[Letter to the editor]To the Korean people: Killer alone is guilty

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[Letter to the editor]To the Korean people: Killer alone is guilty

I’m writing this in hopes that you can relay it to the people who read your paper. Please don’t feel shame about the gunman who killed the people at Virginia Tech. I live a few hours away from the school and can tell you that other people here feel the same way that I do. Your country is not responsible for what that man did. Only he is responsible for his actions.
I promise you that this has not brought any bad light on South Korea. Everything I’ve ever been taught, or that I’ve heard, about South Korea is that it is a wonderful country and that the people are great. I mean that so much that if I could afford to travel there, I would, because it is one of the handful of countries that I wish I could see. What happened here this week doesn’t change that at all. So please don’t feel responsible about what happened and don’t think people here think anything bad about South Korea because of it.
Sharon Ford, Maggie Valley, North Carolina
Please double-check what you report
I feel compelled to write to you today to point out a glaring inconsistency in your reporting. It reflects poorly on your fact-finding and fact-checking. This is not what I expect from a leading newspaper. I am sure you have already heard this repeatedly from others, but I will point out again that on page one of the April 11 edition you note that auto giant Hyundai is “stumbling” because its cars are not selling well in foreign markets. You state that profits are down and “inventories are piling up” due to “sluggish demand.”
Two pages later however, in the article “Export expectations stay high on solid demand,” you state with confidence that auto exports are looking for double-digit increases this year and demand is strong in foreign markets. Well, which is it? Is demand up or down? Are auto exports strong or sluggish? Were you reporting the truth on page 1 or page 3?
Furthermore, I’d like to point out that on page 2 you state that 137,000 Americans served in the Korean War. In fact, the correct figure is 500,000. It should be clear from your own numbers that the 137,000 figure cannot be correct. If you add the number you reported for killed, wounded, or missing it would appear that only about 900 American troops returned home uninjured after the war.
Little things like this are so easy to check before going to print it seems inexcusable that you would let such an error slip by you.
After yesterday’s rant [April 10] about “American arrogance” however, I question whether this slip was not an intentional understatement of the truth to score political points by minimizing the importance of America’s involvement in the war?
I am a longtime subscriber, but note with some amazement that over time you seem to be inching closer and closer ideologically to your colleagues across town at the Hankyoreh.
Charles Kim, Seoul
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