"The Yalu River Flows" is an autobiographical novel by author Imireuk, which captures the peaceful nature and gentle people of this land in restrained language.
In 2016, to mark the 70th anniversary of the book's publication, Mr. Park Gyun, the chairman of the 'Dr. Imireuk Memorial Foundation' and a long-time researcher of the author's life and literature, even writing a biography, personally translated the book, adding to its significance.


When days go by without one's control and life becomes difficult, people retrieve forgotten moments from their hearts.
I'm talking about precious people, moments spent looking at beautiful nature, and times when I was truly happy, even if I can't go back now.
These are the things that “The Yalu River Flows” tells young readers.
What comes to mind for a person who has endured the twists and turns of life, and what internal and external changes transform human life.
And through this process, the novel approaches the message that Imireuk encountered, such as what remains in his heart.


Neither the protagonist nor the author of this book is broken by the overwhelming loneliness and trials, but instead forges their own path in a new place.
Living in a place with a different language, culture, and way of thinking, without any blood relatives, he is constantly visited by longing and loneliness, but through these things, he complements the Eastern foundation that is the basis of his existence and completes his life.
While observing and utilizing the unfamiliar, he never stopped asking and exploring questions about who he was and where he came from.
This book contains clues to the strength and direction that will enable young readers to navigate life silently.

The two of us had no choice but to always be stuck together.
I still remember that Suam and I wore the same pink top with dark brown tassels and gray pants, and we wore the same black leather shoes.
Suam was only about half a year older than me, so if we hadn't looked so different, people would have mistaken us for twins.
(Omitted) The two of us were inseparable partners, always laughing and crying together.
-Suam Middle

My favorite painting was a painting of a shepherd boy.
He was playing a flute while riding an ox.
It seemed as if he was walking back to his cabin, hidden just beyond the distant hills, past the tall willows.
The sight of an ox leisurely walking along a sunny path at a leisurely pace delighted me, and I thought I could hear the sound of a flute.
I felt boundless peace in the picture.
-The first punishment I received

We went to the arched gate and checked to see if the south gate was locked and if the candy vendor had set up shop again.
On a large taffy board, delicious square taffy, candy sticks, and pieces of candy were displayed according to size and spice.
A small lamp stood beside it, and a pair of scissors, used to cut pieces of candy, lay on a candy board.
The candy vendor would often hum a sad tune, talk about all the spices he had mixed into the sweet candy, and sometimes tap out beats with a pair of small scissors.
We walked back home through the dark alley with a proud heart.
I wasn't even scared of little goblins.
Already, a faint light was leaking out from the doors of each house.
We continued to hum that sweet tune of evening music.
-From the South Gate

Leaving the city, I climbed the hill to see the border river once more.
Across the sandy beach between the hills, a blue river flowed quietly in the sunset.
The river here was very narrow.
Because it was less than 500 meters wide, it was possible to discern the faces of the people on the other side of the river to some extent.
They were spreading out their nets.
Women and girls were seen sitting in front of their houses, shelling beans to prepare dinner.
The boys were playing and teasing each other.
Long ago, the border river that separated our homeland from the endless Manchurian plains flowed ceaselessly.
In China's cities, everything was huge and gloomy, but in our homeland over there, everything was cute and bright.
Thatched cottages, covered with thin straw, were scattered here and there, leaning against the hillside.
Evening smoke was already rising from the chimney.
Far in the distance, beneath the clear autumn sky, the mountains and hills were lined up in a row.
The sunlight illuminated the mountain.
Then the setting sun shone upon it once more, and a blue twilight gradually covered the mountain.
It seemed as if the valley of Suyangsan Mountain and the city were visible far to the south.
Also, as a child, I could almost hear the majestic evening music that I used to hear every evening from the three-story stone pagoda, echoing with that same majestic sound from somewhere to the south.

The Yalu River flowed ceaselessly, surging.
-The Yalu River flows

One evening, a Korean I sometimes ate with at the same restaurant told me that there were several other Korean students there besides me.
He said that they also cannot go to Europe because they do not have passports.
I learned that there were four other North Korean students sitting in the same desolate room as me, waiting for some good news.
They had already been here in Shanghai since summer, intending to go to France to study.
Having waited for their passports for nearly half a year, they were now so discouraged that they had given up even hope of ever being able to travel.
Still, there was nothing they could do but stay here and wait.
-Waiting

On deck, in addition to university students from East Asia, there were also Indians who had boarded from Singapore.
However, since they were not college students, they did not stay in the college cabins like we did.
It didn't feel like I was in first or second class though.
They stayed on deck the whole time.
I slept and ate there.
There were two old men with white hair, an old woman, and a young woman.
They had taken up residence in the middle of the deck, furnished with small luggage and blankets like a living quarters.
-In the ocean

One day, I was on my way home from the post office.
I stopped in front of an unfamiliar house.
Because a bunch of red-fruited gourds were blooming in the sun-drenched garden of that house.
How delighted I was to see the gourds I'd seen in our backyard, the gourds I'd loved and played with as a child! It was as if a part of my homeland was vividly before me.
-At destination

--- From the text