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| Lee In-bum, a retired first lieutenant of the Republic of Korea Air Force, talks during an interview with The Korea Times in Seoul, June 12. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Retired first lieutenant shares story of separation with family, military service
By Jung Da-min
Seven decades after the outbreak of war between the two Koreas, they are still technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice, not with a declaration ending the conflict. Today in South Korea, all able-bodied men aged between 18 and 38 are required to serve in the military for about two years.
Lee In-bum, 85, a retired first lieutenant of the Republic of Korea Air Force, said he volunteered to participate in the war 70 years ago, but the military did not accept him as he was only 15 years old.
"I was born in 1935 in Yongchon, North Pyongan Province (North Korea) but I came to Daejeon in 1948 to study there, as my brother had already come to Seoul and settled down. I was also planning to come to Seoul, but Seoul was really crowded at the time with many people coming back from abroad after the country's liberation from the 1910-45 Japanese occupation," Lee said during a recent interview with The Korea Times in Seoul.
"My mother was supposed to come to the South's side to join me but after the war broke out in 1950, I have not heard any news about her."
Lee said he once considered applying for the government's family reunion events as a member of a separated family, but he gave it up as he thought his turn would come too late as he was among the youngest ― the government gave priority to older people when selecting delegates.
Separated from his mother and other family members during the time of war, the 15-year-old boy strived to survive in different cities in the South, selling books and delivering newspapers before finally joining the military in 1951 as he had wished.
"After the Jan. 4 Retreat in 1951 when the North Korean military reoccupied Seoul, I went to Gangneung in Gangwon Province where the U.S. Marine Corps' K-18 air base was located. The U.S. forces lacked laborers at the time so they accepted me although I was still young," Lee said.
"There, I ― and other young people ― assembled aircraft parts and bombs and we were much faster than the U.S. workers as we had smaller hands."
Working at the airbase, Lee witnessed some dangerous moments when the U.S. fighters returned to the base after being shot by the enemy. There were cases in which canopies, wings or wheels of the fighters were heavily damaged and the fighters had to make emergency landings.
"There were also cases in which the bombs the fighters had planned to drop in the enemy's territory had not been successfully launched and still hung on them when they returned to the base," Lee recalled.
After the three-year Korean War ended in an armistice, Lee joined the Republic of Korea Air Force as an officer, after graduating university, and was deployed to Osan Air Base where he worked with the U.S. Air Force.
Lee said he feels very fortunate to have worked with the U.S. military and he feels thankful to the U.S. for its commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
"Working with the U.S. service members, I could improve my English skills and I especially learnt accounting terms in English," Lee said. Thanks to such experience, Lee could work with U.S. companies after he left the Korean Air Force in 1968 as a first lieutenant.
When asked about his feelings as the country commemorates the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, Lee said, "I have witnessed the development of the country during the past seven decades with my own eyes … And I want to tell young people in the military now that they should remain vigilant against the possibility of war."
