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Cho Seun-hui, the shooter in the Virginia Tech University massacre on Monday, came to the U.S. with his family when he was eight years old - a fact, experts say, that may have played a part in the tragedy. Shin Min-sup, an associate professor of psychiatry at Seoul National University¡¯s Children¡¯s Hospital, said, "A sudden environmental change like immigration must have caused enormous stress to Cho. It seems the anger which he had locked inside exploded all at once." Youngsters who come to the U.S. at an early age are sometimes referred to as the ¡°1.5 generation¡± of immigrants, poised between the first generation, who emigrate as adults, and the second generation, who are born abroad.
¡ß Generation gap
The generation gap between the first and ¡°1.5¡± generation has been a problem in Korean-American communities. The first generation struggle to adjust to American society, while the 1.5 generation steadily build a new identity as Americans. Most first-generation migrants have to put all their time and effort into managing a laundry shop or small store and simply did not have time to talk to their children. Kim (39) works for a software maker. "I was angry with my parents, who are ignorant of American culture and English,¡± he recalls. ¡°I complained that we had to come here. To overcome this self-hatred, I studied hard and hung out with Korean-Americans to relieve stress."
Jeong Jae-gea, professor of College of Social Sciences in Soongsil University, said, "First-generation migrants stick to a Korean way of life. But the 1.5 generation can¡¯t understand why their parents do this even in the U.S."
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Los Angeles¡¯ Koreatown.
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¡ß Isolated from mainstream
Yu Bum-hee, Dept. of Neuropsychiatry, Samsung Medical Center, said, "Virginia has a reputation for having comparatively strong white supremacy movements. It¡¯s possible that Cho felt diminished by that atmosphere." These are difficulties all Korean-Americans face as a minority in the U.S., and especially the 1.5 generation. Joseph Oh (34), who lives in Los Angeles, said, "As I grew older, I realized the ethnic barrier. I fought with white youngsters who teased me so many times. But I finally had to accept reality." In some cases, the situation can lead to crime. New York Police estimates that a significant number of crimes in the Queens Flushing Koreatown are committed by ethnic Koreans under 18.
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With Korean and U.S. flags at half mast in front of a Korean-American association building in LA¡¯s Koreatown, local Christian groups put up a placard remembering the victims of the Virginia Tech shooting spree.
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¡ß Profiles
Meanwhile, Korean students make up the largest number of foreign students with a study visa in the U.S. According to a record released by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the total number of foreign students was 630,998 in 2006, of which 93,728 or 15 percent were Korean. The 2006 annual report by Institute of International Education says 55.8 percent of Korean students studying in the U.S. are concentrated in 10 states including New York and California. Texas and Illinois also have many Korean students.
Research by the Foreign Ministry in January 2005 shows 2.09 million Koreans were living in the U.S. for study, immigration and employment. The largest group of Koreans -- 33.5 percent - lived in the Los Angeles Consulate¡¯s jurisdiction, which included Arizona, New Mexico, South Carolina and LA. Seventeen percent of Korean-American were living in the New York Consulate¡¯s jurisdiction, which includes Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Some 6.9 percent lived in the Washington Consulate¡¯s jurisdiction, which includes Virginia, where the massacre happened.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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