Buford man dies in Japan; family wants answers

"They tried to say it was an accident," said his father, Sung Kang, 48, reached by phone Tuesday in South Korea, where he is visiting relatives. "But when I visited the police office and I saw the pictures of the accident area, I knew this was not an accident."

Police showed the Kang family a surveillance video from an elevator in the building that housed the restaurant where Scott Kang had stopped. The video shows Kang in the elevator shortly after 11 p.m. with a man in a black hat. Kang gestures with both hands out, as if to say "I don't have anything," and the man appears to punch Kang in the stomach, his father said.

His body was found around 1:30 a.m. in the stairwell between the sixth and seventh floors. He remained in a coma due to severe head trauma until his death Aug. 30.

A representative of the U.S. Embassy in Japan declined to talk about the case except to say it is the subject of an ongoing investigation.

Kang, a 2009 graduate of North Gwinnett High School, was on track to realize his dream of becoming a lawyer and politician. His father brought the family to the United States on a green card about 18 years ago, and they earned American citizenship 18 months ago. Kang was midway through his freshman year in the international business program at New York University with a scholarship covering tuition.

But Kang needed money for his food and lodging, so he decided in February to take a year off from college to teach English in South Korea. Kang figured he could earn money for college and learn his parents' native tongue.

While on a hiatus from teaching in South Korea in late August, Kang traveled with two friends to Japan for a weeklong getaway.

Kang's parents flew to Japan after their son was hospitalized and pieced together some details about what happened there.

Kang and his friends stopped at a restaurant for $2 sake after their first day exploring Tokyo, Kang's family said. His friends wanted to order food and keep drinking, but Kang didn't want to spend any more money. He left around 10:30 p.m. and told his friends he would return in half an hour to walk back to the hotel with them.

Kang never returned.

Family members and friends believe he may have been the victim of a robbery attempt.

"He was a small kind of nerdy-looking kid, and he would've made an inviting target," said Ray Wosniak, a family friend who has traveled extensively, but was not on the trip with Kang. "This is in a district near the bullet train station which is a notoriously rough neighborhood."

Minsook Lee, one of Scott Kang's friends in Japan, said there was a massive amount of blood on the wall of the stairwell that was later cleaned up.

"I believe that there is a lot to be explained about this innocent young man who simply visited Japan for an adventure and ended up dying within three days," Lee said in an e-mail. "I strongly feel that such an incident, making the homicide case look like an accident, should never be repeated again."

Wosniak, who teaches Sunday school at Salt and Light Presbyterian Church in Buford, where the Kangs are members, said Scott Kang's death has rattled the Korean-American community. The Kangs believe the Japanese authorities discriminated against them by not taking the case seriously. An article about Kang's death recently appeared in the Chosun Daily News, a Korean newspaper in Duluth.

Pastor Hang Soon Park of the Salt and Light Presbyterian Church said the congregation has held prayer vigils for the family. Kang's parents plan to return home from South Korea next week. Meanwhile, their qualms about the Japanese investigation linger.

"I don't know if they will try their best. Now I am just watching," Sung Kang said.