CITY TIMES COVER STORY : Hard Choices : Korean American business owners, hit hard by riots and other violence, ponder the grim trade-offs as they debate whether to rebuild, sell or move.

Like many other Korean American riot victims, Jae Yul Kim is grappling with a conflict: the eco nomic necessity of rebuilding his South-Central business versus the lingering fear of going back.

Twice before last year’s riots, the liquor store owner was robbed at gunpoint. Once, a robber fired a shot at his chest, but a shield of bulletproof glass in front of his cash register saved him. “I don’t like running a liquor store, but I have no choice,” Kim said.

Kim owned the building that housed his store, and because he doubts that anyone will buy an empty lot in South-Central, he essentially has two choices: rebuild or default on his loan.

“I’m looking for a quiet place,” said Kim, who would prefer to open a different business outside of Los Angeles. “I came to America to survive, but I don’t want to die here.”

Another merchant, Don Myung, rebuilt his riot-destroyed market near USC because he couldn’t afford to start a business elsewhere. But Myung, who reopened his store Dec. 1, said he is relieved to be back at work.

“I’ve had a lot of physical and mental problems since the riots, so I’m hoping I can put all that behind me now,” he said. “I’m crossing my fingers and praying every night before I go to bed for peace.”

Korean American riot victims and other business owners are facing tough choices as they plan for the future. Many Central Los Angeles merchants, particularly those in South-Central, want to open businesses elsewhere. Others reluctantly plan to stay in the area, largely because they believe they have few options.

Still others remain optimistic and hope to turn the mom-and-pop shops they operate in South-Central and Koreatown into more sophisticated operations that could mark a new era of Korean entrepreneurship.

In the 20 months since the riots, which damaged or destroyed 2,073 Korean-owned businesses in Los Angeles County, many Korean American business owners in Central Los Angeles have grown increasingly disenchanted. Recent violence against Korean Americans has exacerbated the frustrations and fears of the mostly immigrant merchants.

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Since February, 42 Korean Americans have been killed or wounded during robberies in Los Angeles County, with 30 of those incidents in Central Los Angeles, said Angela Oh, a Los Angeles attorney who has been keeping track of the incidents. Half of the 30 incidents occurred at businesses, Oh said.

Working seven days a week and 12 hours a day, many Korean merchants were able to buy homes and send their children to college with profits they made from their stores. But since the riots, many Korean Americans have feared that running a business in Central Los Angeles may be too risky.

Myung Suk Lee was 37 when she emigrated from Korea in 1980. With a loan from her aunt and $40,000 she saved from working at a South-Central gas station, she bought a doughnut shop near Florence Avenue and Figueroa Street.

She opened the shop at 4 a.m. and worked until 10 p.m., giving free doughnuts to police officers and to homeless people through a local minister. After she was robbed of her purse and her store was looted during the riots, she began to look for ways she could open another type of business in a less dangerous area.

She was in the midst of loan discussions when she was shot during a robbery in July. After three months in a coma, she died, said Myung Suk Lee, president of the Korean Family Counseling and Legal Advice Center, and who coincidentally has the same name.

Although people from all ethnic backgrounds are victimized by crime, Korean Americans believe they are being especially targeted and are reacting accordingly, said Min Paek, executive director of the Korean-American Grocers’ Victims Assn., formed after the riots to help victims recover from their losses.

“Before (this year), Koreans didn’t want to talk about racial crimes,” Paek said. “But now they can’t help but think that they are being victimized because they are Korean.”

As a result, many Korean American business owners in South-Central are eager to sell their stores. But they are finding it difficult because of the weak economy, said John Seagram, a sales manager at Concord Business Investment, which handles commercial real estate transactions for many Korean Americans.

Word of violence also has scared potential Korean American buyers.

“Koreans don’t want to buy any businesses south of Pico Boulevard,” said Steve Han, general manager of Lucky Realty Co. in Koreatown. “They are looking for businesses in Koreatown or the Mid-Wilshire area. And there’s not as much interest in markets or liquor stores as there was before.”

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Although some Korean American merchants consider Koreatown a more desirable place to do business than South-Central, crime is a big concern in both areas.

City Atty. James Hahn launched the victim-assistance program after receiving a $25,000 state grant, spokesman Ted Goldstein said. The Los Angeles city attorney’s office announced Wednesday that a Korean-speaking representative will work out of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Koreatown substation to help crime victims file their cases.

“Crime is like a really, really big issue in South-Central and Koreatown,” Paek said. “You can feel the tension. People are so scared of another riot.”

But other Korean American merchants are choosing to stay in Central Los Angeles despite growing concerns about crime.

To protect himself, Ted Kim, who owns two auto parts shops in South-Central, doubled his insurance coverage after the riots and installed a high-tech security device. Once, he said, thieves stole $8,000 in cash and walked away with his gun collection.

“I can’t go anywhere now,” Ted Kim said. “I have to keep the business, because what else can I do?”

In the nine years he has owned the shops, Ted Kim said, he has become an expert in auto parts and wouldn’t feel comfortable getting into another type of business. He has thought about selling his business, but he said he would lose money if he sold now.

The 39-year-old merchant also feels comfortable dealing with his mostly African American and Latino customers in South-Central.

“Koreans have the same character,” he said. “There’s an understanding.”

In some cases, whether Korean-owned businesses remain in Central Los Angeles may depend largely on whether second-generation Korean Americans choose to take over their parents’ stores.

Min Chun, whose father runs two beauty supply and discount stores, one in Long Beach and the other in South-Central, said he doesn’t mind taking over the business as long as he can operate it in a new way. Chun believes his generation will be more likely to form partnerships and franchises that will allow them to pool their resources and give them the same advantage of national convenience store chains.

Such networks would give franchise owners capital to buy devices such as bar-code readers and computers, and would help them afford guards. Their collective size would help them bargain for better prices from suppliers, Chun said.

“After 10 years, there’s not going to be any more mom-and-pop shops,” he said. “We’re going to have better businesses.”

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Suki Kim, who owns a garment manufacturing business in Pico-Union, also believes Korean American ventures will become more sophisticated as entrepreneurs learn from their mistakes.

“Many Koreans don’t have experience dealing with American corporations, but I think that’s what they’re going to have to do to survive in this competitive market,” Suki Kim said.

Han of Lucky Realty said he can foresee many second-generation Korean Americans opening franchises, manufacturing and other businesses throughout Los Angeles County while their parents continue to run small shops.

“For the first generation, even if they have enough money, they don’t know what kind of business to get into these days,” Han said. “They are familiar with liquor stores, dry cleaners, fast food and the garment industry. They are looking for new businesses, but they don’t know how to operate them.”

As some Koreans look for ways out of South-Central and other Central Los Angeles communities, there is growing interest in buying businesses in Rowland Heights, the San Gabriel Valley or the Inland Empire, said Edward Chang, assistant professor of ethnic studies at UC Riverside.

But Korean American riot victims won’t be able to leave South-Central unless they are compensated for their losses.

“Politically, riot victims have no allies,” Chang said. “The city or state governments need to be able to forgive the debts of the victims.”

A July survey by the Korean-American Inter-Agency Council found that 45% of the Korean American-owned businesses damaged during the riots have not reopened. The survey, which included responses from 98 riot victims, also found that only 20% of Korean American riot victims received full compensation from insurance companies for their losses.

Although Korean Americans are asking for direct assistance, they would be equally pleased if the government provided loans to African Americans and Latinos who wanted to buy their businesses, said Paek of the victims’ association, adding that such a plan would allow for more community ownership of businesses.

“(Korean merchants) don’t want to be (in South-Central) forever,” she said. “As soon as they can get out of there, they will.”

Some Korean American riot victims, however, are eager to return to their South-Central stores, but they say city restrictions are making that almost impossible.

Charles Paek, whose South-Central liquor store burned down in the riots, said he won’t be able to rebuild unless he hires two full-time security guards. Shortly after the riots, the City Council passed a law requiring liquor store owners to go through a public hearing process before rebuilding. Under the ordinance, city officials can require store owners to shorten their hours, hire security guards or make other changes.

Hiring guards “would cost me $8,000 a month,” Charles Paek said. “I can’t afford that.”

Pressure from the community is also hindering efforts for liquor store owners in particular to reopen. Although sympathetic to riot victims, South-Central community activists say they are not going to give up the fight to reduce the number of liquor stores in their neighborhoods.

“The community has been fighting this for a long time before Koreans got here,” said Karen Bass, executive director of the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, adding that her group’s crusade to limit liquor stores is not racially motivated. “People equally do not want African American-owned liquor stores.”

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One of the only plans the city has introduced to help riot victims is the liquor store conversion program, which provides financial incentives to replace inner-city liquor stores with businesses such as restaurants and Laundromats.

Although the program was designed to help about 60 clients when it was introduced in June, only one liquor store owner, Daniel Whang, has received the necessary loans to take advantage of it. Bong Hwan Kim, executive director of the Korean Youth and Community Center, which is involved with the conversion program, said he does not see the effort as a complete solution for all riot victims.

“From the beginning, we knew we weren’t going to convert 200 liquor stores into Laundromats,” Bong Hwan Kim said. “What we’re saying is that this program is one viable solution for some of the stores.”

But many Korean American riot victims regard the conversion program as a way to appease South-Central activists and push merchants out of business, said Ryan Song, executive director of the Korean American Grocers Assn.

“In general, everybody is discouraged,” Song said. “Grocers are discouraged by the criminal activity, and riot victims are discouraged because it’s been a year and a half and nothing has been done to help them.”

Special correspondent Jake Doherty contributed to this report.