New Homeland Chief Fathered Daughter in Korea
By Reuben Staines
©2004 The Korea Times
December 5, 2004
Bernard Kerik, the man tasked with protecting the United States from the
threat of terrorist attacks, fathered a daughter with a South Korean woman while
serving on the peninsula in the mid-1970s, U.S. media reported over the weekend.
Kerik, who was selected to replace Tom Ridge as secretary of the Homeland
Security Department on Thursday, had the baby with a woman identified as Sun-ja
after arriving in South Korea as a 19-year-old military policeman in December
1974, according to several reports.
The baby, named Lisa, was born in 1975. But Kerik deserted her and her mother
when he left the country in February 1976.
In his 2001 autobiography, titled "The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of
Justice," Kerik called the decision "a mistake I will always regret,
and I pray to God that one day I can make it right."
He said Sun-ja, who later married another U.S. soldier, had not allowed him
to meet his daughter until seeing him on The Oprah Winfrey Show following his
Sept. 11 heroics.
Sun-ja arranged for the two to meet after 26 years of separation and they
appeared together at Kerik's retirement dinner as police chief at the New York
Sheraton in 2002.
Kerik named Lisa along with his two other daughters and son during his
acceptance speech for the Homeland Security post.
The 49-year-old also recollected his first encounter with the Korean martial
art, taekwondo, during his tour on the peninsula, which he described as a source
of inspiration throughout his career.
Kerik's appointment has drawn considerable interest in the U.S. due to his
colorful past and prominent role after Sept. 11. With the news of his daughter,
the South Korea media seem likely to pay similarly close attention.
