Koreans in Utah feeling nervous

Korean college students in Utah say they fear being targeted by a public backlash because their ethnicity matches that of Cho Seung-Hui, the student who shot and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech.

Before the shooter's identity was released, people in South Korea thought the rampage was another "normal" occurrence in the United States because of shootings that have happened over the years, said Jiha Ham, a senior majoring in mass communication at the University of Utah.

When Cho, 23, an English major at Virginia Tech, was identified as being from South Korea, Ham said the community was in an uproar. The event now headlines the front page of every top newspaper in South Korea, Ham said.

"I'm very nervous that people will start an anti-Korean movement," said Ham, former president of the Korean Student Association at the U. "People can get really mad."

Although Ham has not been threatened, he said he's still frightened something might happen during one of his classes in the next couple of days solely because of the cultural connection.

"I'm disappointed and scared ... that there's now a connection between this event and Korea," Ham said.

After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, hate crimes against Muslims were reported nationwide. In Salt Lake City, a man was accused of setting fire to Curry In A Hurry, a local Pakistani-owned restaurant.

Five minutes after law enforcement officials identified Cho, three anti-Korean groups had been created in the popular social Web site www.facebook.com. Although anyone can sign up for Facebook, mostly college and high school-aged students frequent the site, which has networks for most universities and high schools around the nation.

Whether asking people to pray for the shooter or to hate Koreans because of the shooter's ethnicity, 75 groups had been created about Cho on the Web site by Tuesday. Some groups aim to deflect negative stereotypes about Koreans because of the event, including "I'm Korean and have a gun, don't be scared," and "Don't hate Koreans because of Cho Seung-Hui."

More than 500 groups, some with more than 7,000 members, have also been created in remembrance of those who died in Virginia Tech.

Jayoung Kim, a senior in pre-nursing at the U. and a member of the Korean Student Fellowship, said stereotyping is the wrong way to react to the Virginia Tech massacre.

"It doesn't matter that he's from South Korea," Kim said. "It already happened and it was a mistake, but we shouldn't be treated differently."

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E-mail: abreton@desnews.com