South Korean students fear US prejudice after shootings

South Korean students heading to the US expressed concern today over a possible backlash after a shooting rampage at an American university committed by one of their fellow nationals, but said they would not change their study plans.

The suspect in the rampage that killed 32 at Virginia Tech was identified as South Korean citizen Cho Seung-Hui, 23, a permanent US resident who had lived there since 1992. Cho also killed himself.

South Korea has sent more students to study in the US than any other country, according to statistics from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The number of South Korean students was 93,728 at the end of last year – 14.9% of the total – ahead of India at 76,708 and China at 60,850, according to a February report from the agency.

Learning English and getting a higher education abroad is considered highly prestigious in Korean society, where high school students spend hours in after-school cramming institutes to improve their grades and win attendance to colleges.

South Korean officials have expressed condolences as well as concern about a possible racial backlash that Koreans could face in the US after the Virginia tragedy.

High school graduate Sim Yeong-eun, 18, said she would go to the United States in August to study despite such concerns.

The attack “won’t shake my decision as I’ve already made up my mind to go to the United States,” said Sim, who had been accepted at Virginia Tech but declined before the rampage happened.

She plans to go to New York University or the University of Michigan.

But Sim’s father, Sim Hwa-yong, expressed concern about his daughter’s safety.

“I am worried that South Korean students in the US could be ostracised due to the shooting,” he said, adding that he will still allow his daughter to study there.

Kim Kun-hee, 20, also worried that Americans could negatively stereotype South Koreans, but said she will go to the US to study economics at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania.

However, others expressed misgivings about heading to the United States.

“I don’t have any immediate plan to study in the US, but I would have reconsidered my plans if I had planned on it,” said Jang Bong-geun, a student at Seoul’s Yonsei University. If he did study there, he said he would avoid Virginia.

There were no immediate reports of any hate crimes in the US against Koreans after the tragedy. However, Kim Min-kyung, a South Korean student at Virginia Tech, said by telephone that students were staying in groups out of fears of possible retaliation if alone.

“We are concerned that we could become a target” of hate crimes, said Yum Eun-ha, a South Korean resident in Virginia.

However, other South Korean students were sceptical the shooting would spawn racial hatred against South Koreans.

“I am concerned about the negative image the rampage could cause among Americans but I am not worried about racial hate crime,” said Lee Zenas, who is set to enter Stanford University this year.

The shooting also did not appear to have any immediate impact on local private institutes that help students head to the US for their studies.

“No students have cancelled their plans to study in the US” because of the shooting, said an official at the Chongro Overseas Educational Institute.