Father changed his operations base often and so, my family moved several times when I was young. The
first move was when I was five. In the Summer, we moved to Bongwha-ri, leaving behind Grandpa,
Grandma and other close relatives. Because of my tender age, I felt no sad feeling parting with them. I
was too excited about our new home.
But our move to Jung-gang in the Fall was entirely a different matter. It was a sad move. Our relatives
were sad that we were moving so far, to the northern tip of the country. Grandpa, who normally stood
behind Father and supported his decisions, was aghast at Father's decision to move us away more than a
thousand ri. Father saw what was going through Grandpa's mind and did his best to calm him down.
Father sat next to Grandpa and helped with his handcraft work for the last time and said: "Dad, I am on
the blacklist of the Japanese police and I cannot do anything in Korea. They told me to stay home and
work the farm when I was released from prison. I will go on fighting, even if they jailed me ten times
more. Japanese are savages and merely shouting for independence will not bring it."
Uncle hugged Father and told him to write often, if he moved far away, too far to come home; he begged
Father never to forget the home and wept openly. Father held onto Uncle's hands for a long time. Father
consoled Uncle: "Hey, I will never forget our home. How on earth can I forget our home? We are forced
to part because of the bad times we are having, we shall meet again when Korea is freed and live happily
together again. Since our childhood, you have been cleaning up the mess I created and now I am leaving
and you have to be the man of the family now. I am very sorry."
"Dear elder brother, don't talk like that! I will care for Mom and Dad and you don't worry about them.
You keep your mind on your work and make sure you succeed. I will be here waiting for your success."
I was moved by their tearful farewell and wept with them. Although Mother told me that we would be
back home when Korea became independent, I wondered when that will be. I had no clear idea. In fact,
Father and Mother passed away in foreign places and this was their last moment with the family.
I kept on looking back toward our old home; I did not want to leave Grandpa and Grandma behind. I did
not want to leave the home, the mountains and rivers I grew up in, but I was happy that we were moving
far, far away from that prison in Pyongyang. Even after Father was released from prison, I was uneasy
about that prison. I feared that Father might get arrested and jailed there again. I was so naive that
moving to a remote village, away from Seoul and Pyongyang, we could find a safe haven from the
Japanese savages.
I asked how far Joong-gang was from Pyongyang and was told that it was one thousand ri. This sounded
like a safe distance because I thought no Japanese would come that far to get Father. It was said that
Joong-gang is the coldest place in Korea, but I did not mind as long as Father was safe theRE..PAGE 37
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