MARMOT’S NOTE: Just in case I haven’t made this perfectly clear—and I believe I have down below, but just in case—the fact that the shooter is Korean is, ultimately, irrelevant. He was a sick kid. Period. You can talk try to read into this tragedy cultural factors all you like (and I’m afraid that’s going to happen both in the United States and here in Korea), but the fact remains that there are 100,000 Korean students in the United States, not to mention about 1 million Korean-Americans, many of whom share the same cultural background as the shooter, and NONE of them have shot up their schools. The overwhelming majority, in fact, are upstanding members of their academic and residential communities. Cho Seung-hui is about as representative of the Korean community as the Columbine shooters were of the white community, that is to say, he’s not. In fact, if there is any group that seems “predisposed” to this sort of violence in the United States, it’s not foreign Asian students, it’s white males.
ORIGINAL POST: I don’t want to spread unconfirmed rumors, but seeing how the government is doing the leaking now, you might as well read it here—NoCut News, citing a diplomatic source, is reporting that the Korean embassy in Washington has told the Foreign Ministry that the shooter at Virginia Tech was a Korean student [NoCut News, Korean], and that it has asked the ministry to provide more details about him.
I’d prefer to wait until an official announcement before deciding to believe it or not.
UPDATE: Now the WaPo is saying federal and local officials are saying the shooter was “of Korean descent.”
UPDATE 2: The NYT is now reporting a name—Cho Seung-hui.
UPDATE 3: Now this from ABC (BTW, thanks to the commenters):
Seung Hui Cho, a permanent resident of the United States, a Korean national and a Virginia Tech student has been identified as the gunman in the shootings that left 33 people dead on the Virginia Tech campus Monday, ABC News has learned.
The student left a “disturbing note” before killing two people in a dorm room, returning to his own room to re-arm and entering a classroom building on the other side of campus to continue his rampage, sources said.
And this just in—Yonhap (Korean) is reporting that the shooter was Cho Seung-hui, a 23-year-old student of Korean ethnicity in the English lit department.
UPDATE 4: NoCut News is reporting that Korean students in the United States—and there are a lot of them [NACAC]—are in shock [NoCut News, Korean] after learning that the perpetrator of the worst school shooting in U.S. history was a Korean. Naturally enough, they are also worried about the repercussions this might have on them. At Virginia Tech alone, there are 160 Korean grad students and some 300 undergrads.
Korean authorities, meanwhile, are worried that the incident might cause diplomatic problems with the United States, and are concerned for the security of Koreans in the United States. In particular, NoCut News reports, Korean diplomatic authorities are worried that the incident will not only throw cold water on recently improving relations with Washington since the signing of the KORUS FTA, but also damage the international image of Koreans.
UPDATE 5: This, from the Metropolitician:
I’d been waiting for it.
The shooter is South Korean.
I’d been suspecting it all day, for a lot of reasons, which is why I was sitting by the computer. Not the least of which was because a group of American university administrators whom Fulbright hosted nearly 10 years ago, when being a tour of Korean universities, asked the staff, “Why is it that out of all our international students, Korean males have so much trouble?”
To my surprise, all of the university officials cited incident after incident of Korean male graduate students who seemed to have trouble adjusting, often got into fights with other students in the living spaces, and were often the source of trouble in dealing with romantic relationships gone bad or women in general, especially when they involved Korean females dating non-Koreans.
Anyway, my little bit of uninformed analysis will be just the beginning. I’m sure we’ll see all sorts of explanations from the Korean media. And for what it’s worth, perhaps now the South Korean media and people will be faced with the question of stereotyping, media, and how treating individual incidents as evidence of various “national characters” leads down roads we don’t want to travel.
All in all, a tragic story. But the conversation will prove…interesting, I’m sure.
Let the shitstorm – and social experiment – begin.
UPDATE 6: Cho had been living in the United States since the age of 3 [IHT]. He was a permanent resident, but still a Korean citizen.
UPDATE 7: I should also point out that at least one of the injured was a Korean [Marmot's Hole], and Yonhap (Korean) is reporting that one of the dead might be a Korean (or at least ethnic Korean) as well.
I hate to go into motives, but since Michael alluded to the problem above, and other commenters [Foreign Dispatches] are already touching the theme, I should point out—before we go to far with the “Angry Korean Man pissed off that his Korean girlfriend was banging whity” meme—that the girl killed in the dorm (whom, I’ve been led to believe from reports, was the girlfriend he quarreled with) had a very non-Asian name. I’m going to wait before I start proposing any theories as to why what happened happened. Until I see proof otherwise, I’m going to avoid explaining this tragedy culturally. He could have very well simply been a fucked-up kid with a gun. Can’t get any more American than that.
UPDATE 8: Again, to demonstrate my point above [This is London]. Of course, the relationships have yet to be confirmed.
UPDATE 9: Cho is being described as a loner [Yonhap, Korean]—his seeming lack of friends is making it difficult for investigators to ascertain his motive. A Virginia Tech spokesman described him as “a loner,” and Korean students at the school say he hardly came to Korean student gatherings. In fact, they say they didn’t really know who he was.
UPDATE 10: The Chosun Ilbo (Korean) reports on the “netizen response,” or at least how it sees it. The general tone is disbelief. One netizen quoted by the paper said, “The name is similar to a Chinese one, so let’s wait until the final police announcement. Another said, “I’m so surprised that a Korean could do something so cruel I don’t believe it… I wonder if the investigation results are mistaken, so we have to keep watching.”
Korean netizens in the United States, meanwhile, are concerned that this may adversely affect Korean students in the country. One even said he was afraid to go to school tomorrow. Another said that just as all Middle Easterners were disadvantaged after Sept 11, the image of Koreans would take a massive hit as a result of the incident. One netizens said he feared for the safety of Koreans studying in the United States, and expressed concern about the possibility of a U.S. boycott of Korean goods.
Netizens preparing to study in the United States were also concerned. One wrote that visa requirements for students would grow even stricter, while another worried that the incident would affect Korea’s efforts to get into the U.S. visa waiver program.
UPDATE 11: NoCut News (Korean) is a bit, well, saddened by the headlines of much of the world press. Not that it’s complaining—it’s more ashamed if anything. The Korean press shouldn’t expect a ton of sympathy on this issue, however—we needn’t go back and look at the headlines Korean papers have run each and every time a foreigner f*cks up in this country.
UPDATE 12: Yonhap News (Korean) talks about the inability of many Koreans who immigrate abroad to study at a young age to adjust due to linguistic and cultural differences. According to one Korean who spent his middle and high school years abroad, they receive a lot of stress in overcoming the language barrier so they don’t fall behind in school, and some of them end up fighting a lot and doing drugs. Meanwhile, of those busted in Korea for smuggling and using drugs, Koreans who studied at U.S. universities and Korean-American university students are overrepresented vis-a-vis Korean university students. Others point out, however, that one shouldn’t generalize. Jo Yeong-dal, the dean of Seoul National University Law School, said shooter Cho had been in the United States since the second grade, i.e., he spent his developmental years and socialization years in the country, and that he might have had family problems. He added, however, that despite it being a multicultural society, the United States is still primarily a white society, and Cho might have had an inferiority complex that manifested itself in a hate for white people. Korea should learn a lesson from this, he said, and begin preparing for its transformation into a multicultural society.
Marmot’s Note: Like I said, until I see something different, I don’t want to make this a cultural/social issue. There are 100,000 Koreans studying in the United States, and except for Cho, none of them—as far as I know—have shot up their schools.
UPDATE 13: The Chicago Tribune talks a little bit about the note Cho left behind:
The suspected gunman in the Virginia Tech shooting rampage, Cho Seung-Hui, was a troubled 23-year-old senior from South Korea who investigators believe left an invective-filled note in his dorm room, sources say.
The note included a rambling list of grievances, according to sources. They said Cho also died with the words “Ismail Ax” in red ink on the inside of one of his arms.
Cho had shown recent signs of violent, aberrant behavior, according to an investigative source, including setting a fire in a dorm room and allegedly stalking some women.
A note believed to have been written by Cho was found in his dorm room that railed against “rich kids,” “debauchery” and “deceitful charlatans” on campus.
We’ll no doubt learn more in the coming days.
UPDATE 14: Over at Salon, Andrew Leonard posts some excellent advice:
Another fact provided by the Marmot’s Hole (Hey, that’s me!): According to one report, Korea has more students studying abroad in the U.S. than any other country: 100,000. Debbie Schlussel thinks that the foreign residency of Cho Seung-hui is “yet another reason to stop letting in so many foreign students.” But 99.999 percent of those 100,000 Koreans somehow managed not to engage in mass killing sprees. My advice to the Korean blogosphere — despite all the cultural hypothesizing that is about to swarm the mediasphere — is to strive to stay calm. Jealous rage knows no borders.
As I note in his comment section, however, the cultural hypothesizing won’t be limited to the United States, unfortunately—there will be plenty of that going on over here, too, both in the self-critical way (i.e., the stress on young children sent abroad to study at a young age) and in a not-so-self-critical way (i.e., See, another Korean corrupted by the evil ways of the West and/or White racism made him do it).
UPDATE 15: As you’d might expect, Michael has a monster post up at Metropolitician. Go read it.
UPDATE 16: Korean President Roh Moo-hyun and Foreign Minister Song Min-soon have offered their condolences to the American people.
UPDATE 17: YTN (Korean) reports that one of the dead, a female university student, was half-Korean and born in Korea. Condolences to her family and to all the families who lost loved ones in yesterday’s tragedy.
468 Comments
Oh man, if this is true, the Japanese netizen reaction is going to be wild.
korean embassy is seoul?
Cho Seung-hui, says the NYT.
Cho Seung-hui, says the NYT:
thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/04/17/virginia-tech-shootings-the-day-after
New York Times has his name as Seung-Hui Cho, according to federal law enforcement authorities.
Sorry, bad link. here.
There is some irony in that, if true. I’m sure we’ll see some sites comparing the number of GIs who’ve killed Koreans, and now Koreans who’ve killed Americans.
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MSNBC scroll says shooter was “23 year old Korean, permanent legal resident”. VA Tech University press conference starting now.
“Seung Hui Cho, a permanent resident of the United States, a Korean national and a Virginia Tech student has been identified as the gunman in the shootings that left 33 people dead…”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3048108
I can see the Korean and Japanese blogsphere lighting up.
confirmed.
Yes, I’m afraid this could get ugly. It must be like an early Christmas at 2ch.
Thankfully, no commenter at the NYT has made reference to the killer’s nationality, but if the Yahoo boards were still up, there’d be a slurfest.
I think my last post got eaten…
I am a little happy at how at least the patches of the expat K-blogsphere I woddle into haven’t gone the way mud-slinging fighting fire-with-fire by taking the opportunity of this tragedy to strike back after so many barrages of GI taxi cab stories year-to-year.
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I wish to point out that the killer’s background, nationality and area of study break every stereotype and expectation in the book for this kind of crime.
The “script” of a disgruntled and anti-social American engineering student raised and twisted in a US culture of guns and violence was, I’m sure, in the minds of many, with policy recommendations to follow.
I can only hope that the actual facts don’t cause an anti-immigration “script” — or worse –to be substituted.
It’s another mass killing in the U.S., another tragedy, no matter who the gunman was.
It breaks no stereotype at all.
Please have the decency not to make excuses at this time.
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This is what happens when you send decent Koreans to America and have them infected by American society and culture. Maybe the practice of sending students by the planeload to America to study needs to be rethought.
I’m sure the above (the first sentence, at least) will soon appear in the Korean media.
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Having been in the military, I probably like shooting rifles more than the average person, but I can say that I’m incredibly happy after hearing the identity of the gunman that South Korea has strict gun control laws. Thanks to them, nothing like this has happened here since that cop went on a rampage in the early 80’s (was it 99 victims?)…and I hope it stays that way. There are far too many suicidal people here to allow any of them to have guns in their hands. It’s dangerous enough as it is that many of them jump off rooftops.
#21: You beat me to it. What’s the over-under on when the local press starts blaming this on America? Tomorrow’s edition?
bulgasari - you have got to be kidding me, right?!
I am surprised the fight-or-flight instinct didn’t kick in and someone rush the shooter and instantly trigger a few more to rush him too.
I am surprised he wasn’t stopped fairly early on since he was a lone gunman with 2 handguns.
It isn’t easy to hit moving targets or targets of any real distance with a handgun unless you are practiced at it, but even then, being rushed by 2 or more people probably would have ended this shooting much earlier. I can understand how individuals were frozen in place or obeyed his commands or whatnot. That is human instinct too, but I would have expected some of the males to have said, “Screw it” and gone for him instinctively when he started shooting people execution style and kept on firing….
Whoever did this - and let’s leave out his nationality and race - must have been a very depressed and crazy man…
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Well, I certainly doubt we will see in America the kind of angry mania and mass demonstrations that South Korea after American soldiers *accidentally* ran over Korean schoolgirls. And I also guess Xinhua is going to move the story off of the bottom of its page (”no Chinese killed”) to the top.
Out of a sense of decency to those who have suffered from this tragedy as well as those who have to live with it, I would request that the posters on this board keep their schadenfreude and the speculation to a minimum if at all possible.
And while Metropolitician has already gone a limb to attribute motives, specifically “Korean females dating non-Koreans”, I would prefer to be more circumspect and let cooler heads prevail.
This is a flat out tragedy regardless of what your race or nationality is.
Any bets on how KCNA will bend this? I’ll bet they run it… somehow.
A beautiful young woman of South Asian descent and a black 4.0 student and marching band member with charisma that made him famous campus-wide were among the earliest victims identified. Some 20% of VT students are of Asian decsent or nationality, according to one tally I saw.
Author Fox Butterfield (exNYT) is on NPR now saying his recent work on profiles of mass killers debunked the notion of any one profile. He said the stereotype is of a middle-aged white loner, but that past killers have also been young, black, female and Asian-American.
This story requires a calm focus on just the facts and the utmost of media professionalism, which, to me, unfortunately means it may be too sensitive for most ROK outlets to handle.
I also worry about the usual suspects here, whose names or initials almost always mark the place where rational debates go to die.
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Anybody remember the string of copycat slaughters in fast food restaurants in the 1980s?
Anybody remember where the phrase “going postal” came from?
Saddly, these kinds of things happen enough in American society that the person’s nationality won’t come into play much.
And from a different angle, looking back at how the bloodbath on Arab-looking individuals didn’t happen after 9/11 like I fully expected, i don’t think Koreans have to worry much in the US.
#31: Typo
my mistake (lazy fingers):
…gone out on a limb…
In response to #27, if he was the typical loner Korean, he would have played enough videogames to know to keep his distance, keep his targets within his field of vision, and maintain situational awareness to prevent the blindside attack. Any tactial shooter (CS, GRAW, RB6, AA) teaches you to instinctively do these things. The only thing for the students to do was barricade or run.
#34: Typo
athical: ethical
(lazy fingers and Baron du Val wine)
There is a profile, Slim: mass killers are all whacked in the head.
USinKorea wrote:
“I am surprised the fight-or-flight instinct didn’t kick in and someone rush the shooter and instantly trigger a few more to rush him too.”
Honestly, I don’t think I would have had the courage to rush the shooter. Nearly every victim had multiple bullet wounds. If four people had charged him, the first three would have fallen. 30 people were shot in that lecture hall anyway, but I can understand why everyone cowered behind desks as the gunman was shooting. At least they had the sense and courage to hold the door shut when the killer returned.
At my school, there are codes and procedures in place for different types of emergencies, including communication methods and duties for staff. I wonder if clear emergency procedures were in place at Virginia Tech, if the staff and students are aware of procedures, and if there are regular drills.
If you are not a practiced shot with a real handgun, you aren’t going to take out 3 or 4 people rushing at you. Hitting targets with a pistol is not as easy as it looks. Once you go a few yards away from the target, unless you have had training and practice, you’ll miss even a stationary target.
Moving targets coming at him with all the adrenline pumping through his body, he wouldn’t have stood a chance of hitting 1 perhaps 2 people before the others got to him.
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“I don’t think I would have had the courage to rush the shooter.”
I’m talking about the fight-or-flight instinct. It is an animal instinct and not really about courage or cowardice.
I would think with that many people around, and the guy firing and firing, and especially if he did order some people to stand against the wall and then shot them — there would have been a high enough percentage of “fighters” among the “flighters” to stop the guy…
Cho’s photo released;
http://www.dprkstudies.org/
The girlfriend was white.
#35 — I can’t forget though that one or two Sikhs were gunned down in the wake of 9/11.
The only thing I want to add is let’s not turn this tragedy into a session of finger pointing, stereotyping, racial remarks, and we are not to blame crap.
This applies to both Koreans and non-Koreans.
It is a sad time for America and Korea. How many kyopo students were shot?
#47 — I was so worried about how many revenge killings and attacks were going to take place, I emailed 3 or 4 Muslim organizations immediately after the 9/11 attacks expressing my hopes things would settle down.
How come when everyone thought that the perp was Chinese from Shanghai that no one was calling for no finger pointing, but now it is revealed that it was a South Korean that did it we have two people from the same country as the perp warning us not to point fingers? There has not even been any finger pointing on this thread. I think these folk are a little trigger happy with their warnings!
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News accounts say that survivors never heard him say a single word.
Two pistols, one a Glock 9mm, one a Walther 22 caliber. Not sure of the magazine capacity of either but I suspect double digits for each (for reference, standard US 45 is/was a 7 round magazine).
Some accounts say that at least one point he was firing both weapons, one from either hand. If he kept one with some rounds still loaded while he loaded the other, it would have been very tough to rush him with an instant “pick-up” team of guys who don’t normally work together.
Evidently he was carrying plenty of additional ammo, sounds like it was pre-loaded in magazines. You can slam in a fresh pre-loaded magazine in an instant, just like in the movies; I think successful “rushes” of previous shooters in similar incidents usually occurred during a “stoppage” (jam), or the weapon had to be reloaded one round at a time; more likely to have the shooter start fumbling when this happens and watching potential victims will immediately be able to “nerve” themselves to try a rush.
CNN is interviewing one young guy who went out into the hallway, saw the shooter emerging from a classroom down the hallway and headed his way. He ducked back into the classroom and started to hide but realized that wouldn’t do any good, so he and a couple of other guys grabbed a heavy table or desk near the door and used it to block the door.
Held the door handle to keep him from opening it, but stayed off to the side so when the shooter fired through the door to stop them from blocking it, they weren’t hit. From the other side of the door, they heard him drop a magazine out of a weapon and then slap in another one.
Shooter gave up and went on to his next target. I’d say the actions of these young guys were probably the best that could be done under the circumstances.
As far as unprepared civilians being able to suddenly coordinate a “rush” against a fast-moving opponent who suddenly appears, I think you’re underestimating the shock factor of the totally unexpected.
If the US is a mature society, the fact that this dude was Korean shouldn’t really matter.
So, it turned out he’s Korean.
One of those Koreans, dogbertt hates.
What and why was this dude a Green card holder still with ROK citizenship when he’s been in the states since a elementary school kid?
Just using the US for personal benefits, is what I say. Either that, or he had personal real estate in ROK or something.
Dude deserves all the worst possible that comes at him, post mortum.
Congradulations, shaku, party and rock on. This is your day. Your glorious day. He’s a kyopo, he’s hated, why he’s your favorite. Burn him in effigay. Go vandalize your favorite Korean restaurant.
Something like this should never, ever happen again, anywhere.
Fox reports one of the victims killed was a “Henry Lee.”
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It’s terrible time to be Korean abroad right now.
I had co-workers marching into my office and letting me graciously know the maniac was a Korean and probably asking for a some kind of explanation. To that I said, “Really? That was a terrible incident, at least one good thing he blew his brains out”. In the corners of the offices, I hear whispers of “immigrants that come here and don’t integrate, ruining everything”.
cm—I’m sorry to hear that. You shouldn’t have to put up with that shit.
The whole thing sickens me. I am only left wondering how the Korean press will report it. As I was sitting here in the PC room I was showing one of the young employees here how much stuff that tends to portray Korea in a negative light never makes it to the Korean press, and, if it does, it is relegated to a fourth or fivth page and heavily glossed over.
I don’t think this incident is a reflection on Korea itself - the actions of one tormented psycho - but I think the Korean press and government’s actions and how they handle this horrible incident will and should be a reflection.
for what its worth (not much) but we know that there will be no anti Korean reaction in the US.
Contrast that with the depraved hate orgy that followed the accidental killings of Mee-su and Hyo-Sun.
I know Koreans will be rather concerned about this guy because of the possible reaciton in the US they perceive. They are projecting their reaction were the same to happen here (say, if a deranged English teacher were to drop a gasoline bomb on a crowded Daegu subway killing 144 people etc…)
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It is a tragedy. If Cho stayed in Korea, he would have well-adjusted into Korean society.
His parents decide to go to America. If they have gone to a big city like NY or LA, he would have been OK.
However, he had grown up in a small town in virginia. He suffered much racism. He was judged to be less than his peers.
He became very anti-social. He hated everyone. He got to know a white girl. This was, he thought, a chance to become a full American.
When she dumped him, he became so angry. He hated her, the university and USA.
He shot everyone.
P.S. American gun law and society need changing. As usinkorea pointed out, Cho must have had lots of practice in shooting people. Where did he get such practice? Video games? Maybe not. In small town USA, young people play with guns. It is so easy to get guns. Actually, it is encouraged to have gun and learn to shoot.
Why is a hand gun sold to young people? I can think of no reason why people under 30 be allowed to own a hand gun?
America has a problem with guns.
Again, I’m talking about the fight-or-flight instinct, not some coordination or something that is even conscious thought. Yes, I can picture the shock freezing people. I can picture it getting people to do what the guy said if he told them to stand against the wall. But, human instinct when cornered is also to fight, and I’m suprised given the number of people around, and how long the shootings went on, the “fight” instinct didn’t kick in way in which he was rushed by a few people at some point.
As for the stuff about the guns, that is part of my thinking too.
Unless he was trained and practiced, hitting targets with a pistol isn’t as easy as people think.
And they specifically train you not to use one hand when shooting at targets because it makes you even more inaccurate - even at close distances.
Reloading magazines is also going to be an issue if you are acting Joe Hollywood blazing with a gun in each hand.
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Captbbq & JK, refer to my first post (#30).
cm - and this is happening to you in Canada?
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They have already reacted.
Part of their response is to hint that he is more American than Korean by pointing out that he has been in the US since 1992.
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Good point Shakuhachi….you are indeed correct that they are trying to quickly point out that he is more American than Korean…..unlike Hines….who, after doing something that Korea could capitalize upon, quickly was lauded for being Korean
I am not of partial Japanese descent, not a single drop. Please do not spread any more lies with that forked tongue of yours.
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Shakuhachi has a point. I had to wonder why the first Korean headline I saw called him a kyopo. But those are apparently the facts.
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“cm - and this is happening to you in Canada?”
It’s a big news here with this story splashed all over the papers. Is that a surprise? I don’t think the backlash will be against Koreans (minus some minor aggrevations), it will be more towards immigration issues.
Xinhua just sent this story from very bottom to the top of their page.
#61:
At least not collectively or en masse — that’s not the American way. But I guarantee you, there will be a backlash and a concomitant increase in the following:
Increased anti-immigrant sentiment;
1) Increased anti-Asian sentiment;
2) Increased discrimination against Asians;
3) Increased hate crimes against Asians;
4) Increased denial of service against Asians;
5) Increased civil rights violations against Asians;
6) Increased racial tension between Asians and other races;
7) Increased crime against Asians;
9) Increased white ethnocenticism;
10) Increased racial polarization in American society.
There will be repercussions, not just toward Koreans, KAs, but any Asian or Asian American wishing to make a go of it in the U.S.
robert neff,
I am just describing difficulties faced by Asians in smalltown, USA because they look different. It is more severe for Orientals. Much more so than Hispanics and Blacks. Being a super-small minority has its sting as many of you ex-pats in Korea will attest to.
Sonagi,
I am glad that you are doing something about it. If Cho had met many good and kind Americans who had taken time to talk to him and prop up his self-esteem, this would not have happened.
#63 -
Hold your horses there. Fairfax County, where Mr. Cho grew up, is emphatically not a small town. Rather, it is an extremely affluent, extremely diverse suburb of Washington, DC. In fact, it has a significant Korean community, as evidenced by the presence of an ethnic Korean Catholic parish there.
Also, as a wealthy suburban area—hence fairly densely populated—with a generally liberal political bent, Fairfax County is not the kind of place where young people play with guns.
Such baseless assumptions and generalizations are entirely unhelpful, baduk. In this case, they couldn’t be much further off the mark.
ban ki moon referred to it as a “tragic accident.”
Ut videam,
OK, maybe I am wrong. Maybe Cho had some family history of madness.
However, I do think he had a very low self-esteem. Shooting at everyone? He must hated everyone in USA. Why he got to be that way?
It must something to do with his environment and his upbringing.
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@H.Kim #78,
You implore fellow commenters not to indulge in schadenfreude, and then spew a long list of presumptions about how Americans will react. I look forward to seeing you prove your predictions right with objective data, like news reports of revenge attacks and such.
@Baduk #79,
It isn’t me. It’s the community. The people of my community are very tolerant and welcoming to newcomers no matter where they’re from.
@Ut videam #80,
Glad you caught that error. The Fairfax County town of Centreville, where Cho grew up, is diverse with a large and growing Asian population. In fact, I do my shopping at Korean-owned Grand Mart supermarket right smack in the middle of Centreville. In the Fairfax County school system, Koreans comprise the second largest ESL population after Salvadorans. Baduk is wrong. Cho did not grow up as an isolated minority.
Thanks Ut Videam for your insight… I have nothing against you Baduk but I found your comments extremely offensive. Perhaps you should have taken the cue of the Marmot and refrained from spewing unsubstantuated rumors or personal beliefs.
I don’t condone racism or other …isms of the same ilk, but it is true in all countries and all cities…that there is some racism and prejudism…no different in Korea. In the past there was a strong regionalism that was prevalent in the society - thankfully this has eased.
Schools are notorious for their “in groups” and the ostracizing of those who do not fit into the “in group.” While it is wrong to mistreat people in this manner it does not justify taking a gun and shooting innocent people. Why are you trying to justify this?