Korean Groups Want Answers on Police Killing

Shaken Korean American community leaders said Friday they are drafting a protest letter to authorities demanding an explanation for the death of 27-year-old Hong Il Kim, who was shot by police officers in Orange this week.

“We think the police did wrong,” said Koo Oh, president of the Korean American Assn. of Orange County. “Everybody says the police acted too early when they shot him.”

The letter will be sent next week to the Orange Police Department and Orange County district attorney’s office, Oh said.

Police and prosecutors said they could not respond to the group’s allegations.

“We do not have a copy of the letter, and the investigation is continuing, so at this time, we have no comment,” said Sgt. Tom Jordan of the Orange Police Department.

In a rare communitywide meeting, leaders from seven diverse Korean American groups gathered Thursday to review news videos of the fatal shooting.

The community leaders gasped as they watched footage of officers directing a torrent of gunfire at Kim after a high-speed chase, said Raymond Choi, president of the Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County.

“Everyone was thinking that it doesn’t look like the kind of situation that Mr. Kim should die,” Choi said. “He didn’t have a weapon or anything.”

The incident began when a Westminster police noticed a reckless driver in a Toyota 4-Runner. A 30-minute chase involving more than a dozen police and Highway Patrol officers ended in the parking lot of an Orange shopping center, where officers boxed the 4-Runner into a parking space.

Police said officers opened fire when Kim tried to run over at least two officers. Four officers from Westminster, Orange and the Highway Patrol fired 10 to 15 rounds, witnesses said.

Kim had more than a dozen criminal convictions in California from 1987 to 1992, including assault with a deadly weapon and possession of cocaine, police said.

The fatal shooting came at a time when the Korean American community is especially sensitive about police response, Oh said.

The coalition’s letter also will express concern about recent news stories regarding six Asian American UC Irvine students, who complained to a university ombudsman that Irvine and Newport Beach police officers have arbitrarily stopped and photographed them, allegedly because of their ethnicity. Police officials said they were unaware of any specific incidents, but said officers pull over motorists only if they have probable cause of illegal activity.

Still, Oh said, the community wants assurances that Asian Americans are treated fairly by police.

The coalition will not make any demands in the letter, beyond a fair and thorough investigation, Oh said. But the coalition will meet again to consider other possible actions when the district attorney’s office completes its investigation of the incident, he said.

Attending the coalition’s meeting were representatives of the Korean American Assn. of Orange County, Korean Chamber of Commerce of Orange County, Garden Grove Merchants Assn., Korean Family Legal Assn. of Orange County, Korean Lions Club of Orange County, Korean Elderly Assn. of Orange County and Korean American Professional Society.