US Denies Worries About Racial Backlash
Title
US Denies Worries About Racial Backlash
Description
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
Washington has dismissed Seoul's worries about a possible racial backlash in the United States and a crack in their alliance following Monday's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University, diplomatic sources said yesterday.
Senior U.S. government officials held the South Korean government from sending a condolence delegation to the U.S., stressing the incident would not be an issue of racial prejudice, they said.
In a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Washington, D.C., a U.S. State Department official reiterated the shooting case was made by a U.S. immigrant from South Korea, not South Korea itself, according to reports.
The official said the U.S. government regards any immigrants to the U.S. as its nationals regardless of their ethnics, referring his country as a ``melting pot'' of different peoples, the reports said.
William Stanton, deputy chief of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, told Korean lawmakers on Wednesday that the incident would not affect the two nation's long-standing relations, their aides said.
The gunman in the shooting rampage, the worst in U.S. history, was identified as Cho Seung-hui, 23, a South Korean studying at the university. Cho was a permanent resident in the U.S.
While many South Koreans have been feared of a racial backlash, U.S. public sentiment was focused on gun control laws, reports said.
Put on high alert, the South Korean government has been making efforts to ensure the shooting rampage would not lead to any ethnic confrontation in the United States.
About 100,000 South Koreans are residing in the United States for study, making them the largest foreign student group in the U.S.
President Roh Moo-hyun expressed deep sorrow three times over the deaths of 32 people in the shooting rampage.
``I and my fellow citizens can only feel shock and a wrenching of our hearts,'' Roh told a news conference after a summit with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Wednesday.
He expressed his condolences to the victims and their families.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
--
Original Source: Korea Times
<a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=1324&categoryCode=113
">http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=1324&categoryCode=113</a>
Staff Reporter
Washington has dismissed Seoul's worries about a possible racial backlash in the United States and a crack in their alliance following Monday's shooting rampage at Virginia Tech University, diplomatic sources said yesterday.
Senior U.S. government officials held the South Korean government from sending a condolence delegation to the U.S., stressing the incident would not be an issue of racial prejudice, they said.
In a meeting with South Korean correspondents in Washington, D.C., a U.S. State Department official reiterated the shooting case was made by a U.S. immigrant from South Korea, not South Korea itself, according to reports.
The official said the U.S. government regards any immigrants to the U.S. as its nationals regardless of their ethnics, referring his country as a ``melting pot'' of different peoples, the reports said.
William Stanton, deputy chief of the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, told Korean lawmakers on Wednesday that the incident would not affect the two nation's long-standing relations, their aides said.
The gunman in the shooting rampage, the worst in U.S. history, was identified as Cho Seung-hui, 23, a South Korean studying at the university. Cho was a permanent resident in the U.S.
While many South Koreans have been feared of a racial backlash, U.S. public sentiment was focused on gun control laws, reports said.
Put on high alert, the South Korean government has been making efforts to ensure the shooting rampage would not lead to any ethnic confrontation in the United States.
About 100,000 South Koreans are residing in the United States for study, making them the largest foreign student group in the U.S.
President Roh Moo-hyun expressed deep sorrow three times over the deaths of 32 people in the shooting rampage.
``I and my fellow citizens can only feel shock and a wrenching of our hearts,'' Roh told a news conference after a summit with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi on Wednesday.
He expressed his condolences to the victims and their families.
gallantjung@koreatimes.co.kr
--
Original Source: Korea Times
<a href="http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=1324&categoryCode=113
">http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/nation_view.asp?newsIdx=1324&categoryCode=113</a>
Creator
Jung Sung-ki
Date
2007-10-09
Contributor
Haeyong Chung
Language
eng
Citation
Jung Sung-ki, “US Denies Worries About Racial Backlash,” The April 16 Archive, accessed November 2, 2024, https://april16archive.org/index.php/items/show/1437.