Forcibly inducted into the Japanese Army, he was part of the Japanese mainland defense in 1945. When WWII ended, he escorted 2500 Korean soldiers back to their homeland and then, because of his English proficiency, became the first Korean hired by the U.S. Military Government in Korea to begin building the US Army's Korean Constabulary.
In 1948, days after the Republic of Korea became a country and the ROK Army was founded, he was one of the first six officers sent to Ft. Benning, GA to attend training at the Army Infantry School. Four days after the North Koreans invaded the South on 25 June 1950, he was selected to personally brief General Douglas McArthur (Commander in Chief of the United Nations Command) who flew in from Japan. In 1951, at age 28, he became the youngest Brigadier in the ROK Army. For the performance of his duties in organizing and administering the Korean Army Training Center as its Commandant, he received the Officer's Degree of the US Army Legion of Merit. Commanding the ROK Army's 3rd Infantry Division, he restored the front lines at the 38th Parallel in the final battle of the war. For these actions he received the Commander Degree of the US Army Legion of Merit. This neck order is the highest award given to a foreigner. Other awards included the highest military decoration awarded by the ROK government and a medal from the King of Greece for his "valuable contribution towards the successful completion of the war."
Sun-Ha was the first ROK representative on the United Nations Military Armistice Commission at Panmunjom. In 1959 as a Major General in the ROK Army, he left military service at age 36. He then founded KORPAC, a very successful transportation company which shipped household goods of military families moving to Europe and the United States. When he refused kickback requests from the CIA, his company was taken from him.
He then moved to Japan, enrolled his youngest daughter at Chofu High School and began dating the school's counselor, Sandra Krajicek. In 1971, the two were married in Omaha but two years later returned to Seoul where Sun-Ha, as a vice-president of Trans -Asia Engineering, was able to obtain many international loans for the rebuilding of Korea's infrastructure. After a five-year stint in Germany and another five in Seoul, the couple returned to Omaha in 1993 to live out their final days.
Sun-Ha Lim passed away on Sunday, July 22, 2018, at home in Omaha at the age of 95 years.
He was preceded in death by his parents; 6 siblings; daughter Sook-Ja (Vicky) Jang; and son-in-law Arthur Yamamoto.
He is survived by his loving wife of 47 years Sandra (Krajicek) Lim; sons Seung-Ho (Jong-Hee), Sung-Rin (Tess); daughters Youn Yamamoto and Seung-Hie (Jack) Hollister; son-in-law Dong-Ik (Tony) Jang; 10 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren; sister Sun-Nyo (Bok-Yun) Kim; brother-in-law Paul Krajicek
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