Korean man racially targeted, beaten in Melbourne

A Korean student staying in Melbourne was severely wounded after being assaulted by a group of Australian adolescents there, consular officials said yesterday.

The 33-year-old Korean man surnamed Chang was attacked on Sept. 27 at a park near his school in the southern Australian city by several local teenagers, who cut off a joint of his little finger and broke his left arm, according to the officials.

수술을 받은 장 씨의 부상 부위 ⓒ포털 게시판 캡처

“When I was sitting in the park with my friend, more than 10 white teenagers came to me and asked for money and cigarettes. As I said no and was trying to leave, they flew at me and violently beat me with weapons,” Chang said. “One of them hurled racially-discriminating insults at me.”

After losing consciousness, he was taken to a nearby hospital and underwent emergency surgery, he said. He has been staying in Australia since July to attend a technical school there. “I’ve heard of racial discrimination in this country, but I’ve never thought of being victimized by this kind of attack in the early evening at a park in the center of the city,” he said.

The other Korean student was also attacked by the group of Australians, and got a light injury, according to Seoul’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

“Police there arrested one of the assailants,” said Park Ki-jun, a ministry official in charge of consular affairs. “We called on the authorities there for a thorough investigation and stern punishment.”

The Australian police and officials in charge of the case were not immediately available for comment, while Chang said the Australian authorities “regarded the case not as a racist attack but as simple juvenile delinquency.”

Yonhap