;)
Friday
Apr202007
The Life of Cho Seung-Hui
Friday, April 20, 2007 at 2:46AM 
Cho Seung-Hui was born in South Korea. His mother, Kim Hyang-im and his father, Sung-tae were from two different backgrounds. She was from a well-educated family of North Korean landowners, who had been forced to flee without possessions during the Korean war; he was from a poor family in the south, but had made enough money to marry by working in Saudi Arabia for 10 years on construction sites and oil fields. He was 10 years her senior. Cho's mother was forced into an arranged marriage with his father.
As Hyang-im was 29 - a late age for a woman to find a husband in South Korea - Her father told her she had to accept the proposal. "She didn't want to marry, but she gave in," said Yong-soon (her Aunt). "Her husband was not fit for her. But she always followed and obeyed him. She never fought him, though sometimes I wish she had done." No one in the family recalls any violent behaviour from Cho or his parents that might have hinted at the carnage to come.
Cho's maternal grandfather said even as a young child Cho was not like other grandchildren and would never come running to him. "The boy was so different from his super-intelligent older sister. His extreme shyness worried his parents. I thought he might be deaf and dumb." Cho "didn't talk much when he was young. He was very quiet, but he didn't display any peculiarities to suggest he may have problems," Kim(An Uncle) said. "We were concerned about him being too quiet and encouraged him to talk more." Soon after they got to America, Cho was diagnosed as being clinically withdrawn. It amazes me that he ever made it into university. I guess he must have had some mental problems from birth." Even though his parents worried about him because he was shy and withdrawn Cho was always well behaved.
His reluctance to talk and socialize ostracized Cho in High school and he was often ridiculed. Chris Davids, who graduated with Cho from Westfield in 2003 recalled once when they were in English class:
The teacher had the students read aloud and, when it was Cho's turn, he looked down in silence before being threatened with failing to complete the year if he did not speak. He then read in an odd, deep voice "like he had something in his mouth", Mr Davids said. "As soon as he started reading, the whole class started laughing and saying, 'Go back to China'."
Stephanie Roberts, 22, who was also in Cho's year at Westfield, said she would occasionally greet him in school, but he did not respond. "There were just some people who were really mean to him and they would push him down and laugh at him," she said. "He didn't speak English really well and they would really make fun of him."
When Cho started college, at Virginia Tech, his mother took his dormitory mates to one side to explain about her son's unusual character and implored them to help. She was worried that he spent all his time in his room, lost in a world of video games.
Christina Lilick, another former Westfield pupil studying at Virginia Tech, told friends that she had been stalked on campus and a question mark had been scrawled on the notice board on her door. Cho was known as "the question mark kid" by fellow English students after he insisted he be called "question mark" in classes and on his page on the Facebook website.
Back in Seoul, the family are worried that they had not heard from Cho's parents since the killings. They have wondered if things might have been different had they been able to bring the boy out of his shell. "I just wish he would have talked," says Yong-soon. "There is an old saying in Korea that people who won't talk will end up killing themselves. That is what happens when the resentment builds up."
The resentment that built up in Cho Seung-Hui caused the deaths of 32 people whose hopes, dreams and future will never be realised. MSNBC has a profile of each person murdered by Cho. These are people that have been taken from this life prematurely. No-one knows how much potential has been lost and unless these people happen to be your family members or friends, no-one knows how much sadness and despair Cho has caused so many people. Profiles of the Victims in Virginia Tech Massacre
Below is a video compilation of Cho Seung-Hui and his victims
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=sB0i7Ae9ygo]
Reader Comments (17)
Wondering if Seung was a hikkomori???
Well written blog--thanks.
http://balafria.wordpress.com/2007/04/20/vt-killings-have-nbc-and-the-media-gone-too-far-this-time/" rel="nofollow">VT Killings: Have NBC and the media gone too far this time?
KB, Very interesting theory. I had to look it up(hikikomori) to be honest with you. However it does seem to fit. Thanks for the post.
Tio Catire, I especially liked the profiles of the victims that MSNBC put together. As always with this kind of news, the media will tend to capitalize on it with some form of sensationalism. However this time I don't think they went too far.
Why should we as Americans care about Cho Seung-Hui Life story as he did not care about the lives he took.I don't want to see that crap trying to make him look good dosen't fly with me brother.I also want to know why did everyone wait to late as their were signs of his strange behavior that could of stopped Cho Boy from killing.I know God died for our sins but did not give his life for a "MURDERER".
Could some one find out for me his birth date, place and time. I would like to do a natal chart on hin
I did not say I grieved for Cho, Read it again and remember the commas, what I grieve for is that this evil will continue, because no one is really able to stand up and change anything. I have been dealing with the police and parole officers for over 6 weeks. I live in an apartment building, an old house made into two apartments. This man gets drunk and rants and raves every night, night after night. The police say," There is no law against being drunk and crazy." This disturbed individual proceed to tell me what he did to the little boys and girls in Vietnam before he slit their throats. He is a mentally disturbed veteran, drug addict, alcoholic, pervert, who told when he was put in jail, he was not ready to quick drugs and still is not done. He walked into the neighbors house and asked the father their if one of his daughters could come spend the night with him, he was lonely.
Jaime Lockridge, If you got the impression that I was trying to make Cho "look good" I am sorry because that was not my intention.
Cho was evil. He did something that cannot be justified. All I was attempting to do was get a glimpse of his life to see if there were any clues as to why he found it necessary to kill. If we can recognize the warning signs, then maybe next time something can be done before somebody else tries to do the same thing. If Cho had received help from professionals maybe he would not have killed 32 people before killing himself.
Campuslady, Cho was born Jan 18, 1984 in the Dobong District of Seoul, South Korea. Sorry I could not find out what time he was born.
Shadmia, thank you.
Campuslady, You're welcome. If you come up with anything interesting, please share it with us.
This whole thing doesn't make sense to me. I don't understand how one little man could kill 33 people alone. They all could have protected eachother. I would rather die knowing i had courage then die a coward. Then on top of that why were the police outside when they should have burst down a door and shot him or something. I believe that everyone was scared the police, the news people, etc. It just doesn't make any sense to me. I think all the police that were "so-called" doing there jobs should be more well-trained or fired cause more things like this are going to happen if somebody doesn't take a stand.
Another thing Cho threw so many signs of his pshyconist. He never talks, writes crazy stories, anti-social, and he was bullied. To me I think theres someone out there who knew about this but just was too afraid to do anything.
I mean how could the news get that tape 2 days later. This whole thing is stupid. And the thing is people think these type of things are jokes but innocent people died and some had kids and families.
R.I.P Virginia Tech Victims
Peace
shadmia thank you for posting this and letting me know more about this cho
Anonymous, Thanks for taking time to post. You raise some interesting points.
"I also want to know why did everyone wait to late as their were signs of his strange behavior that could of stopped Cho Boy from killing."
Jamie Lockridge, that's exactly why we as fellow human beings should care about Cho's life story. Maybe if we examine his life we can finally start learning how to avoid "making" people that are this angry and hurt.
Maybe he had mental/emotional issues to begin with, but I'm sure being ridiculed in school didn't help. There should be a new movement. The "Seriously, Be Nice To Others" movement. I think God/Jesus would approve of that.
[...] Middle-Eastern Connections in Cho Family Saw this on a blog. Cho’s father worked in Saudi Arabia in oil for ten years. Reports had described that the [...]
What's so strange about Cho and his actions at Virginia Tech?
Moral: If you bully, ridicule and humiliate your fellow man, expect more mass shootings!
V Tech Whitewash - Panel finds Uninversity Response Very Effective
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