Radio Tunes-In Korean : Four Southland Stations Now Broadcast to Growing Population

Recently, a local Korean radio program raised $38,000 in two days to help defray the medical expenses of a 16-year-old Korean immigrant with leukemia.

“People called the station and gave $20, $10,” said Daniel J. Oh, executive director of marketing for Radio Korea U.S.A.. “I think the money came from about 1,000 people. Those are the numbers which are impressive.”

Also impressive are the number of Southern California radio stations that have taken on a Korean format.

Just within the last month, two stations have dropped mainstream formats in favor of Korean-language programming. Specifically, KWIZ-FM (96.7), a Santa Ana-based adult contemporary station and KFOX-FM (93.5), a Redondo Beach “alternative talk” station, have both switched to an eclectic array of Korean programs.

This brings the total of Southern California stations that broadcast at least partially in Korean to four. The others are Pasadena station KAZN-AM (1300), which offers 13 hours a day of Korean shows and KORG-AM (1190), an Orange County station with four hours a day devoted to Korean language programming.

Increasingly, the radio dial is becoming a mirror of the multiethnic mix that is Southern California.

“It just seems like it’s a real phenomenon,” said KFOX program director Jim Dolce.

KFOX was scheduled to make its changeover at 6 a.m. today after a decade of offering alternative talk programming, or as on-air astrologer Farley Malorrus put it, “a New Age open-minded, metaphysical, holistic format with an incredible astrology overview.”

Shows dealing with hypnotherapy, naturopathic medicine and psychic readings have given way to traditional Korean music and a smattering of classical selections and American pop tunes, as well as Korean radio drama, news shows and English lessons, produced by KOR-US Community Broadcasting Inc.

Popular Korean deejays Jong Hwan Lee and In Hee Park have replaced an assortment of psychics, astrologers and environmentally correct household tipsters.

Those associated with Korean radio point to a large and growing market for Korean broadcasting. The Southern California Korean population is estimated by U.S. Census officials to be about 600,000, the largest concentration in the country.

Their burgeoning numbers have made native-language broadcasting an indispensable resource.

Not only do the radio programs help recent Korean immigrants become acclimated to life in Southern California, but they also keep dollars circulating among Korean-American businesses.

All of the Korean shows are heard on stations that offer block programming where time is sold for a specific fee to programmers who are responsible for their own content and advertisements. Radio Korea offers blocks of programs to KWIZ and KAZN, while KOR-US (for Korea-U.S.) provides programming to KFOX.

Some 90% of advertisers on Korean radio are local Korean businesses, but 10% are American companies, Oh said.

“American people started to advertise with us about six months ago because they recognize the potential and power of the Korean community,” Oh said.

Shirley Price, general manager of KAZN, thinks Korean radio is part of a foreign language radio wave of the future. (KAZN began broadcasting in Korean and other Asian languages in February, 1989.)

“I get calls all the time from people asking how we do it and asking how they can do it,” Price said.

She says the programming produced in Korean is of the highest quality because most of its producers had extensive radio experience in their homeland before starting up local production studios.

KWIZ’s format change, which occurred March 10, dropped music by Phil Collins and Whitney Houston and substituted tunes by Korean pop stars Cho Yong Phil and Chu Hyun Mi and, surprisingly, French and Italian artists.

“That’s what they listen to in Korea,” Oh said.

Korean-speaking newscasters keep listeners abreast of international, national and local news. Sports announcers with as much passion for baseball as the likes of veteran commentator Vin Scully prep for live broadcasts of Dodger games. KWIZ broadcast its first Dodger game in Korean last September, its second on Sunday. KWIZ and KAZN will broadcast several Dodger games in Korean this season.

In addition to the staples of music, news and sports, Price said a good portion of Korean programming focuses on helping new immigrants adapt to a radically different culture. “They give a little English lesson every day, explaining things like how you rent an apartment, how you get to UCLA, how to make a plane reservation. . . . They have legal information for immigrants and lots of call-in how-to programs. They really are addressing the needs of the community.”

News coverage at the stations tends to concentrate on events from their homeland, such as the recent talks between the premiers of North and South Korea and, particularly, local issues touching the Korean community.

When a Korean grocer shot a 15-year-old black girl to death last month in South Los Angeles, allegedly because she was shoplifting, Radio Korea immediately aired a lengthy talk show focusing on the incident. The show brought together Korean community leaders and officials from the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in an effort to “eliminate the misunderstandings and (help us to) live harmoniously,” said Oh, adding that Radio Korea takes its role in the Korean community very seriously.

“Our duty is to educate the Korean people because we want to live harmoniously,” Oh said. “We have to exercise our voting power, change the politics . . . . We want to contribute to the community.”

When war broke out in the Persian Gulf in January, Radio Korea suspended all regular programming and broadcast only news reports for a week, Oh said.

“We covered the war continuously like CNN,” Oh said. “(Staffers) slept here to cover the important news. People really appreciated it because if they watched CNN they didn’t know what was going on, but if they listened to us they knew what was going on.”

The next step for Korean radio programmers is to purchase their own station. “We have AM and FM now,” said Radio Korea’s Oh. “The next move is probably to buy a station.”

Contributing to this story was Times Staff Writer Henry Chu.

LOCAL BROADCASTS IN KOREAN

STATION TIMES RADIO KFOX-FM (93.5) 6 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. KWIZ-FM (96.7) 5 a.m.-1 a.m. daily KAZN-AM (1300) 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sat.-Sun. 10 p.m.-1 a.m. Mon-Sat. KORG-AM (1190) 7 a.m.-11 a.m. daily TV KSCI 8-11:30 p.m. Tue.-Fri. Channel 18 8-9 p.m. Mondays

STATION PROGRAMMING RADIO KFOX-FM (93.5) News, talk, music KWIZ-FM (96.7) Music, news, talk KAZN-AM (1300) News, talk, drama, music, traffic News, talk, drama, music, traffic News, talk, drama, music, traffic KORG-AM (1190) Religious programming TV KSCI Drama, soap operas, news Channel 18 Drama

Compiled by Claudia Puig