At least two Korean-run shops were gutted and about six others suffered property damage in violent protests sparked by a U.S. grand jury decision not to indict a white police officer for the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, a former Korean community leader said Wednesday. A hair salon supplies store and a mobile phone shop were completely burned in the U.S. city of Ferguson in the state of Missouri as protests turned violent over Tuesday's grand jury decision, according to Lee Kye-song, a former Korean community leader in St. Louis. The two shops were located side-by-side along the boulevard leading to the Ferguson police station, Lee said. Five or six other Korean-run shops were either looted or partly burned, Lee said. "Authorities are asking shops not to open for the time being," he said. Kim Seung-yeon, owner of the gutted hair supplies shop, said she had covered the shop's windows with boards while bracing for possible massive protests, but she never expected protesters would set fire to the store.
In Seoul, South Korea's foreign ministry on Thursday confirmed the extent of the damage to its compatriots, vowing to extend necessary support for the victims. "What we've learned is that two out of eight shops run by Koreans were burned down, and there is a way for them to redeem their property damages as they have insurance," Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il told a regular press briefing. "The ministry will provide the victims with consular support for necessary recovery work and compensation," he added. On Tuesday, a grand jury decided not to indict the white police officer, Darren Wilson, in the fatal shooting in August of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, sparking protests not only in Ferguson, but also in many other parts of the U.S. and revealing a deeply rooted racial schism in the country. U.S. President Barack Obama has appealed for calm. "We are a nation built on the rule of law, so we need to accept that this decision was the grand jury's to make," Obama said in a late-night statement following the jury's decision, emphasizing that problems won't be resolved by "throwing bottles" or "smashing car windows." (Yonhap)
