Yang Kyoungjong, a Korean man living under Japanese rule, was first conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army. He was reportedly captured by Soviet forces during the 1939 Battles of Khalkhin Gol, then later conscripted into the Red Army.

The story continues that he was captured again by Germany on the Eastern Front and subsequently forced to serve in a German unit known as an Ostbataillon. Finally, he was allegedly captured by American troops in Normandy shortly after the D-Day landings in 1944.

While this narrative is compelling, historians have never found definitive evidence confirming that Yang Kyoungjong himself experienced all of these events. The story largely stems from a single photograph of an Asian prisoner captured in Normandy and later retellings. No verified military records have conclusively linked that prisoner to Yang or documented his service in all three armies.

What is well established is that many Koreans, living under Japanese colonial rule, were conscripted into the Japanese military. Some were later captured by the Soviets, and some prisoners were subsequently incorporated into German auxiliary units. Thus, while the sequence of serving multiple armies was possible and did occur in some cases, Yang’s personal story remains unverified.