On April 20, four days after Seung-Hui Cho’s murderous rampage at Virginia Tech, his sister broke the family’s silence. “We are humbled by this darkness,” wrote Sun-Kyung Cho in a statement issued to the media through her attorney, on behalf of her family. “He has made the world weep,” she continued. “We are living a nightmare.”

While the world speculated as to what could have been behind Cho’s rage, Cho’s sister seemed just as baffled: “This is someone that I grew up with and loved. Now I feel like I didn’t know this person.”

Both of Cho’s parents worked for dry cleaners after immigrating to the United States, and their daughter graduated from Princeton University in 2004 and works for an office within the State Department.

After the shooting, the family was taken to an undisclosed location by police and was not heard from in the initial days following the tragedy. Meanwhile, false rumors circulated that Cho’s parents had committed suicide upon hearing the news.

Cho’s sister’s statement, obvious in both its remorse and grief, humanized the family and brought Cho’s family into the circle of grieving loved ones.

“I’m not so generous to be able to forgive him for what he did,” said Wendy Adams to the Associated Press. Her niece Leslie Sherman was one of Cho’s victims. “But I do feel for the family. I do feel sorry for them.”

Three days after the massacre, 32 stones were placed in a half-circle memorial on the Virginia Tech campus to represent those killed in the massacre. Shortly after Sun-Kyung Cho’s statement was released, a Virginia Tech student added an additional stone to represent Seung-Hui Cho.

— Nina Ahn

 

 

 

 

 

When I heard the gunman was Korean, my gut just hit the ground and I sat there and said, ‘OK now I totally understand how every person from a Middle Eastern background felt when 9-11 happened.’”

— Sung Kang, actor

Los Angeles

 

 

When I glanced around the subway, it seemed every newspaper page was open to the picture of Cho and his menacing guns. I immediately felt heat rising to my face. With my short hair, I might bear a passing resemblance to Cho. At that moment, I felt pangs of self-conscious shame, but also — perhaps strange to say — a sort of kinship with Cho. I thought of all the Korean kids I grew up with, and our shared experiences. Most of all, I felt sad, and wondered when a Korean would ever make a tabloid front page again.”

— Donnie Kwak, associate editor of Complex Magazine

New York

 

 

This is the worst mass murder killings in U.S. history and it’s a Korean person. No matter how isolated of an incident it is, it says something about your own identity. You don’t want to be associated with such a negative event because you know what the social repercussions are.”