About this ebook
Blueink Review: "The aftermath of war is often measured in body counts or economic damage; however, one of war's most lasting impacts is the loss it imposed on children. Author Duk-Joong Won was just 12 years old when he was handed a small package and told to leave his mother behind, with assurance that they would be reunited in three days. He never saw her again. Three-day-Journey is a gripping memoir of grief, faith, family, and ultimately triumphant."
KIRCUS REVIEW: "Arriving (at the USA) with $50 and limited command of the English language, he initially worked menial jobs, but eventually obtained a Ph.D. in economics. After decades as a successful businessman, he visited totalitarian North Korea in 1990; there, he learned that his mother and favorite sister were long dead, but managed to see his surviving siblings and say a final goodbye. Overtaken by depression back in the U.S., he changed career attending a seminary and becoming a pastor. Despite occasional language errors, this book provides a readable personal record of life in bygone Korea. It also effectively tells the story of an immigrant struggling and succeeding in the United States."
Rev. Walter Chun, Ph.D.: "Three-Day-Journey is a success story motivated by a heartfelt memory of his mother, as well as a fruitful achievement of hard work in the midst of distress. All the more, this is our story, of our parents motivating us."
Rev. Bill Youngblood: "What a compelling and inspiring journey! . . . . . . . . To read how you escaped the war, survived in the long journey to safety in South Korea, made it to America, managed to get a first rate education, reconnected with Insook, start and run a company, and go back home to see your family in the North and South, and finished your career as an ordained United Methodist Pastor with wonderful effectiveness in each church that you served is truly an inspiration. . . . ."
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About the author
Author Duk Joong Won was born and raised in Korean peninsula, a whirlpool of international conflicts in the twentieth century. A history of his citizenship may demonstrate how turbulent the international politics have been in the region where he was born and grew up:
- Duk Joong was born in a remote farm village in northern Korea as a citizen of the Imperial Japan. Korea was a colony of Japanese Empire from 1910 through 1945.
- As Japan surrendered to the U.S. in August 1945, he became a citizen of Democratic Peoples' Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea). DPRK ruled the northern half of Korean peninsula under the auspices of the USSR.
- On June 25, 1950, North Korean Army swept nearly entire Korean peninsula. The only real estate that DPRK did not control was Bussan Metropolitan Area on the southeastern tip of the peninsula. The U.N. Security Council formed U.N. forces from troops of sixteen nations to save the bewildered South Korea. As the DPRK army retreated to the border between China and Korean peninsula, Communist China sent her massive "volunteer" army and reinforced North Korean troops. Duk Joong was a tender 12 years old child when he was handed a small package to carry on his back. His mother stayed behind with a plan that she would join her son "tomorrow morning." The UN military command assured the civilians refugees that we would be allowed to return home in three days. He never saw his mother again. He walked more than fifty days through the valleys fighting the cold winds from Siberia, climbed the mountains buried with deep snow, and crossed ice floating rivers unclothed in subzero temperature. When his refugee trail stopped at Daejon City in the Central South Korea, he automatically became a citizen of the Republic of Korea (South Korea).
- After Duk Joong completed his education from sixth grade through college in South Korea, he came to the United States for his post graduate studies. He was able to attain Master's and Doctorate degrees in Agricultural Economics at the University of Maryland. In 1974, he began his professional career as an economist as an employee of Bechtel, Inc. In 1977, Dr. Won and his two close associates decided to found a consulting firm in Washington, D.C. and named it Applied Systems Institute Inc. In 1978, Dr. Won and his family chose to become naturalized citizens of the United States.
