The Los Angeles riots stunned the nation in 1992, claiming more than 50 lives in that city. As the unrest approached Koreatown, store owner Kee Whan Ha mobilized his fellow business owners to arm themselves and defend their property. Host Michel Martin talks with him about the riots, and the neighborhood today.
Transcript
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
I’m Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News. Coming up, this week, the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, was convicted of war crimes by the International Criminal Court. We’ll get reaction from Liberia in just a few minutes.
But first, we want to continue our conversation marking 20 years since the Los Angeles riots. Earlier on this program, we heard from Rodney King, the man whose beating by LAPD officers set off the chain of events that led to the riots.
Now we hear a different perspective, that of a Korean-American business owner whose life was also very much changed by those events. I’m joined now by Kee Whan Ha. At the time of the riots, he organized members of his community to protect their stores. On the morning the riots made their way to Koreatown in Los Angeles, he and fellow stores owners assembled with weapons to protect their properties.
Mr. Ha still lives in Los Angeles and owns the Hannam chain store, which includes a supermarket in the heart of L.A.’s Koreatown.
Mr. Ha, thanks so much for speaking with us.
KEE WHAN HA: OK.
MARTIN: How has it been for you recalling those long-ago events? Is this painful for you to think about?
HA: Yes. It’s very painful. Also, one of our security guard was killed. So it’s a human loss, some property damage, but fortunately, our business was unharmed.
MARTIN: How did you first hear that the riots, or that some kind of disturbance might be coming to your neighborhood?
HA: April 29 was a Wednesday. All the riots are happening in the South Central area. On Thursday morning, I expect something going to happen in Koreatown, so Koreatown is closed, but we bisect by the freeway. I assembled my people, all the store owners, people who has a big rifle or the hunting rifle, everything. So we see that our – next door is selling the electric part that’s American-owned. They just go home. Then the riot people came inside, and they steal everything. They put the gasoline, then they put the fire, so whole building’s on fire.
MARTIN: I understand that, as the disturbance was beginning, you heard hosts on Radio Korea – which is L.A.’s major Korean-American radio station – tell people to leave their businesses and go home and pray. And you told one of our producers that that made you upset. Could you talk a little bit about that?
HA: Yeah. I was so upset. So I know the owner of that Radio Korea, so I brought my handgun and I put it on the table. I told him that we established Koreatown. It’s been more than 20 years (unintelligible) riot, even to be able – insurance and everything, but I want to protect my business, as well as all other Koreatown business.
by NPR.org
