04-19-2007 18:34 http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/
Fears of Backlash Are Misplaced
by Michael Breen
In response to the massacre at Virginia Tech on Tuesday of staff and students by the
deranged gunman Cho Seung-hui, South Koreans responded with characteristic
grace.
In response to the massacre at Virginia Tech on Tuesday of staff and students by the
deranged gunman Cho Seung-hui, South Koreans responded with characteristic
grace.
President Roh Moo-hyun commented more than once, offering his condolences. The
foreign ministry expressed its ``indescribable surprise and shock.’’ The Korean
ambassador to the United States even said he would fast for 32 days, one day for
each of the victims.
The first person I spoke to said he and fellow Koreans were wondering how they
could compensate the families in a way that would not be considered offensive to
Americans. In Korea, it would be appropriate to collect money. Cash represents the
sweat and tears of your labor and offering it is meaningful. But he worried that
Americans might misunderstand such a gesture and react angrily.
Some people came out and lit candles in memory of the victims. When this was
reported from Seoul on CNN, the news anchor was sufficiently moved to drop her
usual objectivity and say how impressive it was.
This broad graciousness, from people so remote from the crime, is a reflection of the
profound connection that the majority of Koreans feel with the United States. No
country has had a better ally. The paddy-fields-to-Silicon-Valley story of modern
South Korea is, it can be said without insult to Koreans, an American success story,
too. In fact, the anti-American feeling that surges every so often in Korea derives from
the shame and frustration that in its modern history Korea was so weak that it overdepended. Despite the way it gets expressed, it comes from anger with themselves
and their leaders rather than from any real American offense.
But more significantly, the response to the killings reflects the sense of collective
responsibility felt by Koreans. Mad or not, Koreans feel that, as Mr. Cho’s blood was
Korean, they, in part, must atone for his actions.
But while Americans may be touched, this Korean sense of collective responsibility
illustrates a profound difference in thinking.
Take, for example, the concern about reprisals. In its first statement of surprise and
shock, the foreign ministry also reported that it had ``established safety measures for
ethnic Koreans in the US in case of contingencies.’’ Korean parents called their
children studying in America to warn them to stay indoors.
The frontpage headline in this newspaper yesterday summed up those fears in the
headline, ``Koreans Fear Racial Backlash.’’
American newspapers have also run stories about such worries. But while the
American concern is about a few rednecks and campus bullies, who may abuse, beat
or even, in very isolated cases, shoot Asians _ racists by definition judge by race not
nationality _ the Korean concern is broader.
Government officials in emergency meetings and ordinary citizens also worried that
the incident would negatively influence US consideration of the visa waiver program
for Koreans and make it less likely that Congress would ratify the KORUS FTA.
In other words, they fear that racist public opinion will pressure opinion-leaders,
politicians and other decision-makers to take action against Korea.
That’s because that’s how it is here.
Consider: in 2002, when a US military vehicle ran over two girls in a street, Koreans
came out en masse to hold candles in protest outside the American embassy.
Activists displayed pictures of the bodies to stir up passions. It went on for weeks.
This was for a traffic accident. Instead of saying what idiots they were, presidential
candidates with the notable exception of the eventual winner, Roh Moo-hyun, posed
for pictures with them.
When the vehicle’s two operators, both Americans, were found not guilty by an
American military tribunal, of intentional manslaughter, one of my Korean colleagues,
an otherwise sensible man, was so angry, he said that they should have been handed
over to Korean courts and jailed even if they were innocent to assuage the ``feelings
of the people.’’
The scary thing is that politicians, bureaucrats, prosecutors, and tax officials in this
country are driven to make decisions for precisely this kind of reason. What else is
the entire Lone Star witch-hunt about if it’s not a civic group-lawmaker-prosecutor
chain reaction? Watch how this case unfolds and, whatever deal is reached, note the
absence of real evidence.
Rather than standing up and changing the direction of an ill wind of opinion, officials
fear criticism for not obeying it. That’s how it is here at this stage in democratic
development.
But, America has had more time at democracy. It is well versed in the notion of
individual responsibility. In truth, Mr. Cho did not have Korean blood because there is
no such thing as Korean blood. He was a young man who snapped. That’s how
Americans will see it. All I can say is that we should observe closely how they deal
with the aftermath, and take note.
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/