- No Kum-Sok
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No Kum-Sok 
No Kum-Sok circa 1953Korean name Hangul 노금석 Hanja 盧今錫 Revised Romanization No Geum-seok McCune–Reischauer No Kŭm-sŏk 
A propaganda leaflet promising a $100,000 reward to the first North Korean pilot to deliver a jet fighter to UN forces.
The $100,000 (2011 purchasing power approx. $820,000) check awarded to No Kum-Sok as a reward for bringing the MiG-15 to South Korea.No Kum-Sok (later Kenneth Rowe) (born c. 1932) is a former lieutenant of the North Korean Air Force during the Korean War who defected to South Korea. On September 21, 1953, he flew his MiG-15 to the Kimpo Air Base in South Korea, claiming that he wanted to get away from the "red deceit."[1] He received a $100,000 reward offered by Operation Moolah for defecting with his aircraft, which he claimed to have not heard about prior to his defection.[2] He later emigrated to the United States, graduated from the University of Delaware, married and became a U.S. citizen. He worked as an aeronautical engineer for Grumman, Boeing, General Dynamics, General Motors, General Electric, Lockheed, DuPont, and Westinghouse.[3] He was joined in the U.S by his mother, who had been evacuated from North Korea. After emigrating, he anglicized his name to "Kenneth Rowe".
He also wrote a book, A MiG-15 to Freedom (ISBN 0-7864-0210-5) about his defection and previous life in North Korea. Rowe retired in 2000 after working 17 years as an aeronautical engineering professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.[4]
In February 2004, while a guest at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, USA, he was offered the opportunity to fly in a MiG-15UTI operated by the Red Star Aviation Museum. After the flight, his first in a MiG since the day he defected, he commented "It is a fast, fast car".[5]
No's MiG-15
No's MiG-15
No's MiG-15 on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.After No surrendered his aircraft, it was taken to Okinawa, where it was test-flown by Capt. H.E. "Tom" Collins and Maj. Chuck Yeager. The MiG-15 was later shipped to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.[1] It is currently on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
Popular Culture
No's defection is the basis of one of the missions within the video game Chuck Yeager's Air Combat.
References
- ^ a b "Factsheets: Story of the MiG-15." National Museum of the United States Air Force.
- ^ PsyWarrior.com "OPERATION MOOLAH THE PLOT TO STEAL A MIG-15"
- ^ "Leadership." Red Star Aviation.
- ^ Pine Mountain Lakes Aviation Association Newsletter "Ken Rowe, a.k.a. No-Kum Sok: A MiG-15 to Freedom"
- ^ http://www.redstaraviation.org/articles2.htm
Categories:- Korean aviators
- North Korean military personnel of the Korean War
- North Korean military personnel
- Air force officers
- North Korean defectors
- Living people
- American people of Korean descent
- 1932 births
- University of Delaware alumni
- Defectors to the United States
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