Half Life Summary

Half Life written by Paul H.B. Shin, embarks upon the life of Han Chol-Soo a nuclear scientist living in Queens as a North Korean diplomat, Hans wife and son disappear, as Han struggles to grasp the fact that she left knowing the consequences of deflection. He also struggles with the little freedoms he has while living in the United States, the desperation he faces knowing what may come if his wife deflects harsh punishment’s are to come, as the Workers Party is not forgiving. After returning home from a late night Han discovers his wife missing from their home. Scared, Han begins to think of all the possible outcomes unsure of what to do or what to feel Han decides to call Park and ask for help. Knowing that they must find her soon before the North Korean ambassador finds out. Han and Park simply forget the freedoms of American, but fear what the Workers party would do to them. Won-Sook would be killed and made an example of back home in North Korea. After recent deflections, it became clear that Han needed to find his wife as fast as possible. A North Korean trade attaché and his brother who deflected together were killed by a agent sent from the party for going against them. Han knew that if his wife deflected his daughter and family would face the ultimate sacrifice and would be used as an

They were killed as an example, to inflict fear upon the people of North Korea. Han expresses his concern to find his wife quickly because of the amount of deflections that were happening at that time. The use of extreme nationalism kept the citizens of North Korea “intact” where the government used the emotions of the citizens to make the workers party seem as though they were gods. Anti-American propaganda is used to show America as a bad place. Han’s wife dreams of a life away from that, hence her decision to leave with her