A little know-how and a basic kit goes a long, long way toward survival. Sounds like Mr. Kim kept his head and knew enough basic survival to get through in fine shape. Good for him.
There’s an old Tim Cahill essay called “The Book on Survival.” It starts off telling the story of two teens who were climbing a mountain, but got stranded on a ledge with darkness falling. They had some matches and a book on survival. The essay goes on to talk about the attractions of the whole survival book genre before coming back to the boys. After a couple of hours of using tips in the book to get a fire lit—and failing—they lit the book on fire, were promptly spotted by rescuers and immediately rescued.