INTERNATIONAL TRADE : Three Asked to Head Korean-American Friendship Society

Three Orange County community leaders are expected to form a Korean-American organization to bolster Southern California’s business ties with South Korean companies.

They are Tom Fuentes, chairman of the Republic Party of Orange County; Sir Eldon Griffiths, president of the World Affairs Council, and Peter Hong, president of Alpha Foods Inc. The three have been asked to be co-chairmen of the Southern California chapter of the Korea America Friendship Society, which will be established next month in Newport Beach.

The nonprofit organization, based in Seoul, was created nearly a year ago by South Korea’s top business, political, academic and civic leaders to promote friendship and understanding between Americans and Koreans, Fuentes said Thursday. Its members include South Korea’s former minister of foreign affairs and the chairmen of major Korean conglomerates.

Meanwhile, Griffiths, Fuentes and Hong will depart for Seoul next week to help celebrate the society’s first anniversary. Griffiths will be the keynote speaker at a July 3 banquet, Fuentes said.

“Once we return, we will inaugurate efforts to organize a chapter in Southern California,” Fuentes said.

The Southern California group will meet quarterly starting July 25, Fuentes said. A prominent South Korean community and business leader will be its keynote speaker, he said.