South Korean officials today urged the American public not to take out their anger and shock over the shootings at Virginia Tech on Koreans living in America after Cho Seung Hui was identified as the killer.

Cho, a 23-year-old Korean passport holder who held an American residence permit, was the son of parents who had emigrated to the United States.

Seoul has implemented special safety measures for Koreans in America amid fears that their may be reprisals against them, despite the fact one of the victims at the university is believed to be Korean.

In a statement today the South Korean Government said that they hoped the shooting would not “stir up racial prejudice or confrontation.”

Cho Byung-Jae, a South Korean foreign ministry official, hinted at the concern felt by his countrymen and said provisions had been put in place to help protect the Korean community in America.

“The Government expresses indescribable surprise and shock over this shooting incident.

“We have established safety measures for ethnic Koreans in the US in case of contingencies and are in close consultations with all of our diplomatic missions and Korean communities in the US to implement the measures,” he said, without elaborating.

“We are in shock beyond description. We convey deep condolences to victims, families and the American people.”

Roh Moo Hyun, the South Korean President, also offered his condolences.

“An unbelievable incident took place,” his spokesman quoted him as saying before it was known that Cho was identified.

South Korean diplomats were preparing to travel to the site of the shooting, Cho Hee Yong, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, said.

Millions of ethnic Koreans live in the United States, a close ally since South Korea came into being in 1948 following the postwar division of the peninsula.

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