Korean Merchants Protected Their Own

EAST SAN GABRIEL VALLEY — East of the 605 Freeway, in Diamond Bar, Hacienda Heights and Walnut, Korean-American merchants watched nervously as businesses in Koreatown and South Los Angeles went up in flames in the wake of the Rodney G. King verdicts.

Unconfirmed media reports that Korean stores were being targeted by looters and arsonists prompted Korean community leaders to assemble a force of about 120 volunteers to guard swap meets, markets and banks in the east San Gabriel Valley over the weekend.

The community leaders said the group might be reactivated if potential danger arises in the future.

“We have to protect our property ourselves,” said Jung Moon Lee, a Diamond Bar dentist and president of the Korean American Federation of Eastern Los Angeles. “Don’t rely on somebody else’s help.”

After getting frantic calls from merchants desperate for protection, Koreans working at the Community Service Center in Rowland Heights dispatched college students, church pastors and others to businesses from Hacienda Heights east to Montclair. The volunteers were unarmed, but some carried sticks, Lee said.

Unlike the bloody confrontations between Koreatown and South Los Angeles merchants and rioters, however, the east San Gabriel Valley weekend vigil was peaceful. With few exceptions, such as two smashed windows and a trash fire in the 18500 block of Colima Road in Rowland Heights, the area was barely touched by the violence that swept Los Angeles.

Sgt. Michael Muravez of the Walnut sheriff’s station said deputies also were watching local Korean-owned businesses. Close networking enabled the Korean community to organize quickly and could serve as a model for other businesses, he said.

“We like to have eyes and ears out in the community,” Muravez said. “If they’re interested in protecting businesses, we’re willing to help make that work.”

Tuesday, with rioting virtually over in Los Angeles, Lee said he was worried that looters would fan out. “There are rumors that maybe they will try to come out not only to East Los Angeles but also Glendale and other suburban areas,” he said. “We will still ask individual merchants to protect their property as much as they can.”