Li Mirok was born in 1899 in the city of Haeju in the Hwanghae province. After participating in the March 1st Movement in 1919, Li moved to Shanghai to avoid Japanese suppression. In May 26th 1920, Li Mirok arrived in Germany and studied medicine at the University of Wuerzburg and Heidelberg University, and he received a PhD in Zoology from the University of Munich in 1928. However, Li soon started to focus on creative activities that had no relation to his major. Li Mirok mainly released short stories based in Korea in German newspapers and magazines, and he became widely known as his work published by Piper Publishing in 1946, The Yalu Flows, which gained a positive response from German literary circles and readers.