Things grow tenser after the United States enters the war due to the attack on Pearl Harbor, giving Tae-Yul his first glimpse of an airplane, which prompts him to fantasize about flying one himself.

During this time all citizens are ordered to stop their activities and head out to the streets to listen to the news, which was given to the block leaders by government officials.

However, Sun-hee soon finds that Tomo's warning did not indicate that the government was aware of his activities with the Korean resistance, but that they were going to take all metal items (including the printing press) and donate them to the military.

Tae-yul is put through rudimentary flight training that is cut short due to a lack of Japanese soldiers.

He is spared from this fate when the day for the mission arrives as the weather makes it impossible for the pilots to successfully fly.

Tae-yul returns home, where he confesses to his family that his plan was that when the time came, he would take out another kamikaze pilot instead of aiming at the American ships.

[4] Publishers Weekly gave When My Name Was Keoko a starred review and wrote "Through the use of the shifting narrators, Park subtly points up the differences between male and female roles in Korean society and telling details provide a clear picture of the siblings and their world.