Finding Junie Kim

The chapter begins with the announcement that North Korea has invaded and Seoul has fallen. Local Communists and sympathizers celebrate in the streets of Incheon.

North Korean soldiers take over Incheon. Jinjoo returns home one day to find their home has been ransacked. Everything is smashed, and soldiers have taken all their food, leaving them with nothing. Food becomes scarce, though her father’s business is doing well enough to provide food to survive.

The maid who lives with Jinjoo’s family takes food from the small children when no one is looking. Jinjoo stops her angrily when she sees. Her parents do not see the maid’s actions, and Jinjoo’s mother scolds Jinjoo for lack of respect. Their mother is hard on Jinjoo and complains that her father spoils her.

Jinjoo describes her mother. She is young and from a wealthy family. Though her parents had an arranged marriage like other Koreans, she loved their father desperately. He is a successful watchmaker and businessman who can afford a housemaid. Her mother’s life is easy, but she becomes jealous of her children when their father shows them affection.

In the middle of the night, Jinjoo is woken by frantic knocking at their door. It is her Gomo, her father’s sister. She is crying and covered in blood. She screams and cries. Jinjoo is shocked by her behavior. Gomo tells the family that North Korean soldiers dragged her son and his pregnant wife into the street. Her son was a police officer. They beat her son and killed him before shooting his wife in the stomach and head.

Junie asks Grandma why they killed the wife and child. Grandma replies that it keeps the next generation from seeking revenge.

Jinjoo is not allowed to leave the house for three days as her family mourns for Gomo’s son, daughter-in-law, and unborn grandchild. When she is finally allowed to leave, things are very different.

Jinjoo learns from her friends that the North Koreans have gathered up all the government workers and their families. They are being imprisoned. Her father may be taken because of his relationship to Gomo.

When she returns home, she learns that her father has left to take Gomo to Suwon. It is not safe for her to remain in Incheon any longer.

She goes to visit her best friend, Yohan. When she arrives, she sees that his home has been ransacked. She learns that he and his family escaped just before his home was raided.

Junie asks about the fate of Grandma’s friends and learns that they survived and still live in Incheon. Yohan returned to Incheon later after going to university and becoming a successful doctor.

It has been six days since Jinjoo’s father left for Suwon with Gomo, and he has not returned. Her mother asks the maid to go with her to the police station. The girl refuses in fear. Jinjoo tells her mother that she will go with her.

Jinjoo and her mother go to the station. There are mutilated bodies everywhere. Jinjoo shuts her eyes in fear as her mother approaches a soldier to ask about her husband.

Jinjoo is almost trampled by the surrounding people when a young North Korean soldier pulls her out of the way. He is friendly and smiles at her. He gives her candy, saying that she reminds him of his little sister. Jinjoo can see from his eyes that he is kind.

Jinjoo’s mother slaps the candy from her hand and berates the soldier. He reprimands her for not watching her daughter more closely. Jinjoo’s mother drags her away, and they return home. She learns that her father has been arrested and is in prison in Seoul.

The next day, Jinjoo’s mother gathers all of their valuables. She tells them she will go to get their father out of prison. Jinjoo is horrified. She realizes that her mother, who adores their father obsessively, will abandon them if she can save her husband. She begs her mother not to go. Her mother says they will be fine with the maid.

Jinjoo’s mother gives their remaining money to the maid with instructions to use it to buy food for the family until she returns. Jinjoo has a bad feeling.

Two days later, the young maid goes to the market and never returns. She has taken all their money and food.

Jinjoo and her siblings are forced to go to their neighbors and beg for food. The next day, they must go to another neighborhood nearby.

The police arrive and ask the children where their parents are. They have received notice of begging children. They take the children to the police station, where they promise to give them dinner.

Once they arrive, a soldier smiles as he asks them questions about their family. Jinjoo realizes he does not look kind and he is a North Korean. She realizes they are being interrogated. She kicks Eunjoo to keep her from saying more and asks about dinner.

The soldier goes to check on the food, and Jinjoo explains that he is trying to find out all he can about their family because he wants to know if they support the Communists or not. They are in danger.

The man brings food and tells them they will be taken to an orphanage in the morning. Jinjoo and her siblings eat, and Jinjoo hides any leftover food in her pockets. She plans to run away.

The next day is more chaotic. The Americans are bombing. Jinjoo forces her brothers out a window and climbs after them. Eunjoo follows. They run away and begin walking to Seoul to find their parents.

Junie is amazed by her grandmother’s bravery.

The children come across an elderly couple as they are wandering the roads in search of Seoul. The old man asks where they are going and tells them it is not safe in Seoul at the moment. He explains they are going to Suwon to meet his children and grandchildren. Jinjoo realizes that Gomo is in Suwon.

The man was a merchant and remained to run his store while his family had already escaped Incheon. His wife grumbles at him and says only family matters.

Jinjoo explains that their father was a watchmaker and had a shop as well. The man is familiar with her father and respects him. Jinjoo and her siblings agree to travel with the elderly couple to Suwon to meet their Gomo.

It takes three days to reach Suwon. The elderly couple generously shares their food with the children and helps carry Jinjoo’s little brother Junsoo.

The town is in chaos when they arrive, and bombs go off nearby. They find the elderly couple’s family in a wealthy part of the town. Their son and his family were waiting for the old man and woman to arrive. Their son reveals that they have bribed a soldier to take them to Seoul. They must leave now to escape the town. It is not safe to stay because the Americans are bombing.

The elderly man says they must help the children find their family. Bewildered and then angry, Jinjoo realizes the young man does not want to help. She steps forward and says they will go on their own. She thanks the elderly couple. The old woman gives the children the remaining bag of food as they leave.

Jinjoo hides nearby and watches as a truck pulls up to the house. The young man gives a large sack of money to the soldier, and the family goes with the soldiers as they leave. Junie takes her brothers and sister back to the house.

Jinjoo and her siblings eat the rest of the food in the home, bathe, and clean their clothes. They sleep well for the first time in weeks. Jinjoo decides that she will find her parents and protect her family no matter the cost.

The next morning, Jinjoo tells Eunjoo they must go to Seoul and look for their parents instead of going to find Gomo. She explains that they will not find them unless they do it now.

The children begin walking to Seoul. The roads are mostly empty. Jinjoo raids any homes that she passes for food.

The children continue to walk toward Seoul. The journey seems endless as Eunjoo is weak and frail, and Jinjoo must carry her little brother.

One morning, they hear motor vehicles coming down the road. The little boys run ahead, laughing. Jinjoo sees that it is American troops. The soldiers smile and wave at the boys. Jinjoo picks her little brother up to see better. He waves harder, and the soldiers laugh. One truck stops, and the soldiers throw candy to the children before moving on. Jinjoo gathers everything, and they savor the treat.

Junie asks when her grandmother realized she was eating chocolate, and they laugh when she reveals that she never knew until she moved to the US.

Jinjoo and her siblings continue their journey. With nothing to eat except the chocolate given to them by the American soldiers, they are hungry and tired.

Jinjoo tells Eunjoo that after the war, she will move to America, where they are so rich and powerful that they can throw away food. Eunjoo laughs and calls Jinjoo a dreamer. Jinjoo is fine with this.

Junie asks Grandma about why she wanted to go to America. She clarifies that America is not always good; she left to escape South Korea.

Jinjoo and her siblings continue to wander the roads in search of Seoul. They come to a fork in the road, but the signs have been burned. A short time later, a man on a cart comes their way. They ask the man for directions. He says both directions lead to Seoul and offers them a ride.

Eunjoo eagerly agrees, too tired to walk anymore. She puts her brothers on the cart. Jinjoo has a feeling that they must go in the other direction. She suddenly grabs her brothers and sets them on the ground again. She thanks the man but says they must travel in the other direction.

The man leaves, and Eunjoo yells before hitting Jinjoo in anger. She sits on the ground, refusing to move.

Upset, Jinjoo is patient and picks her brother up to carry him. They move on slowly.

Jinjoo sees two people on a bike in the distance. As the people get closer, they see that it is their father and mother.