Korean Kite

One of the items on display at the Alumni Center Art Exhibit. On 4/16/08, as part of the Day of Remembrance observance, the Holtzman Alumni Center Museum displayed examples of art, crafts, quilts, and other memorabilia contributed since April 16, 2007. This is one of over 60,000 items that will eventually go to Special Collections at Newman Library.

A Kite of Compassion sent from Drew University Theological School Korean Caucus. A letter accompanying the kite expressed students' deepest condolences to the victims and their families as well as prayers for Seung Hui Cho and his family.

Kacey Beddoes

2008-05-09

Kacey Beddoes

Kacey Beddoes (kbeddoes@vt.edu)

eng

Vigil in Korea

In Seoul, Koreans mourned for the victims in the shooting. "May all the victims' souls rest in peace".


Original Source:新华网

<a href="http://edu.ce.cn/foreign/xy/200704/19/t20070419_11089930.shtml">http://edu.ce.cn/foreign/xy/200704/19/t20070419_11089930.shtml</a>

新华网

2007-08-15

Na Mi

eng

Can't stick it on Korea

By Zhang Xin
[ 2007-04-24 15:42 ]

Last week, in the immediate aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings, some people apparently tried to stick it on Korea, or China, or Asia in general, all on the strength of such weak arguments that Cho Seung-Hui was an immigrant from Korea, that he was sometimes (mis)taken as Chinese, or that he&#39;s Asian-looking.

I read somewhere that a Korean retorted, quite correctly, that Cho left South Korea at the age of eight and spent most of his formative years in the States so they can&#39;t possibly stick it on Korea. Cho, who killed 33 people including himself on Virginia Tech campus on Monday, April 16, 2007, was 23.

Likewise, you can&#39;t stick it on China. At least once Cho was mistaken as Chinese. "In high school, Cho Seung-Hui almost never opened his mouth. When he finally did, his classmates laughed, pointed at him and said: &#39;Go back to China.&#39;" (Va. Tech shooter a &#39;textbook killer&#39;, Associated Press, April 19, 2007).

Nor can you pin it on Asia. After all, almost all East Asians look the same to the less discerning American eye.

Whom do we stick it onto, then?

If I have to assign blame, I will stick it first on Cho, obviously, then on gun control or the lacks thereof in America, then on pop culture and on society at large.

I, for one, believe it is not as far-fetched to blame it on society at large than on a specific target such as Korea. Society at large, you see, both yonder across the oceans and here in this country looks too much up to what is called success but has too little respect for and tolerance of what is considered to be failure. I mean, only by contrast do we tell success from failure. So theoretically for society as a whole, these two are equally important - we should therefore reserve a degree of respect for those who fail, who come up short but also run.

School bullies, for example, pick on practically anyone who&#39;s not regarded as "one of us". You may get glared at, jeered and sneered at for one of these perfectly harmless "crimes" - that you come from another country (or another province for that manner), that you don&#39;t get ushered to school by a sedan car, that you speak a non-local dialect, that you have an odd accent, that you have a physical disability or simply a harelip, that you have a mental problem.... The list goes on and on.

In the mainstream society of one-upmanship, pop culture craves for bringing up heroes (American Idol, or the Super Girl in China) and in the process create as a by product victims and villains, of whom Cho is but a latest and most disturbing example.

No doubt, blaming it on society at large is in vain. Cho himself tried to do it, and what consequences did he come to? Cho argued in his manifesto, sent to the NBC in between the murders, that he was out to avenge rich "brats" with had their "Mercedes", "gold necklaces", "cognac" and "trust funds". But he had no argument, really - none of the above justifies the shootings.

But, as a lesson, we as individuals need to be constantly reminded of the social callousness we often displays toward the weak and underprivileged.

In the same time society advocates winning, it&#39;d best advocate also tolerance and understanding towards losing. By all means win, but please maintain a healthy respect for those who fall behind.

It&#39;s called "live and let live". In this age of wealth and profligacy in many places, we instead may advocate "thrive but let survive".

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Original Source:Chinadaily.com

<a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/2007-04/24/content_858747.htm">http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/language_tips/2007-04/24/content_858747.htm<a/>

Zhang Xin

2007-07-18

Na Mi

eng

The Politics of Pride and Shame

Michael Hurt

2007-06-21

Brent Jesiek

Michael Hurt (kuraeji@gmail.com)

eng

Korean church leaders caution against backlash after US shootings

News Brief

By staff writers
21 Apr 2007

Korean and American Korean church leaders are calling for "healing, reconciliation and peace" amid concerns that the Virginia Tech shootings by a South Korean native could lead to a backlash against Koreans.

"I was really shocked to hear that this senseless crime was committed by a Korean-immigrated student," said Bishop Kyung-Ha Shin, president of the Council of Bishops of the Korean Methodist Church.

In a letter from Seoul sent on 18 April 2007, Bishop Shin offered condolences to the bereaved families and the American people while hoping "there will be no undesirable negative feeling and attitude toward Koreans."

Meanwhile, in the United States, more than 250 leaders of the National Association of Korean American United Methodist Churches were holding their annual meeting 16-19 April in Chicago when the shooting occurred. As word of the shooter&#39;s identity spread, the mostly clergy participants began receiving calls from their home churches asking for guidance.

"The whole community was in shock and did not know how to respond, but we prayed for the victims and their family members and the school and the community," said the Rev Keihwan Ryoo, editor of United Methodists in Service, who was reporting on the gathering on behalf of the Korean-language magazine published by United Methodist Communications.

Several pastors received reports that Korean American students had been bullied in their mostly white schools as the week progressed, Ryoo said.

The caucus held a memorial service for the shooting victims and released a pastoral letter.

"We pray that the violence that has needlessly taken innocent lives does not escalate nor happen again," said the Rev Hoon Kyoung Lee, chairman of the association. "Furthermore, we are especially concerned that the immigrant community and the children of minorities may become targeted by anti-racial backlash because of this incident.

"We pray that all of our friends and neighbors will support the Korean-American community in striving for healing, reconciliation and peace."

The 16 April 2007 massacre in Blacksburg, Virginia, left 33 people dead, including the lone gunman, Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old senior majoring in English literature. Born in South Korea, he moved to the United States in 1992 at age 8 and was raised in the suburbs of Washington DC, where his parents worked at a dry cleaner store.

Authorities said Cho appeared to shoot his victims randomly. In a video made prior to the killings and sent to NBC-TV, he ranted about rich kids and portrayed himself as persecuted.

Lee asked people throughout the church to prayer for the shooting victims and their families, the family and friends of Cho, and the minority and immigrant community in the United States.

"We departed from this meeting with a heavy heart," Ryoo reported. "A lot of churches planned special memorial services over the weekend."

Bishop Hee-Soo Jung, of the Northern Illinois Conference, said the church&#39;s American Korean community is "weeping and praying" with the rest of the world. He said grief and concern over such events cross all racial and ethnic lines.

"We pray for our young people and those feeling a sense of vulnerability, isolation, insecurity and fear on their campuses, and even in their homes," Jung wrote in a pastoral letter from his Chicago office. "... I encourage each of us to offer the ministries of comfort, healing and love."

<i>[With grateful acknowledgments to the United Methodist Church News Service USA and reporter Marta W. Aldrich]</i>

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Original Source: Ekklesia
<a href="http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5109">http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/5109</a>

This work is licensed under a <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/uk/">Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 England & Wales License</a>.

Ekklesia Staff Writers

2007-06-17

Brent Jesiek

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 England & Wales License

eng