Kyung Won "K.W." Lee (

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 이경원; born June 1, 1928) is a Korean-American journalist who worked for mainstream daily publications in the continental United States. Lee is also the founding president of the

Korean American Journalists Association {{Short description, American professional organization The Korean American Journalists Association (KAJA) was founded in 1987, but the organization for professional journalists of Korean-American descent or journalists who specialize in Korean- or ...

Early life and education

Lee was born in 1928 in

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

Japanese Korea Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...

and attended

Korea University Korea University (KU, ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea, established in 1905. The university is included as one of the SKY universities, a popular acronym referring to Korea's three most prestigious universities. The ...

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. In 1950, he immigrated to the United States and studied journalism at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. After receiving a master's degree from the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

in 1955, he worked for daily newspapers such as the ''

Kingsport Times-News The ''Kingsport Times News'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Kingsport, Tennessee, and distributed in six counties in Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. The Times News is published by Six Rivers Media, LLC., which publish ...

'' in

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

and the ''

Charleston Gazette The ''Charleston Gazette-Mail'' is the only daily morning newspaper in Charleston, West Virginia. It is the product of a July 2015 merger between ''The Charleston Gazette'' and the ''Charleston Daily Mail''. The paper is one of nine owned by HD ...

'' in

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

. In 1960, he married Peggy Flowers of

Bluefield, Virginia Bluefield is a town in Tazewell County, Virginia, United States, located along the Bluestone River. The population was 5,096 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bluefield WV-VA micropolitan area which has a population of 106,363 in 2020. G ...

. A number of years were spent at the ''

Sacramento Union ''The Sacramento Union'' was a daily newspaper founded in 1851 in Sacramento, California. It was the oldest daily newspaper west of the Mississippi River before it closed its doors after 143 years in January 1994, no longer able to compete with ' ...

'' in California, where he was in charge of investigative reporting and an internship program. He has won awards from the National Headliners Club, the AP News Executive Council, and the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism s ...

Career

Lee covered the civil rights struggles in the South in the early 1960s, massive vote-buying practices in southern West Virginia, and the plight of Appalachian coal miners. Lee is best known for writing an investigative series on the conviction of immigrant

Chol Soo Lee Chol Soo Lee (August 15, 1952 - December 2, 2014) was a Korean American immigrant who was wrongfully convicted for the 1973 murder of Yip Yee Tak, a San Francisco Chinatown gang leader, and sentenced to life in prison. While in prison, he was sen ...

for a 1973 San Francisco Chinatown gangland murder which became the basis of the 1989 film '' True Believer'', starring

James Woods James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for his work in various film, stage, and television productions. He started his career in minor roles on and off-Broadway. In 1972, he appeared in '' The Trial of the ...

and

Robert Downey Jr. Robert John Downey Jr. (born April 4, 1965) is an American actor and producer. His career has been characterized by critical and popular success in his youth, followed by a period of substance abuse and legal troubles, before a resurgence of ...

His series of 120 articles over five years led to a new trial, eventual acquittal and release of the prisoner from

San Quentin San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the o ...

Death Row Death row, also known as condemned row, is a place in a prison that houses inmates awaiting Capital punishment, execution after being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of ...

. In 1979, Lee founded the ''Koreatown Weekly'', the first national English-language Korean American newspaper. In 1990, during rising tensions between African Americans and Korean Americans, he launched and edited ''

The Korea Times ''The Korea Times'' is the oldest of three English-language newspapers published daily in South Korea. It is a sister paper of the ''Hankook Ilbo'', a major Korean language daily; both are owned by Dongwha Enterprise, a wood-based manufacturer ...

English Edition'' from Los Angeles, with an internship program for both Asian Americans and other minorities.

Personal life

Lee is also a survivor of liver and stomach cancer. In 1992, Lee underwent a

liver transplant Liver transplantation or hepatic transplantation is the replacement of a Liver disease, diseased liver with the healthy liver from another person (allograft). Liver transplantation is a treatment option for Cirrhosis, end-stage liver disease and ...

. He has lost both of his parents and all six of his siblings to

hepatitis B Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection. Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. Fo ...

-induced liver disease. After entering semi-retirement, Lee lectured on investigative journalism in communities of color in the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...

system. He also continues to serve on the editorial board of '' ColorLines Magazine'' and has freelanced as a columnist for ''

Currents Currents, Current or The Current may refer to: Science and technology * Current (fluid), the flow of a liquid or a gas ** Air current, a flow of air ** Ocean current, a current in the ocean *** Rip current, a kind of water current ** Current (stre ...

'', ''

Bi-lingual Edition'', '' Korean Quarterly'' and '' KoreAm Journal''. He had three children with his wife Peggy. As of 2010, he was residing in

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

Honors and recognition

*In 1968, he received the Urban Service Award from the U.S. Office of Economic Opportunity for outstanding coverage of the poor. *In 1979, he was awarded first place for Best Series of Articles by the

California Newspaper Publishers Association California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. *In 1987, he was the first recipient of the

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current presi ...

's Lifetime Achievement Award. *In 1992, he was presented the John Anson Ford Award by the Human Relations Commission of L.A. County. *In 1994, he became the first Asian journalist to receive the Free Spirit Award from the

Freedom Forum The Freedom Forum is the creator of the Newseum in Washington, D.C., which it sold to Johns Hopkins University in 2019. It is a nonpartisan 501 (c)(3) foundation that advances First Amendment freedoms through initiatives that include the Power Sh ...

. *In 1997, he was inducted into the

Newseum The Newseum was an American museum dedicated to news and journalism that promoted free expression and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, while tracing the evolution of communication. The purpose of the museum, funded by the ...

's Journalism History Gallery in Arlington, VA. *In 2000, he was profiled in ''Crusaders, Scoundrels, Journalists: The Newseum's Most Intriguing Newspeople''.

References

External links

K.W. Lee biography / timeline
at

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

General Library Digital Initiatives Program
K.W. Lee at the Centennial Korean American Youth Conference
()

at

AsianWeek ''AsianWeek'' was America's first and largest English language print and on-line publication serving Asian Americans. The news organization played an important role nationally and in the San Francisco Bay Area as the “Voice of Asian America”. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, K. W. 1928 births American male journalists American newspaper editors Korean emigrants to the United States Living people Liver transplant recipients People from Kaesong American people of North Korean descent West Virginia University alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign College of Media alumni