Age, Biography and Wiki
No Kum-sok was born on 10 January, 1932 in Shinko, Kankyōnandō, Chōsen
(now Sinhung County, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea), is an American engineer and North Korean Air Force pilot (1932–2022). Discover No Kum-sok's Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. Learn How rich is he in this year and how he spends money? Also learn how he earned most of networth at the age of 90 years old?
Popular As |
No Kum-sok |
Occupation |
N/A |
Age |
90 years old |
Zodiac Sign |
Capricorn |
Born |
10 January, 1932 |
Birthday |
10 January |
Birthplace |
Shinko, Kankyōnandō, Chōsen
(now Sinhung County, South Hamgyong Province, North Korea) |
Date of death |
26 December, 2022 |
Died Place |
Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. |
Nationality |
North Korea
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We recommend you to check the complete list of Famous People born on 10 January.
He is a member of famous engineer with the age 90 years old group.
No Kum-sok Height, Weight & Measurements
At 90 years old, No Kum-sok height not available right now. We will update No Kum-sok's Height, weight, Body Measurements, Eye Color, Hair Color, Shoe & Dress size soon as possible.
Physical Status |
Height |
Not Available |
Weight |
Not Available |
Body Measurements |
Not Available |
Eye Color |
Not Available |
Hair Color |
Not Available |
Dating & Relationship status
He is currently single. He is not dating anyone. We don't have much information about He's past relationship and any previous engaged. According to our Database, He has no children.
Family |
Parents |
Not Available |
Wife |
Not Available |
Sibling |
Not Available |
Children |
Not Available |
No Kum-sok Net Worth
His net worth has been growing significantly in 2023-2024. So, how much is No Kum-sok worth at the age of 90 years old? No Kum-sok’s income source is mostly from being a successful engineer. He is from North Korea. We have estimated No Kum-sok's net worth, money, salary, income, and assets.
Net Worth in 2024 |
$1 Million - $5 Million |
Salary in 2024 |
Under Review |
Net Worth in 2023 |
Pending |
Salary in 2023 |
Under Review |
House |
Not Available |
Cars |
Not Available |
Source of Income |
engineer |
No Kum-sok Social Network
Instagram |
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Wikipedia |
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Imdb |
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Timeline
No Kum-sok (January 10, 1932 – December 26, 2022) was a North Korean-born American engineer and aviator who served as a senior lieutenant in the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force during the Korean War.
Under colonial rule, No was required to adopt a Japanese name, Okamura Kyoshi.
Approximately two months after the end of hostilities, he defected to South Korea in a MiG-15 aircraft, and was subsequently granted political asylum in the United States.
He then adopted the English name Kenneth H. Rowe.
No was born in Sinhung County, South Hamgyong Province, in then-Japanese occupied northern Korea.
His father was a baseball player for a company's team.
During World War II, No supported Japan and considered becoming a kamikaze pilot, but his father was adamantly against it.
No's support for Imperial Japan waned and he became pro-American, though he had to hide his pro-Americanism due to the dangers of being recognized as being an admirer of the U.S. in northern Korea at the time.
According to No, he attended a speech by Kim Il Sung in early 1948 as a teenager; although No was opposed to communism, he found Kim to be a capable orator.
However, No had to keep his anti-Communist views hidden, due to the danger of what would happen if North Korean authorities had found out about them.
During the Korean War, No applied to join the Korean People's Navy and was accepted after he lied in the selection test.
At the naval academy, No won the favor of his history professor who later helped No in the pilot selection test.
After passing the selection test, No was promoted to ensign, and brought to Manchuria for flight training.
He subsequently received promotion to the rank of lieutenant and then to senior lieutenant.
He flew more than 100 combat missions during the war.
On the morning of September 21, 1953, No flew his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 from Sunan just outside Pyongyang to Kimpo Air Base in South Korea.
The time from take-off in North Korea to landing in South Korea was 17 minutes, with the MiG reaching 1000 km/h.
During the flight, he was not chased by North Korean aircraft (as he was too far away), nor was he interdicted by American air or ground forces; U.S. radar near Kimpo had been shut down temporarily that morning for routine maintenance.
No landed the wrong way on the runway, almost hitting an F-86 Sabre jet landing at the same time from the opposite direction.
Captain Dave William veered out of the way and exclaimed over the radio "It's a goddamn MiG!".
Another American pilot, Captain Jim Sutton, who was circling the airport, said that if No had tried to land in the right direction, he would have been spotted and shot down.
No taxied the MiG into a free parking spot between two Sabre jets, got out of the plane and began tearing up a picture of Kim Il Sung that was placed in the cockpits of North Korean aircraft, and then threw up his arms in surrender at approaching airbase security guards.
After being taken into custody and debriefed by CIA operative "Andy Brown" (born Arseny Yankovsky, son of Yuri Yankovsky), No received a $100,000 reward offered by Operation Moolah for being the first pilot to defect with an operational aircraft, which he said he never heard of prior to his defection.
No explained that North Korean pilots were not allowed to listen to South Korean radio, the leaflets broadcasting the award were not dropped in Manchuria where the pilots were based, and even if they had heard about the reward, the pilots would not have understood the purchasing power of the US dollar; he said the program would have been more effective if they had offered a good job and residence in North America.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower was against paying defectors.
There were repercussions for No's defection.
According to Captain Lee Un-yong, a Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force flight instructor who defected to South Korea two years after No, General Wan-yong, the top commander of the Korean People's Army Air and Anti-Air Force, was demoted, and five of No's air force comrades and commanders were executed.
One of those killed was Lieutenant Kun Soo-sung, No's best friend and fellow pilot.
No's parents would have also been punished for their son's defection, but his father was already dead (having been killed in the Korean War) and his mother had already defected to the South.
The fate of No's uncle and the rest of his family remains unknown.
After No surrendered his aircraft, it was taken to Okinawa, where it was given USAF markings and test-flown by Captain H.E. Collins and Major Chuck Yeager.
The MiG-15 was later shipped to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base after a U.S. offer to return it to its rightful owner was ignored.
It is currently on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force.
In 1954, No immigrated to the United States, where he met Vice President Richard Nixon.
After immigrating, he anglicized his name to "Kenneth H. Rowe".
In 1957, he was joined in the U.S. by his mother, who had defected to South Korea earlier in 1951.
He subsequently graduated from the University of Delaware with degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering.
He married an émigré from Kaesong, North Korea; they raised two sons and a daughter, and he became a U.S. citizen.
He worked as an aeronautical engineer for Grumman, Boeing, Pan Am, General Dynamics, General Motors, General Electric, Lockheed, DuPont, and Westinghouse.
In 1970, he learned from a fellow defector that, as punishment for his defection, his best friend, Lieutenant Kun Soo Sung, had been executed along with four other pilots in his chain of command who were also executed by firing squad.