Buford resident Sung Kang arrived in Japan last month with a television crew at his side, a petition in his hand and a pointed, if unspoken, message for Tokyo police.
He wants to know what happened to his son. And he is not going away.
It's been nine weeks since the body of Hoon "Scott" Kang, 19, of Buford was found sprawled in an emergency stairwell of a high-rise building in the kabuki theater district of Tokyo, where he was on vacation with friends. His head had a deep gash and blood trickled from his left ear.
He died in the hospital three days later, never having regained consciousness.
Members of the Salt and Light Presbyterian Church in Buford raised money for Kang to travel to Japan on Oct. 18. A crew from the television show "America's Most Wanted" met Kang there to shoot an episode about the case, which airs at 9 p.m. Saturday on Fox.
Kang had a six-hour interview with Tokyo police and met with the U.S. Embassy while in Japan.
Tokyo police initially concluded Scott Kang suffered a fatal head injury by accidentally falling down the stairs. Kang's family believes he was savagely beaten during a robbery attempt. The family has gathered 1,030 signatures from friends, neighbors and other Korean-Americans imploring Japanese authorities to investigate.
"I believe the ministry of tourism has the idea that tourism may be affected, and that is not what they want to hear," said Ray Wosniak, a family friend who accompanied the elder Kang on the trip. "I think the cops have got their orders to what to think and find. They don't want an international incident."
Scott Kang and two of his friends were on a summer hiatus from their jobs teaching English to students in South Korea when they traveled to Japan. He had taken a year off from college to live and work abroad in his parents' homeland.
While in Tokyo, the trio went to a bar to meet women and have drinks. Scott Kang then set off on his own around 10:30 p.m., planning to reunite later with his buddies. He never returned.
A surveillance video appears to show a man punching Scott Kang in the elevator, just a few hours before he was found. His shoes were missing and blood smears were on the walls and the landing of the stairwell above him. Kang's family believes he was attacked by the man in the video and then shoved down the stairs.
Tokyo police have reluctantly reopened the case, relatives said. However, they have rebuffed requests for the autopsy report and a copy of the surveillance video. The man in the video has been identified as an employee of another bar in the building. However, he has not been arrested.
"I want to still fight in Japan to find out what happened there," said Kang, a deeply religious man who gave up his beauty supply business after his son died to pursue a Christian ministry. "God has a plan. It is going to be OK."
If you want to watch
"America's Most Wanted" will kick off a series of international shows with an episode featuring Scott Kang's case airing at 9 p.m. Saturday on WAGA-TV (Fox). For more information on the program, visit www.amw.com.
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