My Way (Korean film) not a song by frank sinatra

I have just finished watching the Korean historical fiction War movie. My Way directed by Kang Je Gyu is drawn from a real-life incident with a touch of Combat action, brotherhood rivalry turn into good companion, Chariot of Fire and Saving Private Ryan rolled into one and running a Olympic marathon final moments.

I still love this show despite of everything.

I was planning to see just a short time of the movie but ending up watching till the show end as it was able to attract my attention.
The setting took place in 1928 in Japanese colony of Korea Gyeongseong,  today's Seoul.

This story began with an innocent childhood rivalry between a Korean boy named Kim Jun-Shik and a Japanese boy named Hasegawa Tatsuo who carried out their competition into adulthood.

The two faced off against each other in a All Japan Trials for the marathon.

Jun-shik managed to win the race, although Tatsuo is awarded the winner but  he was disqualified for alleged cheating.  When the unfair decision was announced to the public, a riot by Korean spectators ensues.

As a consequence of rioting against the Japanese officials and spectators, all those involved in this incident were drafted to join the Imperial Japanese Army.

Korean resistance against the Japanese occupation, delivered a mysterious package at a party. Tatsuo's grandfather (a high ranking military officer) was greeting party-goers when subsequently the bomb packed inside the parcel exploded killing Tatsuo's grandfather instantly.

After the assassination, Tastsuo became infuriated and  start to develop intense animosity towards the Korean people.

Rioters are forcibly drafted into the Japanese army, including Jun-shik

Tatsuo's father who believes human life is more important than war thus wanted Tatsuo to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor, but he chose the latter to take vengeance.

Fate has brought them together again, but will there be hatred continued? No doubt he will never forgive but Tatsuo who is the new Colonel in the battalion pretends he did not recognised him. The first ordered he gave is to ask the previous Colonel to commit hara-kiri suicide which by ripping open the abdomen with a dagger or knife for brought shame to the Emperor after forced to retreat.

What A Horrible Way to Die!

No Retreat No Surrender the motto ? This tactic also applied by Sir Alex Ferguson's  football philosophy to play and a never-say-die attitude that produced some astonishing comebacks.

Actually was it Tennô heika banzai!" ("May the Emperor live ten thousand years!") - Japanese soldier(s) slogan when carrying out a Banzai Charge in Campaign. Heck didn't this phrase first originated in ancient China as an expression used to wish long life to the Emperor of China?
The Emperor would be thus addressed with "Wú huáng wànsuì, wànsuì, wànwànsuì" (吾皇萬歲，萬歲，萬萬歲; literally "[May] my Emperor [live and reign for] ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand of ten thousand years")

The Koreans being tragically treated as pawns, Kim were ordered to participate in kamikaze attacks against the Soviet Union in the Battle of Nomonhan. He disobey a direct order to join a suicide squad organized by Tatsuo.

After refusing, Jun-shik is imprisoned but he escaped with a Chinese anti-Japanese resistance and three other friends to the River Khalkhin. Jun-shik  hesitate to continue escape plan when seeing the advancing mighty tanks and infantry on the horizon. He ran back to his base to warn the Japanese forces as he feared of what lies ahead for his Koreans comrades.

Kamikaze attack on gas-loaded trucks against Soviet BT-7 tanks in vain

Jun-shik succeed in warning the Japanese forces that a large-scale Soviet tank attack is approaching but Tatsuo refuses to refused to budge from his tough stand on never retreat.

He reluctance to called in action for troops to retreat like the western movies and cavalrymen when they hear a bugle call. What followed was both Tatsuo and Jun-shik are seen flying through the air, knocked out unconscious from the explosion.

In February 1940, Jun-shik and Tatsuo end up in Kungursk POW camp, north of Perm, in the Soviet Union, where both Koreans and Japanese are confined together.

Tatsuo is disgraced and almost lost his life by Jun-shik in a fight. When news comes that without officially declaring war, Germany started the armed conflict with the Soviet. Because of the manpower shortages faced by the Soviets in its fight against Nazis Germany, the Red army prompted to forcibly drafted the thousands of other prisoners into the Soviet Red Army.

Tatsuo and Jun-shik are incredible fortunate to find themselves still able to survive at the end of the battle and Jun-shik persuade Tatsuo to don German military apparel taken clothes from the bodies and get through the mountains.

They all fight in a a bloody battle against the German army where both sides forces suffered heavy casualties at Hedosk in December 1941.

Kim giving Tatsuo a piggy back ride, something unthinkable in the beginning of the movie. "He Ain't Heavy, He's my Brother", it strike my mind on how beautiful if he sings this or play the song in the background.

As they travel on foot,  it becomes apparent that Tatsuo has been badly injured. They come across a town where Jun-shik goes outside to seek medical assistance to treat Tatsuo after leaving him at an abandoned house .

During his quest, Jun-shik had stumbled upon a platoon of German soldiers who are unable to comprehend a single word of what he was saying, captured him. In the meantime, the dying Tatsuo is found by Nazi soldiers
 searching the house he was placed in.

Three years have passed, Tatsuo has recovered from his injury and now is part of the German Army. He finds himself on the beaches of Normandy, France,  in the final weeks before D-Day Allied invasion. As the army fortified military post where troops are stationed, Tatsuo sees a familiar face running on the beach.

Guess who else is back? He catches up with him to be sure it's not an optical illusion and see that it is Jun-shik. They decide to run away from their camp Normandy and go back home in Korea to be with their families.

What started as feud between the two guys who getting on each other's nerves, end up
with both of them act as a team, working together in the same boat for survival.

As they attempted to leave, the Allied start of a major offensive against the Germans by invasion of Normandy D-Day landings. Jun-shik and Tatsuo are caught in the crossfire, locked into a machine gun nest by a German officer.

Just like running a  three-legged race, Tatsuo turns to provide support for Jun-shik injury. Two enemies that are finally united in their shared hardship. Jun-shik refuses to kill his enemy, then goes on to save him in combat many times over despite the obviousness of Tatsuo’s hesitancy to ever return the favor.

They run toward inland, but Jun-shik is wounded by a bomb fragments in his chest. With his dying breath, he tells Tatsuo to assume his identity as Empire of Japan launched an undeclared naval attacked on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii that propelled the United States into World War II. Japan became an enemy of the United States.

 Life is full of happy and sad moments, Kim dies in the arms of Tatsuo, his once an enemy turns into saviour.

 Before Kim died he  reveals to Tatsuo in so many words that “you gave me something to do” (when they were boys). He removed his military dog tags and gave it to Tatsuo, knowing he could have been captured and shot if the American knew he is a Japanese. "He is now Jun-shik."

 In the end,Tatsuo is later seen running and winning the 1948 Olympic games representing Korean using Kim Jun Shik's name then a flashback appears of their first childhood encounter with his late comrade.

Jun-shik had hopes and dreams of the day he will win the Tokyo Olympics marathon, his wish was fulfilled on behalf by Tatsuo who was once his sworn enemy .

 This one's for you... My brother in Arms! Tatsuo running under his name

This film is inspired by the true story, his fascinating true account.. His Way.

In June 1944, American paratroopers in Normandy thought they had captured a Japanese soldier in German uniform, but he turned out to be Korean.
The actual person name was Yang Kyoungjong and his story is too unbelievable that cause me to double confirm by googling.

This man got 9 lives like a kitty cat. He was  forced to fight as a soldier for three sides in WW2  and yet able to survive until old age.

Yang give new meaning to Universal Soldier

This is his incredible story.

In 1938 at the tender age of 18 he was conscripted by the Japanese into the army in Manchuria.

The Red Army wins against the Imperial Japan in the battle of Khalkhin-Gol, Yang was sent to a cold labour camp at Siberia.

Then war broke out between Soviet Russia and Germany. It started when Germany invaded Moscow in June 22, 1941.

Again he was presssed to become a  Soviet Soldier and fought in the Russian front. Later he was captured by the Germans and taken prisoner at the Battle of Kharkov in Ukraine.

Once more Yang was forcibly drafted into the German army into the Wehrmacht to go fight the invading Allies in Normandy.

When D-Day arrived on June 6, 1944, Yang (now 24 years old) was captured and served time in Britain at the POW camp.

He went to the United States. No, no more drafting in army. Yang now an ordinary US citizen.

He settled down there near the Northwestern Univ. in Illinois until he died on April 7, 1992. Sad to know, not even his two sons and a daughter never knew about his unbelievable life story. Is it too painful to tell?

But if he told them the way it happened, they’ll never believe him!

It’s not as easy as saying “My son do you know when I was in my youth, I played for Manchester United (England), followed by Real Madrid (Spain) and La Galaxy (USA). Guess who I’m talking about?

I think if he is able to write his autobiography it will be a best seller or if he sell his story to a movie maker, maybe this movie will then be named as My Story instead.

One think that surprise me is this technique of using POW prisoner turning to fight against their enemy was it a standard practice at that time? Will those force to fight for them turn against them? Nah they have the machine guns ready at the back, any retreat they will be killed. No retreat No surrender, to be able to live you have to move forward and win.

War is morally and ethically wrong. Terminating someone precious life is not acceptable. 

Even after this war the sight will long be remembered and are kept within the hearts but many will had deep scars in emotions.

I remember the movie from Deer Hunter, a war veteran unable to forget the horrible consequence of War killed himself. Those who go to war, carry the traumatic after-effects. Now in civilian life are unable to cope with the horrible things they've ordered to carried out.

War is an ugly bloody business. Many terrible mistakes of war resulted from ‘friendly fire’ that causes civilian or army casualties.

To be killed by enemy fire was to die heroic but to be killed by the same fellow army was shameful!

It’s hard to take a person life and not as common as killing a lifestock for food. When a person goes to a army training they’ll be brainwash to be reminded that you’ll have to kill or be kill by the enemy and should any soldiers killed during action, this will likely be say..

your service and your sacrifice for your country will never be forgotten. ...

Your tragic loss is felt , RIP Boys you have made your country proud ...

No war can be fight in fair and gentlemen manner. It hard to accept that if our enemy attacks and kills our soldier, can you still treat them decently when they are captured, and can we accept the same gesture or treatment in return.

It’s always an eye for an eye or payback time, emotion of hatred and vengeance will be overtaking our mind. Nothing can be reminded to be fair to the prisoner on according to Article 4 of the Third Geneva Convention protect captured military personnel, guerilla fighters and civilians. Making it illegal to torture prisoners of war, they can only be required to give their name, date of birth, rank and service number.

We have seen in times of war, many heroic deed perform not by soldier but by ordinary people.

One of them is John Rabe, a German businessman who used his Nazi membership to create a protective International Safety Zone in Nanking, China, helping to save over 200,000 Chinese from the Nanking Massacre.

Everyone loves peace and no sane person wants war....not one single sane soul! People would rather live in peace and harmony.


Conflict can causes death, poverty, disease and world destruction.
Why can't we be friends!

Perhaps one day the world unite and the only war is against alien threat invasion(not illegal alien). 

Like a man says in his song..

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people living life in peace

You, you may say 

I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one


Let there be peace and harmony to the world!