List of Cold War Pilot Defections - North Korea

North Korea

• On April 28, 1950, 24-year-old Lieutenant Lee Kun Soon defected by flying his Soviet-made Ilyushin Il-10 to Pusan, South Korea.

• On September 21, 1953, 21-year-old No Kum-Sok, a senior lieutenant in the North Korean air force, flew his MiG-15 to the South and is associated with Operation Moolah. Considered an intelligence bonanza, since this fighter plane was then the best the Communist bloc had, No was awarded the then immense sum of $100,000 and the right to reside in the United States. An offer to return the MiG was ignored, and the aircraft is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Dayton, Ohio.

• On June 21, 1955, North Korean air force pilots Capt. Lee Un Yong and Lt. Lee Eun Song defected to Seoul, South Korea, with Yak-18 training plane.

• On February 25, 1983, Captain Lee Ung-Pyong (28) of the North Korean air force used a training exercise to defect and landed his MiG-19 at an airfield in Seoul. According to then-common practice, he received a commission in the South Korean Air Force, eventually becoming a colonel and taught at the South Korean air force academy until his death in 2002. He received a reward of ₩1.2 billion.

• On May 23, 1996, Captain Li Chol-Su of the North Korean air force defected with another MiG-19, numbered 529, to Suwon Air Base, South Korea, and reportedly left behind his wife and two children. Lee was rewarded with ₩480 million, at the time the equivalent of $560,000. The pilot, age 30, had accumulated 350 flying hours in a 10-year career. He was participating in practice maneuvers with two other jets, then slipped away unnoticed. He had tried to escape on May 9 but was not able to because of low fuel reserves.