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I can’t believe they ran those videos of the Virginia Tech shooter all over television news as soon as NBC rushed them onto the air. Did the news management teams deliberate or agonize over this, or was it ever a question from the time the packet arrived in the first place? The country hasn’t even recovered from the devastating tragedy of historical proportions, and then we’re assaulted with this.

My first thought, besides horror, was for the families of the victims, and the whole Virginia Tech population at having these videos looped for nearly continuous running throughout last night and into this morning. It makes staying up with TV news a dicey exercise.

The coverage is fanning out over every conceivable angle, including the Korean community from which Cho Seung Hui came. The Cardinal Archbishop of Seoul sent a letter of condolences and assurance of the prayers of South Korean Catholics to the bishop of Richmond, as Asia News reports.

Card Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, archbishop of Seoul, in a letter to Mgr Francis X. DiLorenzo, bishop of Richmond (Virginia), said that he and South Korea’s Catholic community are united in “praying for the victims of the Virginia Tech massacre and their families, [hoping] that they may overcome this sorrow in the certain knowledge that the deceased will live in eternal life.” The Virginia Tech campus is located in the Richmond diocese.

In memory of the 32 men and women killed by the 23-year-old South Korean-born Cho Seung-hui, Cardinal Cheong held a special service for the dead and injured in Seoul’s Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral. A memorial altar was also set up.

Christian Council of Korea Chairman Lee Yong-kyu expressed hope that the tragedy would not hurt the friendly relations between Koreans and Americans. The Director of the National Council of Churches in Korea Kwon Oh-sung prayed that the injured students may quickly recover and return to study in a message sent to the US National Council of Churches.

Rev Jigwan Sunim, executive director of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, said he mourned the victims sharing the grief of the bereaved families and the American people. He also said that he hoped that the life of the Korean community in the United States would get back to normal as soon as possible.

There are so many victims of this crime against humanity. We should do whatever we can to be part of the healing. TV news might stop running those videotapes, for one thing.