RIOT IN LOS ANGLES: Koreatown Is Bitter, Armed and Determined(LA Riot Flashback)

NY Times via RealHistory.com ^ | May 03, 1992 | SETH MYDANS

[Kid Shelleen]

The nation's largest Korean-American community is grim, armed and determined to repel racial violence in its riot-scarred corner of the city.

A vigilante Korean security force, wearing white scarves, is patrolling the burned and looted shops of Koreatown, the economically vibrant enclave just north of the sad streets of South-Central Los Angeles, where black and Hispanic residents struggle with poverty and crime.

Today, with an uneasy peace settling over the city after hundreds of their businesses were destroyed, the Koreans stood armed inside their shattered store windows.

[Kid Shelleen]

Full headline is:
"RIOT IN LOS ANGLES: Pocket of Tension; A Target of Rioters, Koreatown Is Bitter, Armed and Determined"

[Kid Shelleen]

That was posted at http://www.realclearhistory.com/

[TurboZamboni]

bitter clingers.

clinging to their guns and kimchi.

[Bobalu]

[ErnBatavia]

Young’s Market Company, a huge liquor distributor, and L.A. Cold Storage both put armed employees on their roofs.

[I want the USA back]

Now you know why the left wants to take guns away from productive, honest, non-violent people and deliberately leave guns in the hands of violent parasite criminals.

So they can waltz right in and take whatever they want, since it’s “rightfully” theirs.

[Mark17]

The nation's largest Korean-American community is grim, armed and determined to repel racial violence in its riot-scarred corner of the city.

I used to work with a guy, whose wife is Korean. The word was, the koreans would not be taken by surprise again.

[jonrick46]

You have nailed it!

Money from the illegal drug industry must be flowing into the pockets of our big city politicians. Illegal guns make that industry work. A disarmed law abiding citizen will keep the “snitches” quiet and more dependent on the government for protection. With the politicians and criminals on the same team, the illegal drug industry has no opposition.

[spacejunkie2001]

This is VERY disturbing to me. I feel for these Koreans. This is a shame and no one is coming to their defense.

[Polynikes]

I remember that time well. The way I understand the course of events was that the KMA (Korean Merchants Association) followed the Rodney King trial closely and planned accordingly. They may have been taken somewhat by surprise but only by the scope of the rioting. The KMA fielded flying squads of armed association members in vans dispatched to various trouble spots as requested over a radio net that was using only Korean for communications for OPSEC purposes.

I have worked with Koreans in previous business dealing as well as recreationally( Martial Arts). If you deal fairly and ethically with them they respect you and you can have a good relationship. Family and loyalty means a lot. You cross them and you can have an intractable enemy that doesn't easily forget. They will hold a grudge.

I remember the video of 2 Korean fellows defending a store dressed in black tacgear behind sandbags covering each other as the other reloaded. The media tried to make a case against the “vigilante” store owners. The only criticism I had about that was the defenders neglected to run up the largest American flag they could find over their position. It would have scored PR points and muted media criticisms.

[AppyPappy]

They are going to need it this summer. I think this will be the Long Hot Summer that has always been predicted.

[Kid Shelleen]

>> They may have been taken somewhat by surprise but only by the scope of the rioting <<<

The big surprise was how little the LAPD did to protect them.. From the article:

As the looters approached again in the morning, they followed their progress on a Korean language radio station, much as Los Angeles residents follow traffic reports on the crowded freeways. 'Nobody Showed Up' "We called the police and nobody showed up," Michael Kim, one of the armed defenders, said this morning. "There was a fire burning across the street for three hours and nobody came.

[princeofdarkness]

“To serve and protect”. HA!!

[dagogo redux]

I have always had enormous respect for the Koreans, the “Irish of the Orient.” Their heads are screwed on very nicely when it comes to these matters.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

In this the “when seconds count...” statement needs to be modified to “when seconds count, the police are hours away.”

[Vendome]

I was there!

It was Deep Kimchi....

two days later, they tore up San Francisco and we missed the hooligans by just a few minutes and I listened to the action on our local AM station.

[BobL]

“The big surprise was how little the LAPD did to protect them.”

No, not to me. I lived out there during the riots and before. Prior to riots, the police, particularly the chief Darryl Gates (a honky) was GETTING HAMMERED almost daily for police brutality...and totally unfairly. When the riots hit, Gates basically sent a message to the people that considered him and his men to be the problem - they would get out of the way, and if the accusers were correct, the problems would go away.

Obviously the problems didn’t go away, and the rioters saw a power vacuum and pounced. The Koreans, unfortunately for them, got stuck in the middle - between Gates and the left-wing media. Throughout the entire riot, all LAPD would say was that they were “mobilizing”. It was a big joke at the time...at least for those far enough away from it.