Small acts of defiance follow these demands – Sun-hee’s mother hides a meaningful dragon brooch in her underwear. Families are forced to give up metal including pots and pans and their jewelry to be melted into munitions. And they become even harsher and more demanding as they begin to lose the war. The Japanese authorities continue make life very hard for the Koreans, asking for more and more to be sacrificed for the Emperor. Now, during their nightly accounting, when everyone must stand outside their homes for as long as the Japanese want them to, they search the Kim home to find evidence of Uncle’s activities. Sun-hee immediately warns her Uncle and he disappears, no one knows to where. One night, Sun-hee’s old Japanese friend Tomo comes by to hint that Uncle is in danger.
His outward friendly display towards the Japanese is an attempt to keep their suspicions at bay. Sun-hee and Tae-yul decide to investigate Uncle’s activities, only to discover that he not Chin-il-pa, but working for the Korean resistance movement. Sun-hee and Tai-yul are wondering if there fiercely pro-Korea Uncle has suddenly become Chin-il-pa, a “lover of Japan.” Chin-il-pa is are Koreans who gets rich because they cooperate with the Japanese government (pg 22) and they are thought of as traitors by other Koreans. As the Japanese become more and more restrictive, it seems that Uncle is cozying up to them, getting many additional printing jobs from them. Their father’s brother, Uncle, lives with the family and runs a printing store.
Everyone is unhappy about this name change, but what can they do? Quietly resisting, the Kim family can and do remain Korean within their homes and within their hearts. Sun-hee becomes Keoko, Tae-yul is given the name Nobuo and their last name Kim is changed to Kaneyama. The Japanese have occupied Korea since 1910, systematically suppressing Korean culture in favor of their own, and now, they want every Korean to change their names to a Japanese name. The story of the Kim family in Korea during World War II is told in the alternating voice of Sun-hee, 10, and her brother, Tai-yul, 13. My Name Was Keoko is written in the first person, but with an interesting twist.
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