Korean student in Germany assaulted by two men in apparent hate crime

The photo shows a scene of the hate crime site, captured by a neighbor of the victim in Duisburg, Germany. A witness and one of the two men who assaulted the victim are shown in the photo. [YONHAP]

A Korean student studying in Germany was assaulted by two men in an apparent Asian hate crime.

The two men made racist comments to the 29-year-old, who was walking a dog in a residential area in Duisburg, Germany, on Christmas Eve around 1 p.m.

They approached the victim saying, “disgusting Chinese” and that they will “kill every Chinese,” and then punched the victim in the face, according to Yonhap.

Police arrived at the scene after witnesses called the police following the victim's shout for help, but the two men fled the scene immediately and the police were unable to catch them.

“My left eye and my head were injured as I tried to cover and protect my dog,” the 29-year-old told Yonhap during a phone interview.

“The problem is that this kind of incident takes place so frequently to students studying abroad.”

The victim added the police did not go after the two men who ran away and did not show a proactive attitude in dealing with the case.

The Korean embassy in Berlin will appeal the police’s response to the case and send a letter to the police to request for prompt investigation.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]