking they would return within months, but were never able to reunite. Brothers found themselves fighting against brothers.
One of the key messages we hope to convey is the importance of resilience—keeping your chin up and moving forward, no matter the loss. Of course, this is easier said than done. We should learn from the past, but we can’t change it. While it’s crucial never to forget—one of the reasons my grandfather shared all his stories with his family—we should also look ahead with a positive mindset. By sharing these stories, we hope to contribute to a broader understanding of the conflict and its lasting impact on individuals and families, encouraging both reflection and hope for the future when we face difficult times.
How did you approach the task of representing Tae-hyok Kim’s personal experiences and emotions, especially given the historical and political contexts he lived through?
NR: My grandfather wrote a lot of the narrative, and because of that, he was able to communicate all his emotions. I think it can be pretty difficult to communicate your emotions in a language that isn’t your first language, but he was able to. He also read a lot. He used to work at The Reader’s Digest and received a lot of books from that company. I believe that reading through so many stories himself helped him relate to how to portray his own emotions on paper.
The memoir explores themes of separation, identity, and survival. What do you hope readers take away from these themes, and how do you believe they resonate with contemporary audiences?
NR: Throughout our lives, we all experience loss, question how we ended up ‘here’ or in a certain situation, or go through dark times. While we may read books where the author survived a near-death experience or endured through trauma, we may not be able to relate if we’ve never faced something similar ourselves. Many of us have never experienced war, and I hope none of us ever will. We might see it on the news or donate to causes, but we don’t live through the traumatic loss, the permanent separation from a family member, or the physical destruction of our homes.
However, we all face struggles every year, every day. It might be the pain of seeing a loved one with Alzheimer’s, and feeling a sense of separation because they no longer remember who you are. It could be the challenges that come with your job—working long hours to meet deadlines and pay the bills. Or it might be the ongoing journey of figuring out who we want to be, something that continues into adulthood, not just childhood.
Everyone will face loss in their life, question their identity and values, and, while not in the life-or-death sense of wartime survival, will encounter hardships regularly which will look different for every person. Social media often only shows the good and happy times, and that’s how we often portray our lives to be. But everyone goes through their own struggles, and without those difficult times, would we truly be who we are today?
So, while most readers will never experience war, we hope that no matter what they’re going through, that they find hope, even curiosity, and the perseverance to keep moving forward. Even though we may feel like we’re stuck in a hole and can’t find our way out, there is light at the end of the tunnel—we may just need to search for it. We may have memories where we still feel the pain, but we will find one way or another to survive and the strength to move on. So no matter what life throws at you, it’s about taking what you have, making the best of it, finding the light, persevering, pursuing your dreams, and knowing that a good day will come soon.
Can you discuss any particular challenges you faced while researching or writing the memoir, and how you overcame them?
NR: My grandfather said his English wasn’t great, so he decided to take writing classes. I remember visiting my grandparent’s home when I was a teenager, where we’d often have Friday dinners with them. In nearly every room was a dictionary. He would learn a word a day. Now, it’s via the Dictionary.com app on his iPad. For my grandfather, one challenge was transcribing everything in his head in Korean to everything in English. He had written a journal when he was a kid and all through the war, and he said that’s how he remembered everything, but he never brought it to the United States. But, going back to a word a day, he never stopped learning. There is always something new to learn or improve, and I believe with that forward notion of always seeking to learn more, you keep going even when, at times, you doubt yourself.
For me, the challenge was interviewing him after he had a stroke. I sometimes wished that I had read all his stories before he had a stroke, which caused him to stop writing, and his speech was quite impaired. I likely would have never picked up his story if it wasn’t for the pandemic. But that caused me to partake in a new relationship with him—rather than just calling him to ask how his day was, I would ask him so many questions about his life. His answers came out of his mouth slowly. But it was all worth it—patience and a smile on your face with the desire for wondering “What’s he going to tell me? What happened during that time?” is all you need.
Another challenge was finding the research for this memoir. There are books on the Korean War from the American perspective—specifically the United States military history of the Korean War. I eventually discovered three large volumes on the Korean War written by the Korea Institute of Military History. They were translated from Korean to English, so I finally had books from the Korean military perspective, which was incredibly helpful as I wanted to ensure the Republic of Korea’s point of view was represented.
Beyond the historical and personal aspects of the memoir, what message or legacy do you hope Beyond the Border leaves for future generations?
NR: Beyond the historical and personal aspects, I hope future generations take away a few important messages from this memoir.
First, every person has a story worth telling. By asking others about their experiences—whether it’s a relative or even a neighbor—we can gain valuable life lessons. I feel incredibly fortunate to have had the opportunity to discuss my grandfather’s life with him in depth; it provided me with a whole new perspective on who he is, what he endured, and what the world was like as he grew up. In our digital world, where we’re often consumed by laptops, virtual meetings, and social media,
taking the time to step back and engage in meaningful, personal conversations can be super impactful. We can learn about their own journey, and their experiences can also inspire and inform the way we choose to live our own lives.
Secondly, life is full of ups and downs—including losses, setbacks, and unexpected changes. No matter what challenges we face, it’s important to keep moving forward, one step at a time, with our heads held high. While it’s easier to say this than to do it, I hope readers finish this story feeling inspired to dream big and pursue the lives they desire. Even when plans don’t unfold as expected or we encounter significant hardships, we still have the ability to create a life that we long for. The journey won’t always be easy, but it will be worth it.
A true story that unfolds in a divided nation. Tae-hyok left North Korea as a teenager in search of opportunity. Then, the Korean War started.
Born in 1931 in Korea, Tae-hyok Kim grows up being forced to speak Japanese and bow to the Emperor every day in school. His family longs for freedom from the Japanese occupation. But life takes a dramatic turn for the worse when his country is divided into North and South after World War II.
At the age of fifteen, he leaves his family in North Korea, venturing south in search of an education. But crossing the treacherous border—the 38th Parallel—comes with its own set of risks. At one point, he’s even captured by the border guards.
Choosing to stay in South Korea to escape the grips of communism in his hometown, Tae-hyok finds himself unexpectedly enlisting in the South Korean Army. But then the Korean War starts. And amidst the chaos of war, Tae-hyok wonders if he’s fighting against his own brothers or friends from the North.
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Article originally Published in the Fall 2024 Issue: Global Reads.