Sisyphus Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 It's possible he was part of the non-integrated sub-culture, Korean at home, hanging with Korean friends. It's only speculation, but the idea of a non-integrated Korean sub-sculture in Centerville Virginia doesn't seem that likely to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan T. Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 What the hell though. He lived in student housing off-campus. The WP article said he lived on-campus in Harper Hall, a dorm next to Ambler-Johnson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Air Force Cane Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I don't think many Americans will blame South Korea regardless. I am just glad that the shooter wasn't either a: combat vet, Israeli, or NRA member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted April 17, 2007 Author Share Posted April 17, 2007 It's only speculation, but the idea of a non-integrated Korean sub-sculture in Centerville Virginia doesn't seem that likely to me.I can only speak up to 3 years ago, but you could find plenty of working Koreans who didn't speak English, sent their kids to school and Korean church. I'm not sure if they have set up Korean schools like here in LA, but a lot of those kids immigrated lated and didn't speak great English, thus the only peer group they had were other later immigrants... and they spoke mostly Korean amongst themselves. This is anecdotal... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Can we make this about the person and not the group? WTF does it matter if he spoke Korean or ****ing Marsian? He was a young man that for whatever reason chose to ruin the lives of 32 families and take the lives of 32 bright innocent people. This isn't Korea's fault. This isn't because he may have been bilingual (which is an advantage, not a fault). This isn't because he had Korean friends. It's because he was either crazy or evil. Him alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I can only speak up to 3 years ago, but you could find plenty of working Koreans who didn't speak English, sent their kids to school and Korean church. I'm not sure if they have set up Korean schools like here in LA, but a lot of those kids immigrated lated and didn't speak great English, thus the only peer group they had were other later immigrants... and they spoke mostly Korean amongst themselves. This is anecdotal...Yeah, it's definitely possible, but it's less likely in Fairfax than it is in Los Angeles, and it's less likely in Centreville than it is in Annandale ...Still, it is interesting that he hasn't gotten his citizenship yet - the reports make it sound like he has definitely been here long enough, but maybe he was just lazy about it. These are things I'm curious about though - about his family and where he grew up, although I wonder if these details might be reported better in the Korean-American press than in the mainstream media ... we still don't really have a motive. It doesn't sound like he was a very recent immigrant and there doesn't appear to be any real international angle to it right now - at the very least we know he made it through almost four years as an English major at Virginia Tech so he must have been pretty well assimilated into American culture ... so crazy that he would do this just maybe a month before (I assume) he would be graduating. Can we make this about the person and not the group? WTF does it matter if he spoke Korean or ****ing Marsian? He was a young man that for whatever reason chose to ruin the lives of 32 families and take the lives of 32 bright innocent people. This isn't Korea's fault. This isn't because he may have been bilingual (which is an advantage, not a fault). This isn't because he had Korean friends. It's because he was either crazy or evil. Him alone. I think it's fair to ask why he was crazy or evil ... and I think it's fair to delve a little bit into his world. We're all just looking for answers, and every little scrap of information helps, especially in this thread, which Fergasun has dubbed the repository for rumor and speculation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Still, it is interesting that he hasn't gotten his citizenship yet - the reports make it sound like he has definitely been here long enough, but maybe he was just lazy about it. The N-400 application is $400, and as your green card is surrendered you need to purchase a US passport if you want to re-enter the country. There's also the hassle angle too of spending many, many hours in line and dealing with the CIS. If your green card isn't up for renewal, unless you need citizenship for a job application, I know others who have postponed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocky21 Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 WTF does it matter if he spoke Korean or ****ing Marsian? He was a young man that for whatever reason chose to ruin the lives of 32 families and take the lives of 32 bright innocent people. This isn't Korea's fault. Nice soapboxing. No one claimed this was Korea's fault. I think it's pertinent to wonder how acclimed a foreign national is to our culture - considering it is the worst mass killing in U.S history and all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DjTj Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 The N-400 application is $400, and as your green card is surrendered you need to purchase a US passport if you want to re-enter the country.There's also the hassle angle too. If your green card isn't up for renewal, unless you need citizenship for a job application, I know others who have postponed it. The CNN article says: A department of Homeland Security official said Cho came to the United States in 1992, through Detroit, Michigan. He had lawful permanent residence, via his parents, and renewed his green card in October 2003, the official said. http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/17/vtech.shooting/So he has been here since he was 8 years old, which would make it pretty hard not to assimilate, but he made a conscious choice at age 18 not to get his citizenship. I know a lot of people that came to the U.S. around that age and just about all of them became citizens when they turned 18... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinInsite Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Nice soapboxing. No one claimed this was Korea's fault. I think it's pertinent to wonder how acclimed a foreign national is to our culture - considering it is the worst mass killing in U.S history and all. Because Korea is known for their school shootings while it's unheard of in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Destino Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Nice soapboxing. No one claimed this was Korea's fault. I think it's pertinent to wonder how acclimed a foreign national is to our culture - considering it is the worst mass killing in U.S history and all. I don't agree. I think it's using a tragedy to take a political shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I know a lot of people that came to the U.S. around that age and just about all of them became citizens when they turned 18... Who knows? If you're going through the hassle of dealing with the CIS for green card renewal you might as well do citizenship. Some people think incorrectly that they can't be drafted (if the military draft was reintroduced). My kids hadn't reached 18 yet but we got them their US passports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zen-like Todd Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 I don't agree. I think it's using a tragedy to take a political shot. I agree. He's a typical NOVA kid. Asians, Indians, kids from around the world... immigrants, children of diplomats, ambassadors, etc. They all assimilate pretty quickly. If he's been here since he was 8, he's not "South Korean" in the sense that it should be used as his identifying characteristic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
China Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 Can we make this about the person and not the group? WTF does it matter if he spoke Korean or ****ing Marsian? He was a young man that for whatever reason chose to ruin the lives of 32 families and take the lives of 32 bright innocent people. This isn't Korea's fault. This isn't because he may have been bilingual (which is an advantage, not a fault). This isn't because he had Korean friends. It's because he was either crazy or evil. Him alone. :applause: Well said. And Fergasun, you never answered my question: who or what are sparkies? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphus Posted April 17, 2007 Share Posted April 17, 2007 :applause: Well said.And Fergasun, you never answered my question: who or what are sparkies? To me sparkies was slang for electricians, but he was talking about engineering students? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fergasun Posted April 18, 2007 Author Share Posted April 18, 2007 I guess some of the rumors turned out to be false, and some to be true... that's why I love the Internet. I was pretty mad when I saw (on Fox News Scroll) that Republic of Korea was worried about a back-lash against South Koreans for the shooting. Did they just assume all Americans (or Virginians) are stupid white people who are full of judgement and predjudice? I'd be surprised if there wasn't a media spotlight shone on the Korean culture in Northern Virginia... other than running dry cleaning business not much is known about Cho's parents. But I'd guess like any Korean household they put such a high value on education that it probably puts some strain, especially when you can contrast that with "lax" American parents... this seems like part of Cho's logic from the note he left. It scares me a little to hear my Korean wife say that she wants our children to go to Harvard... and talks about SAT classes and what not... their culture really is ultra-ULTRA competitive about this... she grew up in Korea and was in class for like 12+ hours a day... no proms... no fun... no rest... and it does show in her personality. That's not to say Cho had a similar experience... just relating some anecdotes. Oh, and after the Imus incident and this incident and some of the other right leaning (more like right bent-over) websites I can see why people would label them racist... my goodness... they freakin' screamed "Al-Queda" every chance they could and speculated that, "He was Korean, probably learned how to shoot in their military... sleeper agent... ChiCom"... reminded me of Dale from KoTH. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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