United We War is an action thriller depicting a three-day fight to the death in North Korea after the demise of the Kim Dynasty. 

Kang-myung Jang, who once expressed his aspiration to “write about our times” has made full use of his talents as a journalist-turned-writer with this novel that forces us to face the naked truth of Korean society. 

United We War begins right after the collapse of the Kim Dynasty. A suspicious man appears in chaotic Jangpung, North Korea. This man with a blade-shaped scar on his face is Reechol Jang. Hiding his intentions, he scours about in search of an ex-member of the Army of the Shincheon Revenge Unit and drifts into Jangpung, the closest region to South Korea. Minjun Kang, a young South-Korean is “conscripted for a second time” this time as a soldier for the peacekeeping force only because he speaks English. His luck runs completely out when he is sent to the infamous Hope Unit in Jangpung. Minjun is swept into a whirlwind of unpredictability with Captain Michelle Long from the narcotics investigation squad. 

“I wrote this book as though I was running full-speed,” says Kang-myung Jang, who has raised provocative questions on Korean society with each of his previous novels. “I gave this book everything I got to build suspense and momentum.” True to his intentions, United We War pulls readers right into its world as Jang handles the sensitive scenario of the collapse of North Korea and keeps the tension going all the way to the cathartic end. According to film director Minho Wu, “This novel is deeply dark and mysterious and makes you anxious to know how it’ll end,” and Seokjae Hong’s review observes that “Kang-myung Jang’s prophesy is ominous and disturbing, but as always, eavesdropping on bad omens is interesting and exciting.” Through this nightmarishly dreadful but realistic fiction, the writer asks us which path we should follow and what we should live for, while demonstrating through a thrilling plot that literature is the very thing that allows us to take a cold hard look at where we stand.