RIOT AFTERMATH: GETTING BACK TO BUSINESS : Korean-American Store Owner Slain

The Korean-American owner of a market in Van Nuys was shot to death Monday morning during a robbery attempt, Los Angeles police said.

Detective Phil Morritt said the incident did not seem to be related to recent violence against Korean-American shopkeepers.

Lee Chul Kim, 49, of Northridge, was shot at the Woodley Market, in the 7500 block of Woodley Avenue, at about 9:35 a.m, Morritt said.

Morritt said the suspects in the killing are Latino and the apparent motive was robbery.

Many small-business owners of Korean origin have complained they have been targets of violence since the rioting in Los Angeles last week. Several hundred Korean-owned businesses were damaged or destroyed in the rioting.

Witnesses said at least two men, perhaps four, entered the store, and at least one of them shot Kim several times in the upper torso with a handgun. The men fled in a beige station wagon, police said.

Morritt would release no further details of the shooting, saying they were “part of the investigation.”