Mayoral Race Gets Attention in Koreatown

Rain had knocked out power in the building where a Koreatown mayoral forum was to take place on a recent night.

But that didn’t stop organizers from quickly finding another location to proceed with the event, designed to get Korean Americans to cast ballots in the Los Angeles mayoral election Tuesday. Within 40 minutes, they had arranged for four mayoral candidates to participate in a live, bilingual broadcast inside the Radio Seoul studios in Hancock Park.

Afterward, over kimbap -- bite-size seaweed rolls stuffed with marinated beef and vegetables -- the organizers congratulated themselves. Despite the blackout, they had managed to question the candidates face-to-face about such issues as possible compensation for Korean American victims of the 1992 riots, combating crime, reducing traffic congestion and building a senior center in Koreatown.

That gathering, and a string of fundraisers, are viewed as a sign that Korean Americans are no longer shy about flexing their political muscle on Los Angeles’ complex ethnic landscape. In contrast to past local elections, Korean American activists are engaged in the current mayoral race in unprecedented ways. And the candidates seem to recognize that Korean Americans, while not monolithic in views or very large in numbers, can help sway the election.

“Korean Americans are graduating from elementary school to junior high,” said Stephan Haah, chairman of the Korean American Political Empowerment Movement (KAPEM), a consortium of Koreatown-headquartered community groups founded in 2004.

He said research by Burbank-based Political Data shows 28,242 Korean American registered voters in the city, out of a population of about 92,000 in the city and 170,000 in Los Angeles County, according to the 2000 census. Last year during the presidential campaigns, 7,000 Korean Americans in the city registered to vote in a campaign led by the political empowerment group.

“Commensurate with our growth here in the city, we want comparable voice in the governance of this city,” said Haah, a UC Berkeley-educated land developer.

He said he was propelled in part by his experience as a donor to last summer’s Democratic National Convention, where he said he saw what a small role Korean Americans play in national politics. So, he helped start the Korean American voter registration drive under the aegis of the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles, of which he is vice president.

While not endorsing any candidate, the federation is buying space in the two local Korean- language dailies this week to publish the text of the forum. The group also plans to run spots on Radio Korea and Radio Seoul, to urge Korean American voters to go to the polls on election day.

Warren Furutani, a Japanese American political activist who was in the audience at Radio Seoul, said the forum was an indication of the growth of the Korean American community in electoral politics. “The Korean American community has to be reckoned with,” he said.

Candidates have been courting Korean American votes as never before with fundraisers and other visits.

Mayor James K. Hahn and former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg have raised the most money from the Korean American community, with Hahn appearing to have a small edge, according to records. Hahn has ties through his family’s many years in politics. And Hertzberg has Koreatown connections because he and his father practiced law there, and his pro-business stances have gained favor. Councilman Antonio Villaraigosa also has support in the community.

Gone are the days, community leaders say, when Korean Americans thought it was a big deal just to have their pictures taken with a politician. Now, they say, they want candidates to be specific about the neighborhood’s desire for a senior citizen and community center, more low-income senior housing, more left-turn signals, and improved bilingual services. Koreatown residents and business owners have long complained that they suffer because the area is split between two police divisions -- Wilshire and Rampart.

The change reflects a younger generation that is more interested in local politics, they say. Born in Korea but reared in America, they’re fluent in English and Korean, and move with ease in both cultures.

The political activists include people like Haah, architect Christopher C. Pak and entrepreneur Richard Choi Bertsch, who moderated the forum. Hertzberg, Villaraigosa, Councilman Bernard C. Parks and state Sen. Richard Alarcon (D-Sun Valley) attended the forum. Hahn could not attend the event because he was called into “emergency situations” because of the rain, said his spokesman Kam Kuwata.

Bertsch, chairman of community affairs for the Korean American Coalition, told the candidates that the arsons and assaults during the 1992 riots, which Koreans refer to as sa-ee-gu, meaning April 29, remain deeply embedded in the Korean American psyche.

“Some call it a ‘riot,’ others ‘civil disturbance,’ ” Bertsch said. “What do you call it?”

“It was absolutely a riot -- there is no question about it,” replied Hertzberg.

Alarcon said: “Clearly, in the Korean American community, it was a riot.”

Parks, whose 8th Council District has 1,800 Korean-owned businesses, said it started out as a civil disturbance but ended up a riot.

Villaraigosa agreed.

All four candidates said, if elected, they would most certainly look into the possibility of the city compensating the merchants, who said they were victimized a second time when the city denied them permits to rebuild after the riots, citing neighborhood opposition. About 300 Korean-owned businesses -- most of them liquor stores -- were affected by the city’s decision, according to Bertsch.

The candidates stressed that the Korean American community is important to them and the city.

“That’s why when I come to Koreatown, I always change my name to Park,” Parks joked.

Alarcon said Korean Americans are “great Americans.” He said Korean Americans are “educationally successful, have a low crime rate” and “provide for their community.”

Villaraigosa made a point of saying “yea” -- yes, in Korean -- often throughout the evening.

Hertzberg said “kamsa-ham-nida” (thank you).

Afterward, it was evident that Hahn may have lost some fans.

“In light of the work that we put in to bring this event, I hope the two runoff candidates will be from this field of four candidates,” Haah said. “Korean American voters should note who made an effort to be here today, and who has not.”

A few nights earlier, however, about two dozen Hahn supporters turned out for a fundraiser at the Orchid, a Koreatown nightclub, co-hosted by Yong-Tai Lee, a Koreatown internist and president of the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles.

“Mayor Hahn is a good man,” said Han S. Lee, a Koreatown jeweler and vice president of the federation, who said she also supported the mayor’s father. “He has had a long relationship with the Korean American community. He is someone who makes you feel comfortable. He has no pretenses.”

Kee Whan Ha, immediate past president of the federation, recently hosted a fundraiser for Villaraigosa at the Rotex Hotel.

“Koreans give a lot of money to churches, but they don’t like to give money to politicians,” Ha lamented. “The first generation is always talking about investing in the future of the second generation. How in the world are they going to do that if you don’t make political contributions?”