KB News Desk
Bob Mosier, the son of Robert H. Mosier, a US Marine combat photographer who documented the Korean War, is searching for a Korean boy identified only as Kim who lived and worked alongside his father and became one of his closest companions during the conflict.
Mosier said he approached the Korean Embassy for help with his search after rediscovering a 1953 National Geographic article co-authored by his father in which Kim was featured.
Having lost his father at age 17, Mosier said the search is a way of learning more about the man he never got to know as an adult.
According to Mosier, Kim’s home was destroyed in the war and his father killed. The boy became a domestic worker for a group of US Marines, who provided him with food, clothing and an opportunity to learn. Kim also accompanied Robert H. Mosier on photography assignments and dreamed of becoming a photographer himself.
When Robert H. Mosier returned to the United States after the war, the family considered adopting Kim but ultimately decided he should remain in Korea with his extended family as the country rebuilt.
Mosier said he has long wondered what became of Kim after the two were separated and hopes to learn more about what happened from Kim’s perspective.
Fighting back tears as he imagined addressing Kim directly, Mosier said, “Whether you realize it or not, we’re brothers in a sense. Even if you’re Korean and I’m an American, we share so much in common.”
Believing that Kim would now be in his mid-to-late 80s, Mosier said he hopes to reconnect with him or his family and learn what became of his life after the war.
“I would just ask anyone that happens to see this information to reach out,” he said.
The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs has launched a public appeal and is collecting tips from anyone who may know Kim. It is accepting information through its website and YouTube channel.
