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Just two days after the shooting occurred at Virginia Tech, it became our own problem. Many Koreans are concerned about various issues, ranging from the less urgent, like U.S. entry visas, to the excessively worrisome, like the ratification of the free trade agreement (FTA) with the U.S. They're worried that Korean students might have a hard time in the U.S., or that the U.S. might deny Korea the visa waiver program. They're worried they'll be attacked if they visit America, or that the FTA will be canceled.
These worries are not unfounded. Since the culprit was identified as a Korean, American websites have been inundated with hate messages. "Wretched Koreans, go to ruin," one says. "In Korea, young men are obliged to serve in the Army or in the police force. Under these circumstances, this kind of man is born," says another. "I know Korea well because I lived there for five years. The Korean government is encouraging anti-Americanism in the schools. We need to send letters to the Korean Embassy so that they will stop this immediately," another says.
Some of the messages are just emotional outpourings by people who don't seem to understand the situation clearly. Others might sound more plausible to foreigners from their point of view. Just as the 9/11 terrorist attacks led to innocent Middle Easterners being persecuted on the streets and their human rights infringed upon, Koreans are now shuddering with fear that they might be treated as "dangerous aliens" in the U.S.
People are especially curious about the words "Ismail Ax" which Cho Seung-hui is said to have inscribed on his arm in red ink and which was also found in his notebook. Endless blog messages about "Ismail Ax" are being updated by the minute, and the words are at the top of the leading search sites including ask.com. The website of the Chicago Tribune, which first broke the story, has been inundated with an enormous crush of readers. The mystery is adding fuel to the fire of anxiety.
Rumors abound as to what Ismail Ax means. Some people say it refers to Ibrahim I, the forefather of Islam, because one of his verses reportedly says, "I was born yesterday, and I die today." Some say it means "punishment by Ismail", or God's punishment, which the Al-Qaeda terrorists supposedly spoke of. Some say it's the name of his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend.
When concrete information is lacking, rumor fills the void. American Internet users are drawing from a jumble of words and concepts like "Korean, anti-Americanism, shooting, and Ismail Ax," and coming to some mixed-up conclusions. "Maybe Cho Seung-hui got into Islam on the Internet and converted to Islam recently. 'Ismail Ax' was instigated by Barguti (a Palestinian guerrilla leader)." (boingboing.net)
In the documentary film "Bowling for Columbine" about the Columbine High School shootings, director Michael Moore talked about the extraordinary high incidence of gun crime in the U.S., which has the largest number of weapons in the world. Moore blamed it on a distinctly American fear of other people that has been handed down from the early pioneer days. The 9/11 terrorist attacks and the shootings at Virginia Tech may have driven America deeper into misunderstanding and fear.
Many ordinary Americans are fearful for their security and wary of others. It's pointless to try to tell them that their fear is politically incorrect. This misunderstanding and distrust might lead some people to commit unjust acts against Koreans. Then Koreans, feeling victimized, will become more anti-American and the vicious cycle will repeat.
But other American Internet users have reacted differently. "If a white man had been the culprit, he would have merely been branded a psychopath. But the moment the culprit was identified as a Korean it became a race incident. I wish this wouldn't turn into another stupid racial issue," one person wrote. "When a Canadian athlete won the gold medal at the Olympics, he was a Canadian hero. But when he was suspected of having used a banned drug, he was called a Jamaican. People are calling Cho Seung-hui an 'ethnic Korean' in the same way. They don't believe an American could commit a crime like this," wrote another. These kinds of messages are also attracting a lot of support.
It's not guns that kill people, but people that kill people. And in the same sense, it's not the incident, which has already happened, but the misunderstanding that is really frightening. The U.S. and Korea should join hands to combat this new threat of misunderstanding.
This column was contributed by Park Eun-joo, from the Chosun Ilbo¡¯s Entertainment News Division.
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