L.A. Korean Community Election Serves as Referendum on Policies in Homeland

About 8,000 Los Angeles-area Koreans converged at the Ardmore Recreation Center Saturday, waiting in three-hour lines to vote in a community election that organizers said was also a referendum on South Korean government policies.

The Korean Federation of Los Angeles, the largest and most powerful Korean community group in Southern California, was conducting its biennial election for president, two vice presidents and a 20-member board of directors amid a cadre of police, some in riot gear, that responded to several scuffles that broke out near the registration table. No arrests were made.

The usually sedate community elections turned into a heated controversy this year between the two presidential candidates as a result of the violent anti-government demonstrations that have gripped South Korea.

One candidate, Kim Wan Heum, promoted himself as an anti-government advocate and accused his opponent of harboring pro-government sentiments.

The other candidate, Chan Ki Yoon, said he was “disturbed” that he was forced to fight off his opponent’s accusations, which diverted him from concentrating on local Korean community issues.

“The troubles in our homeland turned this election into an extremely important event in the Korean community,” said the Rev. Matthew Ahn, pastor of the predominantly Korean St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Hollywood. “The people here can’t participate in the movement in Korea. This turnout is their expression that they want to be involved.”

Because of the large voter turnout, estimated at 8,000, election organizers said they would not know the results until early this morning.

Korean Americans came by the busload from throughout Los Angeles County to vote.

Ki-myung Rhee, the current president of the federation, said he believed that the thousands of voters turned out to “show the people of South Korea what a free election is all about.”

The violent student demonstrations in South Korea erupted June 10 when the ruling government party nominated a longtime associate of President Chun Doo Hwan to succeed Chun when he steps down next February.

Candidate Kim, who promoted himself on an anti-South Korean government platform, said through an interpreter Saturday that he has called on Los Angeles Koreans to “contribute (to) the democratization” of their homeland, both “morally and financially.”

Kim, a businessman who lives in Cerritos, was a leader of a protest last week that drew 700 people. Kim has also called for creating stronger Korean community groups in Los Angeles.

Chan, a Los Feliz pharmacist, said he was “disappointed” that community elections focused on political unrest in South Korea.

“I am not pro-government or anti-government. But I do want Korea to be a free democracy,” he said. “But politics is not the point of the election. We live in the United States now. We must build our community here.”

He pushed for crime-prevention programs, especially those that would divert youth from joining Asian gangs, and urged creating stronger support organizations for senior citizens and new immigrants.