'How can we be forgiven?'
2007-04-21 20:35
Seoul - Hundreds of South Koreans held a candlelight vigil on Saturday for the Virginia Tech massacre victims, the country's largest such gathering since the shootings in the US by a South Korean-born student.
The rampage has led to a sense of collective guilt among some in South Korea, a country with a group-oriented culture.
The gunman, Seung-Hui Cho, was born in the country, but had been living in the US for more than 14 years.
"Koreans are extremely embarrassed and feel shameful as a result of Cho's actions. At any rate, we are sorry for what happened," former college professor Yae Young-soo said in a speech at a makeshift podium near Seoul's City Hall.
"No one can deny that (Cho) was clearly a South Korean," said Park Seh-jik, head of the South's Korea Veterans Association.
Park said the rampage should serve as a rallying point to further cement the South's half-century alliance with the US.
Government officials have sent repeated condolence messages to the US, and internet message boards are overflowing with similar sentiments.
US diplomats have sought to reassure South Korea that the shooting will not affect the two nations' tight relationship.
Fears of backlash
But the participants at Saturday's event - including military veterans, Christians and conservatives - expressed lingering concern about a possible fray in US relations and a racial backlash against South Koreans and Korean-Americans there.
Christian pastor Choi Hye-il asked the crowd, "How can we be forgiven?"
"We feel as if we were criminals, "said Lee Won-woo, head of the Virginia Tech alumni association in South Korea.
Others cautioned against overreacting.
"There is no need to associate the crime with South Korea," said Choi Byung-sun, who graduated from Virginia Tech in 2002.
Vigil participants offered flowers at a makeshift memorial centre for the victims, and arranged candles to form the letters "VT".
South Koreans erected a separate memorial display on Saturday near the US Embassy in Seoul, displaying photographs of the 32 victims.
"I wish to pray that they can do everything in heaven that they were prevented doing on earth," said Park Eun-Kyong, who contributed to the memorial display at the embassy, where the US flag was flying at half-staff.
- AP