I think it goes without saying that this whole incident where the crazed South Korean kid who shot up Virginia Tech is incredibly tragic. My heart goes out to the affected families.
The most fascinating factoid (in a weird way) about this whole incident was pointed out by Michael Hurt, an American living in Seoul:
Then there’s the interesting fact that the record holder for the worst shooting in world history, Woo Bom-gon (우범근), is also Korean, this time a Korean national who lived in Korea. That’s not in the least bit interesting?
. . .
Sound familiar? So the top two spots for shooting sprees in history are now held by two Korean men. Hey – I just find this interesting. Is this information not somewhat relevant to the issue at hand? Don’t know why the Korean media isn’t picking up on this. Or maybe it will? This is another interesting fact to throw in with the others. Even The New York Times had a piece on it back in 1982.
Here’s that piece, in its entirety:
AROUND THE WORLD; South Korean Shootings Lead Minister to Resign
SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published: April 29, 1982President Chun Doo Hwan appointed Ro Tae Woo, a close friend, Home Minister today after Suh Chung Hwa resigned.
Mr. Suh resigned after he took responsibility for the breakdown of security that permitted an eight-hour shooting rampage on Monday by a South Korean policeman, who killed 56 people and wounded 37.
Mr. Chun also named Lee Won Kyong to replace Mr. Roh as Minister of Sport. Park Shin Il, a Government information official, said the resignation of Mr. Suh was ”strictly for taking responsibility” for the killings at Uiryong, 170 miles from here. Woo Bom Kon, the policeman, killed himself after he went on his rampage.
The Government is offering up to $27,000 to each of the families of people killed.
It’s interesting, but these tragedies occur so rarely that it doesn’t make much sense to regard these coincidences as being particularly meaningful. And of course this factoid could be used in some very ugly ways by the xenophobes of the world. Have you been watching Debbie Schlussel‘s reaction to the VT tragedy? It’s been both amazing and horrifying to watch.
Let me be clear — I do not mean to highlight this factoid in any way other than mere coincidence. I am not trying to imply in any way, shape, or form that these incidents are connected or that this implies that either of these incidents forcibly makes Koreans be viewed as bad people.
Wow, this woman is amazingly dumb. I don’t understand where we get such ridiculous commentators.
Oh, I know. Sorry — I didn’t mean to imply otherwise, Cyrus. It’s just that the Debbie Schlussels of the world that make me extra-wary.
Interesting, we were talking about this in the office today and we were searching for more details – yours was the first site to come up in a yahoo search for “1982 Korean shooting”. Hope you are doing well!