Soon-Lee Klinger (born Soon-Lee Han) is a character who appears in the final two M*A*S*H series episodes titled "As Time Goes By" and "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen". Soon-Lee, who also appears in the M*A*S*H spinoff series AfterMASH, is played by actress Rosalind Chao.
About Soon-Lee[]
In the episode "As Time Goes By", Soon-Lee is introduced as Korean woman suspected of shooting a G.I. when she's found holding an American rifle near the wounded soldier. Klinger is put in charge of incarcerating her. She pleads her innocence, but Klinger wouldn't listen, explaining that the checking of her alibi was Army technicality; if he released her, the MPs would also put handcuffs on him. When the MPs investigate the matter, it is proven that she is indeed innocent, but another problem lingers; Soon-Lee was searching for her parents at the time, who were evacuated from their village by the US Army to a nearby refugee camp when the shelling got intense.
Father Mulcahy remembers that there was an elderly Korean couple at the camp earlier, along with some other refugees, who said they were separated from their daughter (who was working in the fields) when their village was bombed. The couple was sent to a refugee camp along with the others. Klinger, Father Mulcahy, and Soon-Lee decide to investigate, and manage to make it to the refugee camp, only to be cruelly disappointed, when the couple turn out to not be her parents. The three decide to return to the 4077th.
In the final M*A*S*H series episode, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen," the story continues: Soon-Lee is still on the base and trying to find her parents. Klinger becomes worried when he learns that she has left camp to find them, and the two realize that they have feelings for one another. They decide to get married, but much to Klinger's frustration, Soon-Lee insists that she cannot leave South Korea until she finds her family. Contrary to everything his character has been and done since Season 1, Klinger decides to remain in South Korea until Soon-Lee finds her parents.