#126 #ENG John Cha — The biographer of Korea's greatest heroes and villains

The Human Story

Meet John Cha — the biographer of Korea's dictator Kim Jong-il and a witness to an era of the great Korean displacement that followed World War II. Born to a family of intellectuals in Manchuria, John's life took him through the fires of the Korean War to paradisiacal Hawaii and then to live the American dream. He is the author of possibly the most compelling biographies of Korea's greatest heroes and one of its wickedest villains — dictator and movie freak Kim Jong-Il. He joins the Human Story to tell the story of his life. Timecodes: 0:00:09 — Meet John Cha 0:01:45 —Born in Manchuria, family lineage 0:07:40 —Waving Manchuria’s flag for Emperor Puyi 0:10:38 — How John’s mother recalled the Japanese occupiers 0:12:00 — Underground resistance press against the Japanese occupation 0:16:45 — Russian troops unleash hell in Manchuria 0:23:00 — John’s father finds a gold vein in writing Korean books but then gets robber by Chinese marauders 0:26:00 — The Chas on the crossroads (traveling to South Korea on foot) 0:28:55 — Slipping past the Russians, fording the river border 0:29:45 — John’s mother saves him from being drowned 0:31:28 — “You’re already in the South, you don’t have to run.” 0:33:28 — The Korean War begins 0:35:15 — Life under the North Korean occupation and songs praising Kim Ir Sen 0:38:00 — Dead bodies and different shades of grey 0:39:10 — The Chinese human wave and the hive mind 0:42:30 — Chinese blitz incoming, time to pack up 0:44:10 — John’s sister Teresa Cha is born, refugee camps 0:47:00 — A refugee’s childhood in South Korea 0:50:00 — John as a protagonist of his uncle’s textbook 0:50:58 — John’s original Korean name 0:57:00 — What did motivate John to become a writer? 1:04:00 — Teenage John gets involved in an uprising but his father sends him to Hawaii 1:12:10 — John’s book: "Willow Tree Shade: The Susan Ahn Cuddy Story" 1:19:15 — Paradisiacal Hawaii and going to a Catholic school 1:23:50 — John decides to study engineering in Milwaukee and shares memories of Poles living there 1:25:45 — The something-vich teach, aka Mr Alphabet 1:27:00 — John becomes an off-shore oil rig engineer; how do you construct oil rigs? 1:31:12 — John’s book: “The Do or Die Entrepreneur” 1:37:45 — But whatever happened to John’s parents? 1:41:05 — John’s book: “Exit Kim Jong-Il: Notes from His Former Mentor” 1:54:50 — The lesson that John Cha has learned in his life 1:58:48 — Where can you find John’s books? 1:59:52 —John’s impression of Poles’ reception of Ukrainian refugees Zapraszamy na serwisy streamingowe⤵️: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/VVGCtycamyb oraz na Youtube'a📱: https://youtu.be/_xftRFHvEi0 // The Human Story seeks to spur curiosity by making the voices of people from different walks of life heard. // iTunes - https://tinyurl.com/26zskwsy Spotify - https://tinyurl.com/yc4mtz53 Stitcher - https://tinyurl.com/dbzzwuhs Deezer - https://tinyurl.com/3asdhnds // Facebook - https://tinyurl.com/4mjyt52s Instagram - https://tinyurl.com/22jf85s4