Anti-Asian crimes spread across U.S.

Hate crimes against Asians are rising across many parts of the United States. An incident has been reported in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, that a Korean-owned convenience store was attacked by a black man with a metal post longer than 1 meter. The attacker reportedly shouted at a Korean couple who runs the store, “Go back to your country, you Chinese motherf******s.”

Based on CCTV footage, a black man in his 20s on Tuesday (local time) entered a convenience store at a bus terminal in Charlotte, North Carolina, and smashed up refrigerators and shelves with a metal post. Driven in panic by the rampage, customers inside hastily escaped from the store. Sung Yeol-moon, who has led a Korean community in Carolina, runs the business with his wife.

Another video footage was also circulated across social media in which another Korean American in his 50s got beaten up by a teenage stranger in public space for no reason, leaving the victim with a broken rib. The injured man’s family left for another city in fear of their life.


Jae-Dong Yu jarrett@donga.com