Hey, It’s Home : Despite Catastrophes, This City’s a Very Good Place to Live and Work, Says the Executive Director of the Korean Chamber of Commerce. So He Cooked Up the ‘I Still Love L.A.’ Campaign.

The reason we started the campaign is that after the earthquake, a lot of agencies were doing their best to help people with monetary and physical aid, and we wanted to work on the emotional.

But the idea didn’t come just from the earthquake. After the riots, L.A. was getting a lot of negative press and talk. Not just in the Korean community, but in general. So I had the idea that we need to do something to remind people, not just outside of L.A. but especially people who live here, that this is still a very good place to live and work.

But it was just an idea until the earthquake. Then the same emotional roller coaster was happening to people as after the riots. They were getting depressed and they were talking about leaving the city, moving the business and so forth.

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Our Chamber of Commerce is a very small organization, but we wanted to send the message to the general L.A. community that Korean business people are proud of this city, that we want to stay and work, and we see a future in this city.

We sell the bumper stickers for $1 apiece, and any money left over goes to the Salvation Army. Some people buy one or two. Some buy 20 and send them to their family and friends. We recently expanded to the hats and T-shirts. We’re selling them at just above cost and we expect to break even, if that.

Last year when the anniversary of the riots was coming, Koreatown was very apprehensive. The second trial of the officers was winding up and no one knew how it would turn out. There was a lot of fear.

But like for the rest of Los Angeles, the conclusion of the trial put an end to that. People think it’s time to move on, to get on with their lives.

The riot was our wake-up call to do something about crime. This area has one of the highest crime rates in the city. The community has been more involved in working with the police, giving them information, letting them know what kinds of problems we have. And just understanding how the Police Department works.

There has been progress. Crime went down a little last year. But we have more to do. Koreatown is divided into two police divisions, Rampart and Wilshire. Our goal is to have it under one jurisdiction.

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What people really like about the slogan “I Still Love L.A.” is the still part. When I originally was laying it out, I just had “I Love L.A.”

But it looked very boring. I wanted to do something to catch people’s eye so I put in the still. We didn’t think about the marketing plan, we just wanted to roll. We had the bumper stickers printed a week after the earthquake.

The reason people are down on L.A. is we had it so good for so many years.

While other parts of the country and the world were going through recession, depression, whatever you like to call it, people in L.A. were living very well. Business was pretty good.

When things started going bad, people couldn’t remember it being like that before. It was emotionally and financially much more difficult. If you’ve been through bad times, you’re much more prepared.

In the Korean community, even with the lack of language, business people have succeeded. Only recently did they start having financial difficulties. This was new to them. They didn’t know how to do the financial planning to adapt to a low point in business.

Bad things happen along with the good. It’s part of a cycle.

I’ve lived in this city two-thirds of my life and I love this city.

Even on Wilshire Boulevard, where it’s surrounded by Koreatown, you see the diversity. You see Caucasians, Indians, African Americans, Hispanics, and that brings out creativity in people, fresh ideas and new types of businesses. I see it as a tremendous asset.

Koreans have been criticized for owning liquor stores in the areas where the riots were. But you have to remember that liquor is only part of their business. If those liquor stores weren’t there, where would people buy milk?

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In the ‘60s the markets were owned by Jewish Americans and after the Watts riots they left the community.

Then Korean Americans moved in. Now it seems that Koreans are going to move out. People are getting frustrated and even getting killed. They’ll slowly move out and you’re going to have a new immigrant group taking over, because with the high risk, people can start a business relatively cheaply.

I know some people who started with $15,000. They basically took over a dead store. The whole family went in. One of the main criticisms Koreans got was that they don’t hire from the community. But the whole family works. That’s how they keep expenses down.

Most of the business owners are first generation, born and raised in Korea, and came here in adulthood. A lot of the problems and misperceptions arise because they aren’t able to effectively communicate with their neighbors and customers.

They can communicate for a business deal, but aren’t able to communicate on a personal level, to strike up a conversation.

Now you have people like myself who were born in Korea but educated in the United States, or were born here. We understand both cultures. We’re like the bridge. You have a lot of businesses that have been taken over by the younger generations. So in time a lot of the problems will go away.