No Kum-sok

No Kum-sok
	No Kum-Sok circa 1953
Korean name
Hangul	노금석
Hanja	盧今錫
Revised Romanization	No Geum-seok
McCune–Reischauer	No Kŭm-sŏk

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

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.

In popular culture

No's defection is the basis of one of the missions within the video game Chuck Yeager's Air Combat.

Gallery

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's MiG-15
No's MiG-15 on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
No Kum-Sok wearing his flight uniform.