A photographer’s affecting portrait of Korean American seniors, fearful amid anti-Asian violence
By Jae C. Hong
Koreatown, an area of Los Angeles with many Korean Americans, can be a very difficult place to report. A journalist might spend a day just trying to get on-the-record interviews.
That isn’t because Koreans don’t want to share their stories or be accommodating. Many just have hesitancy when it comes to speaking to the press. That makes what Los Angeles-based photographer Jae Hong pulled off that much more impressive: an intimate look, in both images and words, at older Korean Americans who are fearful in the wake of attacks on Asians in the U.S. during the pandemic.
A sign from a recent rally against anti-Asian hate crimes is displayed in the apartment of Jen Ho Lee, a 76-year-old South Korean immigrant, in Los Angeles, March 31, 2021. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Hong started thinking of this story after completing a year-long assignment in Tokyo. When the 2020 Olympics were canceled, he returned to Los Angeles earlier than expected. Back in the U.S., Hong, a Korean American who had moved to LA as a teenager, was astonished by the increased aggression he saw toward Asian Americans, who were being broadly blamed by some for COVID-19.
Among his many other assignments, Hong began looking closely at the Korean community in Los Angeles. Then, a mass shooting in Atlanta in mid-March, which left eight people dead, including six Asian women, pushed him to speed up his timeline. He decided to focus on older Koreans, some of the most cautious and hesitant when it comes to the press. After much outreach and many conversations, he found a few families willing to let him into their lives.
Yong Sin Kim, an 85-year-old Korean immigrant, pauses for photos in his apartment in downtown Los Angeles, March 25, 2021. Kim said he rarely leaves home these days. When he does, he carries a whistle with him, his only defense against random attacks on Asian Americans. “We don’t go out at all. We stay home all day as if we are locked up,” said Kim. “I can’t even think of going for a walk.” – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Yong Sin Kim, an 85-year-old South Korean immigrant, shows a whistle attached to his keychain in his apartment in downtown Los Angeles, March 25, 2021. Though he rarely leaves home these days, when he does, he carries a whistle with him, his only defense against random attacks. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Keum Rye Sim, an 80-year-old immigrant from South Korea, pauses for photos in her apartment in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, March 24, 2021. Amid a surge of anti-Asian violence, fear creeps up and alters the daily life of vulnerable Asian seniors. Sim said she is not worried too much because she doesn’t leave her apartment these days. She rarely meets with people outside, except for her occasional doctor’s appointments. Out of concern, her son accompanies her to the doctor’s office. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
American and South Korean flags are seen in the apartment of Keum Rye Sim, an 80-year-old immigrant from South Korea, in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, March 24, 2021. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Harold Choo, an 85-year-old immigrant from South Korea who works as an apartment building manager, pauses for photos in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, March 24, 2021. Although he has never been a victim of hate crime, Choo said he is in constant fear amid the surge of anti-Asian violence. “When I go for a walk these days, I’m hyperaware of my surroundings,” said Choo, knowing he would be an easy target because of his age. “Even a light shove can easily hurt me.” – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Jen Ho Lee, a 76-year-old Korean immigrant, pauses for photos in her Los Angeles apartment, March 31, 2021. Lee took a trip to Koreatown to attend a recent protest against anti-Asian hate crimes. It took her two buses to get there. “We should be united. We Asians can’t stay silent,” said Lee. “It is wrong to think these attacks have nothing to do with me. This could happen to me or my family one day.” – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Jen Ho Lee, a 76-year-old South Korean immigrant, poses in her Los Angeles apartment, March 31, 2021, with a sign from a recent rally against anti-Asian hate crimes that she attended. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
South Korean immigrant Sung Hee Chae, 74, pauses for photos in her home in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, March 29, 2021. For Chae, it’s about a six-minute walk to the nearest Korean grocery market, but she doesn’t go there alone anymore. Her son accompanies her to the market these days. Her daughter in South Korea urges her not to go out at all. “I wish all of us could get along fine regardless of the color of skin. I feel sad. I have mistreated no one,” Chae said. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
In the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, March 29, 2021, South Korean immigrant Sung Hee Chae, 74, displays a leaflet made by the Korean America Federation of Los Angeles to bring awareness to anti-Asian hate crimes with an instruction to call 911. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Hyung Oh Kim, an 85-year-old immigrant from South Korea, and his wife, Ki Sook, 77, pause for photos in their apartment in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, March 24, 2021. As a head of the LA Senior Citizen Society, Kim said he urges its members to carry whistles or walking sticks when leaving home for self-protection against potential random attacks. Amid the surge of anti-Asian hate crimes, Kim, who came to the States in 1989 with his wife and children, asks himself whether he made the right decision. “I never had this type of fear before,” said Kim. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Hyang Ran Kim, a 74-year-old immigrant from South Korea, pauses for photos in her apartment in downtown Los Angeles, March 25, 2021. Amid the surge in anti-Asian hate crimes, Kim temporarily moved into her daughter’s place in a quiet neighborhood in the suburbs of Orange County. Kim said her daughter was too worried about her safety. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
An America flag sticker is posted on the door of Hyang Ran Kim’s apartment in downtown Los Angeles, March 25, 2021. – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Myung Sun Lee, a 72-year-old South Korean immigrant, pauses for photos in her apartment in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles, March 24, 2021. Lee and her husband still walk to a nearby park to exercise every morning, but they no longer take a shortcut because it doesn’t feel safe. She prefers a busier street with more foot traffic. “It terrifies me and saddens me that these hate crimes are targeting Asians,” said Lee. “We already went through enough during the pandemic.” – AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Hong’s images, dark and somber, capture the fear that many Asian Americans feel in the wake of many attacks. At the same time, his text captures both their current fears and the memories that many Korean Americans in LA still have of the 1992 riots that broke out after the acquittal of police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King. Arson and looting spread into Koreatown as tensions between Black protesters and Korean residents and shop owners came to the fore.
Hong, who has begun writing for some of his stories, worked on the text with LA reporter Brian Melley and U.S. enterprise editor Anna Jo Bratton. He also worked closely with West deputy director for storytelling Stephanie Mullen on his photo selection, and then with Top Stories Hub photo editor Alyssa Goodman on the presentation.
The end result is a compelling portrait of a community experiencing very real fear amid increasing attacks on Asians. During a very busy week with the verdict in the Derek Chauvin trial,Hong’s piece got wide use in the U.S. and beyond,including in U.S. News & World Report,Al-Jazeera and The Seattle Times.
For timely,revealing enterprise reporting in both text and photos, Jae Hong wins this week’s Best of the States award.
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