SEOUL, April 17 (Reuters) - South Korea is worried about a possible racial backlash in the United States after a Korean was named as the gunman who killed 32 people and then himself at Virginia Tech university, officials said on Tuesday.

"We are working closely with our diplomatic missions and local Korean residents' associations in anticipation of any situation that may arise," a South Korean Foreign Ministry official said by telephone.

President Roh Moo-hyun "was shocked beyond words" that the crime was committed by a South Korean, the presidential Blue House said in a statement

Roh expressed his condolences to the victims, their families and all Americans, it said.

The gunman in Monday's shooting, the worst in U.S. history, was identified by police on Tuesday as Cho Seung-Hui, a South Korean studying at the university.

Police said Cho was 23-years-old and studying English literature. They gave no motive for the shooting rampage.

Cho was a U.S. resident who moved to the United States when he was eight years old. His family lives in Centreville, Virginia, South Korea's Foreign Ministry said, confirming what U.S. officials have said.

The ministry said it saw this case as an "extremely isolated incident."

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