News that the Virginia Tech massacre was carried out by a South Korean student provoked dismay and anxiety in his home country, and fears of a racial backlash against the large population of Koreans in the US.

Lee Seung Wook, the head of the Virginia Tech Korean Student Association, said: “I am worried that the Americans will treat all Asian students, including Koreans, as criminals.”

President Roh Moo Hyun issued his third statement of sympathy, two days after Cho Seung Hui, 23, who was born in Seoul and emigrated to the US with his family 15 years ago, killed himself and 32 others.

“With the entire nation, I was severely shocked by the tragic incident that occurred at Virginia Tech two days ago,” he said yesterday at a joint news conference with Romano Prodi, the Italian Prime Minister.

“We feel a deep bitterness. I want to deliver my sincere words of consolation to the families of the killed and injured and all US people. I hope US society will quickly overcome its sorrow and regain calm.”

There were no obvious signs that Cho’s attack was racially motivated — a fellow Korean was shot in the arm — but South Korean diplomats travelled to report on the aftermath, and the consequences for expatriates in the US.

Kwon Tae Myun, consul-general at the South Korean embassy in Washington, said: “This is a crime that has greatly shocked the US society. But this is a private, individual act and is not related to any race or country. Korean-Americans should understand it as such and react in a calm way.”

Neighbours at the Cho family’s former apartment in north Seoul said that they left hurriedly in 1992 to look for a more prosperous life in the US. Lim Bong Ae, the landlady of their former basement apartment, told of her shock. “I remember him as a quiet and well-behaved boy. I just can’t believe he did it.”

Korean men are required to do national service but overall the country has a low rate of crime and gun ownership.

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