Korean Grocer Code Seeks to Ease Tension

Hoping that service with a smile and “thank you” at the cash register will promote better relations between Korean-American grocers and their customers, a merchants’ association announced Friday a 10-point code of behavior to be followed by store owners.

The “Good Business Practice Principles” developed by the 3,200-member Korean-American Grocers Assn. were unveiled as black and Korean-American leaders work to ease long-simmering tensions between their communities.

The principles urge merchants to be courteous to customers and to create “a friendly environment” so that buyers and sellers “can get to know each other on a first-name basis.”

The code, which will be published in the association’s monthly journal and promoted through Korean-language media, also suggests that merchants speak English and hire neighborhood residents whenever possible. In addition, it encourages merchants to work with schools and community organizations to fight crime and gang violence.

“I believe a good-faith effort on the part of the Korean-American community is reflected in this policy,” said Mayor Tom Bradley at a City Hall press conference attended by members of the grocers group.

David Kim, president of the Southern California chapter of the grocers association, said the endorsement of the code by his group will go a long way toward changing behavior among some grocers and will be adopted by the national association.

Black residents have long complained about rude and disrespectful treatment from Korean-American merchants who operate in their neighborhoods but rarely hire local residents. Merchants fear they must guard their stores against crime in some of the city’s poorest areas.

The code is the latest part of a settlement negotiated by Bradley’s office, initially to end a boycott of a South-Central Los Angeles grocery store where a black man was shot by a Korean-American liquor store owner. Tensions were further exacerbated when Soon Ja Du, a Korean-born grocer, was sentenced to probation for fatally shooting a 15-year-old black girl, Latasha Harlins.

Although the principles are common-sense approaches to doing business in the United States, many merchants in South-Central are new immigrants who do not understand American culture, said Annie Cho, executive director of the local grocers group.

“We decided we needed to start with the basics,” Cho said.

Several black community leaders applauded the code.

“It clearly speaks to one of the most critical complaints and problems that has created this crisis between Korean- and African-Americans,” said John W. Mack, president of the Los Angeles Urban League, which is participating in a jobs program with Korean-American merchants.

In another relationship-mending effort at City Hall on Friday, the choirs from Trinity Baptist Church in South-Central and the Oriental Mission Church in Koreatown gathered for breakfast and then performed during the City Council meeting.

The pastors of both congregations said they will preach at each others churches in the coming weeks, speaking about their diverse cultures.