Where are Cho's parents?

I mean, they have to be completely freaked out, being questioned by Homeland Security, the FBI, etc...
but why haven't they made a statement yet?

Are they being held?
Are they just too freaked?
Have they been deported to South Korea?

I imagine they are going through the same type of grief that
the parents of the victioms are except magnified by about 1000 times, but it seems they could say something.
Of course, when they do, we'll have another 4 days of 24/7 news on it.

Meanwhile, in Iraq....

But I remember after Columbine, the parents of the perps did talk, and fairly early.

They knew their son was seriously ill and dangerous....But, they chose to live in denial.......to avoid the shame of a mentally ill son.

they do have legal parameters of confidentiality and they could not expel him for having a mental illness....But, they could of documented his threatening behavior and expelled him. Mentally ill people go to jail and are held responsible daily due to their actions and behavior.

I'm also guessing she doesn't know much about South Korean culture either.

I just LOVE these armchair quarterbacks that are poping up here.

him committed by a judge, there was NOTHING they could have done. At 24, their son was an adult and out of their hands.

How do you know they didn't TRY to get him help and he refused? You don't. And neither do I.

FOADIAF.

:spray:

and that's about it.

could be some friction there, as his story may have been taken from his life.

Let's not be quick to assume that his psychotic ramblings are autobiographical.

Or did his insanity cause him to write crazy stuff?

so let's not jump to assign blame yet.

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hell will make it worse.

:rofl:

First, I'm sure that's the first thing the mental health professionals asked him when he was committed.

Second, his stories aren't necessarily that literal. His McBeef story has the kid accusing the step-father of raping him, but at the end implies the kid is making it up, and the father is driven to murder by constant harrassment.

The other story is about a couple of boys who allege that their teacher raped them, but they also say things like "Isn't that normal?" In the end the teacher wins, and the kids want to kill him.

Neither story accuses the father. The McBeef story seems to idolize the dead father. Lots of elements to that one.

Plus, he was writing fiction, even though he was revealing his anger. He was a college senior, he knew what he was saying. Most people I've known who were abused as a kid, or even raped as an adult, try to hide it from themselves and others. They don't write about it in fiction for fear people will know. There are some, though, that want people to know, and are afraid to tell anyone directly, so they drop hints like that.

Maybe it's time to step back from the keyboard and eat some nice chocolate or something.

We questions opinions and theories here. It's what we do.

lack of critical thinking.

to a public university, I would probably be hiding right now too.

It's almost impossible to get a mentally ill person hospitalized until they attempt suicide or hurt someone else. Also there is a huge stigma regarding mental illness in many ethnic communities that would make it hard for them to advocate for him, and maybe language barriers as well.

I was married for 20 years to a man with manic depressive illness and believe me it's not as cut and dried as you make it out to be. -- Janet

wake-up.................32 innocent lives were wasted by this fuck. His family had money! He was hospitalized, he was offered help repeatedly but, they, the parents, continued the avoid reality probably due to shame....

from what I've read! They lived in a basement apt!

Their townhouse was assessed by Fairfax County at over $400,000:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701778.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701829.html?hpid=topnews

Sully Station I and II aren't poor neighborhoods, trust me.

The parents are in seclusion. Fairfax County police sealed off the townhouse after they did a sweep for evidence.

Cho's Family Escaped Near-Poverty in S.K.

http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/140167.aspx

By Jae-Soon Chang
AP Writer

April 18, 2007

CBNNews.com - SEOUL, South Korea -

The family of the gunman in the Virginia Tech shootings had struggled while living
in Korea, and emigrated to the U.S. to seek a better life, a newspaper reported Wednesday.

Cho Seung-Hui's family lived in a Seoul suburb in a rented basement apartment -
usually the cheapest in a multi-unit building, landlord Lim Bong-ae, 67, told
Chosun Ilbo, South Korea's largest newspaper.

"I didn't know what did for a living. But they lived a poor life," Lim told the newspaper.
"While emigrating, said they were going to America because it is difficult to live here
and that it's better to live in a place where he is unknown."

Police identified the shooter's father as Cho Seong-tae, 61.

more.....

----------------------------------

But they are cheap, living check to check just like everyone else. Maybe they were struggling to stay in that home.

is expensive. Not grossly expensive (there are townhomes selling for over $700,000 in the county), but expensive.

rate, though...dunno if the Princeton daughter was on scholarship or not.

wrong when he has been certified as a menace to society? They must have thought nobody would ever notice if he hurt somebody.

The family may have dismissed the doctor's references to his state because he didn't act out in front of them at all, and maybe even suggested the doctor was guilty of prejudice or some sort of justification to bolster his case. Crazy folk can be very convincing to people who are not aware of, or don't want to see, the signs. Conversely, there are patients who are completely batshit off-the-wall at home, but they turn into Grace Kelly when they get to the doctor's office.

Mental illness can be a complicated thing. It's especially unfortunate when someone as off the page as Cho doesn't get appropriate help.

and they have lost their son in one of the most horrible ways imaginable.

I'd be very surprised if they surface any time soon. I know his sister has flatly turned down interviews.

We can and could have done something about that. I am willing to bet that the mothers etc, in Iraq feel just as bad when their children get killed also. What a waste this young man has made and all killing for no reason do. I read this man has a very well educated brother and every one liked his parents who were good people. I bet they are hiding. I would be for a while. Some other nut will kill them or try.

We expect the soldiers to die...it's a war. We know how contemptable it is that they will die, but after so many years now it doesn't shock or awe us like the indecisive nature that harmed even more people. My own mentality is 'we have the disaster or iraq, and now we deal with more disaster?' not 'I don't care about iraq.'

and others in his own country any how. I read a lot of history and I find it blows my mind to read about 'rulers' that are said to love animals and children/wife yet will sit still and not say a word while millions die all around them. That Bush will fly out to see these kids and hardly move for the people in NO etc is the real evil of this world. It is like these people do not get it at all. Do you know they wish to make the last Czar a Saint and his wife? Not that both were not good to their children. Two people who sat around and watched about 20 million people died. Just takes one breath away. Hard to understand how we get such people and for sure not needed from 'birth rights'. Lenin was no better on letting people die. I hope we have finally put that stuff behind us. I wish to think about the people who are hurting in this world and not this rich autocrat group that does not seem to see a thing but what they wish to see. Oh by the way I think the world is better than it was but I am not sure what has happened to our values or what we thought were our values. I am off balanced in what is going on in this country. I just can not get a hold of it at all.

The Cho's have been in hiding--at least part-time in the hospital being treated for shock.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=686674&mesg_id=686674

This report from Australia states the Korean news "parents committed suicide" reports are wrong. Says parents have been hospitalized related to "shock".

aren't "pushing it." Media is focussed on what gives them ratings and are allowing the Cho family the privacy they deserve.

And all I can say is, after the years I risked my own life in every possible way trying to get appropriate care for my ex, if he'd gone and done something like this, I'd never, ever, ever get over it. Ever. At that point, you'd have to put me away, too, if I could be lucky enough for someone to pay f&cking attention to me. :(

Because that's what families face in this country who try to take care of relatives who have severe problems. Every day and mostly, 24/7.

People can conjecture all they want (and waste their time in the process).

If they lived with someone who is mentally ill, maybe they'd get it.

Mental illness doesn't make sense. Things can't always be understood and categorized.

Those of us who've tried to help a loved one with a mental illness, from the Reagan era on . . . are pretty much stuck. 24/7. Talk about a fucked up medical situation for everyone involved . . .

:hug:

How are you doing, btw? I'm sorry the shawl is taking me so long.

:hug:

This is a horrible reality they are experiencing now. They surely had to have known their son had problems, but what could they do?
"They brought him into this World ~ They can take him out?~
Not a legal option for them. What the hell options would they have had in todays society? He hadn't physically hurt anyone before that day. I don't blame the Mom and Dad, sometimes a kid is just bad, no matter how hard you try.

Same environment, same upbringing -- different brain wiring. It makes all the difference.

And probably keeping a low profile.
I feel for them.

As a kid, a close friend of my parents had a child that was implicated in a murder...he was later acquitted...but for the duration of the trial people would quietly whisper behind ther backs "there goes the killer's parents"...they got looks from everwhere they went and friends became hard to find. This has to be hell on these people.

Also, please take the cultural difference in mind here. Koreans I know have a very tight family and social structure and order. When one person does a terrible thing, the entire family is disgraced. Earlier I saw people at a shrine or some memorial in Korea offering not only their condolences to the victims, but also "apologies"...as if they assume responsibility since this was "one of theirs". The grief thus must be further magnified. Not to mention the nagging questions any parent must have when their child dies...why!

Thank goodness these people are hidden away. Listening to the idoitic, insensitive questions the corporate media has thrown around, I'd be hard pressed not to grab a weapon and have at the horde camping out on the front lawn.

Are they obligated to make a statement? I certainly don't expect one.

I was just wondering what happened to them.
If they WANT to say something, then they should, without judgement. They are suffering, possibly the most through all of this, as the sheer shock and guilt must be preying on them 33 times. I'm not saying they SHOULD feel guilty, but I imagine that they are really beating themselves up emotionally and probably feel guilty on top of it.

It's a damn shame.

they'll probably continue to hide.

i wouldn't be surprised if they returned to SK permanently.

who could blame them?

They are being treated for shock. I can only imagine they are going through hell right now.

say that they were Korean Christians and that their son renounced their religion.

works for a private contractor in the U.S. Government on Iraq reconstruction.

The sister of the gunman responsible for the deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history works as a contractor for a State Department office that oversees billions of dollars in American aid for Iraq.

Sun Kyong-Cho is employed by the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office, according to U.S. officials and a State Department staff directory that says she works from an annex near the department's headquarters in Washington.

Messages left on her office voicemail, in which she identifies herself as "Sun Cho," were not immediately returned on Wednesday.

The Virginia Tech gunman was her brother, Cho Seung-Hui. Thirty-three people died in the rampage Monday, including the 23-year-old student, who committed suicide.

Spokesman Sean McCormack declined to discuss Sun Cho's status but told reporters "this person is not a direct-hire employee of the State Department." He declined to comment further, citing privacy concerns. Other U.S. officials confirmed she works for a contractor.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Virginia_Tech_Gunmans_Sister.html

I would say that qualifies them as "working middle class."

I cannot imagine what they are going through.

By the way, it seems that Cho was hospitalized several times involuntarily and released after being deemed not a danger to himself or others.