TEXT

A boys frustration in strange

A yellowed, aged newspaper article from The Sacramento Union, dated Sunday, January 29, 1978, titled "A boy’s frustration in a strange, hostile culture." The article describes the struggles of Chol Soo Lee, a 16-year-old Korean immigrant in America, focusing on his experiences with cultural alienation, juvenile delinquency, and mental health challenges. The layout includes two black-and-white photographs: one at the top right shows a woman sitting across a table from a boy, with the caption "I just started walking toward the Pacific Ocean," and another below the main text features a formal portrait of Chol Soo Lee as a boy in Korea. The article has visible folds and some handwritten marks near the title. Full Transcription A boy’s frustration in a strange, hostile culture The Sacramento Union, Sunday, January 29, 1978 From A1 Notes with those on juvenile delinquency and social services that worked closely with Lee. Thousands of pages of official results on Lee were scrutinized. Also, this reporter has had a series of correspondences and interviews with the lone Korean felon at the Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy. And laid plain with that Lee’s roots, the reporter has also met with his mother and younger sister, who had given up hope for outside help and have withdrawn into their private shell. TO SUM UP CHOL SOO Lee’s 16-year life in America, his is a misplaced person’s saga as strange as the Kafkaesque character “The Trial” who is arrested, convicted, and executed for a crime by courts that neither the character nor the reader can find the nature of his trial but does intrigue us. Chol Soo Lee has been living a slow death mostly from his intense frustration and quiet struggle. When his entry into the United States at age 12 could have been an easier and ordinary one, it quickly became a disaster for both him and his family. But it didn’t work out that way for a child of the Korean War who was orphaned when his father was killed. Korea was at that time a nation still reeling from the scars of a fratricidal war. His mother and sister fled to San Francisco to rejoin his mother after she lost her parental rights to him and the younger sister for a while. As an example: The American for Abandoned Children’s western staff—was equally helpless. She couldn’t write or read only this translation might have kept her in touch. IN ABOUT A YEAR, official records show, the San Francisco social agency became alarmed and, after consulting a psychiatrist, decided Lee was beyond control and mentally “troubled.” The situation at home was ping-pong, and confusion reigned. The mother and sister had different ideas on discipline, and the mother had to be absent much of the time working as a cleaning woman at low-end income. The younger sister was often left alone and became emotionally unstable. Lee, isolated and desperate, got into petty thefts. People started to call the police. He was beaten, lectured, and threatened. He often pulls his knees up to his chest and sits for hours and hours in silence. He became a problem child, and the mother got more and more desperate. She asked for help but none was available. HIS WAS An Asian boy who didn’t speak English and was constantly being transferred between group homes and foster homes. He was alone in a new environment, and his frustration and loneliness was growing rapidly. Thus began the American ordeal for Chol Soo Lee. A GOOD CASEWORKER (official school case reference) says: “He was a bright boy, but he was not a good boy as far as the system was concerned. He was a good case for the system.” Chol Soo Lee ruefully recalled years later, there was always a sense of futility. “I tried my best, but they didn’t understand me. They didn’t understand my mother. They didn’t understand my sister. They just didn’t understand us.” **No one knows what could have happened to any Asian kid who was thrust into a strange country at Chol Soo Lee’s circumstances. Sometimes it really was our loss in this war-torn world that nobody really cared about us.” In class work, Chol Soo found himself in regular lessons in which teachers often had no training in special issues for Asian kids. He was shunned, mostly by regular kids in the classroom, and often found it difficult to make friends. He says his name—an “odd, foreign English” often got strange looks and snickers. IN ABOUT A YEAR, official records show, the San Francisco social agency became alarmed and, after consulting a psychiatrist, decided Lee was beyond control and mentally “troubled.” The situation at home was ping-pong, and confusion reigned. The mother and sister had different ideas on discipline, and the mother had to be absent much of the time working as a cleaning woman at low-end income. The younger sister was often left alone and became emotionally unstable. Lee, isolated and desperate, got into petty thefts. People started to call the police. He was beaten, lectured, and threatened. He often pulls his knees up to his chest and sits for hours and hours in silence. He became a problem child, and the mother got more and more desperate. She asked for help but none was available. HIS WAS An Asian boy who didn’t speak English and was constantly being transferred between group homes and foster homes. He was alone in a new environment, and his frustration and loneliness was growing rapidly. Thus began the American ordeal for Chol Soo Lee. A GOOD CASEWORKER (official school case reference) says: “He was a bright boy, but he was not a good boy as far as the system was concerned. He was a good case for the system.” Chol Soo Lee ruefully recalled years later, there was always a sense of futility. “I tried my best, but they didn’t understand me. They didn’t understand my mother. They didn’t understand my sister. They just didn’t understand us.” **No one knows what could have happened to any Asian kid who was thrust into a strange country at Chol Soo Lee’s circumstances. Sometimes it really was our loss in this war-torn world that nobody really cared about us.” In class work, Chol Soo found himself in regular lessons in which teachers often had no training in special issues for Asian kids. He was shunned, mostly by regular kids in the classroom, and often found it difficult to make friends. He says his name—an “odd, foreign English” often got strange looks and snickers. AND OTHER SCHOOLS Chol Soo came to his dreamland and was caught in a nightmare. After a year, he was moved to another school and another foster home. He was still unable to speak English and was still alone. He was always in trouble with school authorities. He was always being punished. He was always being blamed for things he didn’t do. They make him stand for punishment. They say my boy is incorrigible. The next year, he was still not adjusted, but the school system kept moving him from one place to another. AND STILL, SOO came to his dreamland and was caught in a nightmare. After a year, he was moved to another school and another foster home. He was still unable to speak English and was still alone. He was always in trouble with school authorities. He was always being punished. He was always being blamed for things he didn’t do. They make him stand for punishment. They say my boy is incorrigible. The next year, he was still not adjusted, but the school system kept moving him from one place to another. AND OTHER SCHOOLS Chol Soo came to his dreamland and was caught in a nightmare. After a year, he was moved to another school and another foster home. He was still unable to speak English and was still alone. He was always in trouble with school authorities. He was always being punished. He was always being blamed for things he didn’t do. They make him stand for punishment. They say my boy is incorrigible. The next year, he was still not adjusted, but the school system kept moving him from one place to another. ENJOY THE RICHES He was still not happy. He felt ashamed and said he wanted to die. “Maybe I am not a real boy. Maybe I am not a real human being,” he said. “I am not happy. I am not happy. I am not happy.” He tried to run away. He felt stupid, idiotic. He says, “In American’s crazy boy, they try to punish me. They make him stand for punishment. They say my boy is incorrigible.” WHY THE SUICIDE attempt? Chol Soo, discussing the incident recently, said it was not a real suicide. It was caught in the middle of the Korean War. I was losing my mind at the time. I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just walking toward the Pacific Ocean. I just wanted to leave everything behind.” The juvenile court, to depart Korea where it was born. They sent me to hospital for three months at McAuley Institute, after another month at another facility and further suicide attempts reported. The boy kept his strange mindset with his shoelaces, and picking at his shoe—a memorable episode of tranquil, troubled repose. “More frequently does so through suicide attempts. Were reported.” His commitment to the hospital followed his runaways from his home in America. He was picked up after sleeping in a park, and placed back in juvenile hall. “Why did you run away?” “I felt dark or disinterested. Maybe I just wanted to disappear. No, I felt a need to die. All I ever read of no books. I can’t bear at the time and aunt’s family in Korea, why had treated boys bad. The aunt’s family was a hard time, and it worried the death.” Then he said, “I just started walking toward the Pacific Ocean.” After he was declared sane at Napa, he was placed in a Hayward foster home. In October of that year, he again ran away. He wandered the streets, but he was picked up and returned to the home. He was told he could not go back to his mother. “She was sick and upset and not able to take me to stay. That night I left and slept in a bus station and the next day was picked up and taken back to a juvenile hall.” IN THE WINTER of that same year, he ran away. “Maybe I didn’t know why I was unhappy or why I was missed by Korea.” He visited his bones. He had visited his relatives in Hayward foster home. “After they returned to their own home, I was left alone. My mother said she was too tired to come to visit me anymore. I sometimes cried at home. I tried to live like other people.” One mile from Hayward to Livermore. No, I just returned. Taken Highway 101. To Livermore. I stayed and saw the lake. I kept riding at night. I returned. Finally, I got to Livermore and turned a discarded bicycle and returned to the home. He said: “I was hungry and my bicycle broke. Something was wrong with the tire and the spokes. Something was wrong. I had the bicycle in the blur. They sent me to the county jail.” He tried to go back to live with his mother. A Highway Patrol car was called. He was declared to the CYA at the summer of ‘68. He was returned to the juvenile hall and committed to the CYA. Nowadays, students are friends or mothers’ homes and work, and there was no real contact with juvenile halls. “I was always in trouble. I was always in trouble. I was always in trouble. I was always in trouble. One question: ‘stop asking me why I am in here.’”

Text 44.03.08

View full version

Description

In this January 29, 1978, article, published in the Sacramento Union, K. W. Lee describes the isolating and traumatic experiences Chol Soo Lee endured in America.

Object ID

44.03.08

Citation (Chicago-style 18th Edition)

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data, please verify before use.

Sacramento Union

.

A boys frustration in strange

.

The Sacramento Union

.

January 29, 1978

.

Multimedia details

Creator

Sacramento Union

Publisher

The Sacramento Union

Date

January 29, 1978

Location

Sacramento, California

Module

Free Chol Soo Lee: How a Lone Death Row Inmate Sparked a Movement, Module 3

Language

eng

Type

Text

Format

Article

File Format

jpg

Subject

Newspapers; Self-portraits; Culture; Immigration;

Source

UC Davis Shields Library/Sacramento Union Archive

Credit Line

Courtesy of Sacramento Union Archive, UC Davis Shields Library.

Licensor

UC Davis

MUMI Number

44.03.TXT.026

Creator

Sacramento Union

Publisher

The Sacramento Union

Date

January 29, 1978

Location

Sacramento, California

Module

Free Chol Soo Lee: How a Lone Death Row Inmate Sparked a Movement, Module 3

Language

eng

Type

Text

Format

Article

File Format

jpg

Subject

Newspapers; Self-portraits; Culture; Immigration;

Source

UC Davis Shields Library/Sacramento Union Archive

Credit Line

Courtesy of Sacramento Union Archive, UC Davis Shields Library.

Licensor

UC Davis

MUMI Number

44.03.TXT.026

In Copyright

This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

NOTICES

  • Unless expressly stated otherwise, the organization that has made this Item available makes no warranties about the Item and cannot guarantee the accuracy of this Rights Statement. You are responsible for your own use.
  • You may find additional information about the copyright status of the Item on the website of the organization that has made the Item available.
  • You may need to obtain other permissions for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy or moral rights may limit how you may use the material.

URI for this statement: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Foundations and Futures Logo

The Asian American Studies Center acknowledges the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (Los Angeles basin, So. Channel Islands) and pay our respects to the honuukvetam (ancestors), ‘ahiihirom (elders), and ‘eyoohiinkem (relatives/relations) past, present, and emerging.

© 2025 UCLA Asian American Studies Center

UCLA Institute of American Cultures Asian American Studies Center logo
Accessibility Tools
Reset All Accessibility Tools Reset All
Font Options
Text Resize
Line Height
Color Focus ButtonColor Overlay
Reading Focus ButtonReading Mask

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Accessibility
Translate