The Korean from America

There are many descriptions of him - a malcontent a misguided liberal and even being un-American. He's an international business consultant.<p> The year began with an industrial diamond sale in Beijing. While there he becomes involved with a North Korean and his sister who want to defect to America. Trying to stop them is a North Korean policeman who hunts defectors.<p> Meanwhile he tries to carry out his business obligations. Along the way he meets a variety of characters who are the modern generation of the new Asia.<p> He meets a special woman who could change his life. He has doubts about sustaining a lasting relationship but she has none and possesses the conviction he lacks. The affair becomes part of his dilemma.<p> Life for him had become a transitory series of personal connections ending in unfulfilled expectations. A major obstacle in his search for stability is that he cannot define his own identity. He believes going to Asia is an answer. Asia is a mythical haven for him.<p> Asians give him an identity but it is not uniquely persona. It's generic. Peopled there know him as the Korean from America. Maybe that's his only real identity.