"China Spread COVID-19"... Surge in 'Asian Hate Crimes' in the US Since COVID-19

Over 1,800 Hate Crimes Against Korean Americans... Second Highest After Chinese Americans
Most Incidents Occur on Streets, Public Transit, and Parks

On March 13 last year (local time), a protest against anti-Asian hate crimes was held around the Japanese American National Museum in Little Tokyo, a Japantown in Los Angeles, USA. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Park] A report has been released stating that hate crimes against Asians have increased since the COVID-19 virus spread worldwide. Among the recorded incidents, hate crimes targeting Koreans were the second most frequent after those targeting Chinese individuals.

The Asian hate incident reporting site "STOP AAPI Hate" recently published a report titled "Two Years and Thousands of Voices."

According to the report, from March 19, 2020, when COVID-19 began in earnest, until March 31 of this year, there were 11,467 Asian hate incidents. This means that more than 15 Asian hate crimes occurred daily after the pandemic began. Among these, hate incidents targeting Koreans accounted for 1,835 cases (16%), the second highest after Chinese individuals (43%).

By type of hate crime, harassment was the most common at 67%, followed by physical assault (17%), intentional avoidance behavior (16%), online hate (9%), acts of coughing or spitting (8%), workplace discrimination (6%), and property damage such as graffiti, vandalism (destruction of public property), theft, and robbery (4%).

The locations where incidents occurred were streets, public transportation, and parks at 40%, the highest proportion, followed by businesses (27%), residences and private property (10%), and online (10%).