hankyoreh

By Choe Hyun, professor of sociology at Cheju National University

Seung-hui Cho’s shooting spree left Americans and Koreans in shock. The biggest dilemma Koreans feel is the question of whether Cho was Korean or American. They think the answer will determine how much responsibility they have to feel for what happened. In fact, the only reason we distinguish this recent shooting from the occasional similar incidents like the Columbine High School shooting is that Cho, as a permanent resident of the United States who holds Korean citizenship, is a member of the "1.5 generation" immigrant generation, going over to the U.S. as a child.

The reason most of us Koreans felt shame or were so sure the event would lead to the spread of prejudice against Koreans when we heard the shooter was a Korean citizen is worrisome, because it stems from the kind of thinking of a society so occupied with nationality and bloodlines that they fail to take into account that he was in fact a member of the society in which he lived.

Cho may never have given up Korean citizenship, but if he grew up there since the third grade, he is, in terms of mindset and cultural association, at least over 50 percent a child of American society.

I am not trying to distort matters here in order to "free" South Korea and its citizens of "responsibility." Hines Ward had an admirable Korean mother, but I think it was American society that raised him to be an admirable citizen. If he had been in Korea, where there is racial prejudice and discrimination based on bloodlines, would the care of an admirable mother have been enough to make Ward the same man he is today? We need to stop going on about bloodlines and how great the "Korean race" is while getting so excited with joy or sorrow at the successes and failures of overseas Koreans. We need to begin working on eradicating our society from its racial prejudice and discrimination against foreigners. Today Korea has hundreds of thousands of migrant workers and their children living in its midst. International marriages account for roughly 12 percent of all marriages, and the number of so-called "mixed-blood Koreans" is rising rapidly.

We need to see that it is how we handle the cases of Seung-hui Cho and Hines Ward that will determine whether we raise someone of mixed racial background in our society into a Hines or into a Seung-hui. We need to raise a generation of these children with warm feelings toward Korea instead of hatred that can lead to violence.

I do not mean to say that overseas Koreans do not need our consideration. We should help them settle abroad, and we should support them in maintaining Korea’s language and culture and avoiding discrimination. This is something needed for Korea, overseas Koreans, and for everyone living in the countries in which those of Korean descent reside. Helping them maintain their cultural identity and respecting that identity is a very important condition for their ability to live with pride as global citizens. Cho reportedly had close to no interaction with the Korean community; had he had more interaction with people like the Korean students association and had more cultural pride, he may have been more mentally stable. Had that been the case, he might have contributed to both Korean and American societies.

Back when I lived in the United States, the cultural and linguistic differences and the new environment led to a massive amount of stress, and for a while I went to psychological counseling. It was through that experience that I learned quite painfully of how outsiders need our consideration. Helping immigrants settle in their new countries is something the countries they emigrate from and the countries they settle in both need to work toward. This would be one way to reduce tragedies like this recent event. The victims of the shooting and their families are surely in great agony, and the shock felt by Cho’s parents and siblings is surely no less severe. I can only hope there will never be another tragedy like this one.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]