I want to give background for the death of Edward Song Lee, an 18-year-old Korean American man, who was apparently shot by fellow Korean Americans, who mistook him for a looter while they were all were attempting to protect shops near 3rd Street and Hobart Boulevard. Koreatown became a core area of the riots and the riots were especially intense there because many Korean Americans stayed to defend their stores. To understand why you have to know about Korean history, the harsh Japanese Occupation, during WWII, which left many orphans, and then the Korean War, which began on June 20th, 1950, when North Korea invaded the South’s borders, helped by China and the Soviet Union.
The United States stepped in to support the South - this helped to balance the economy in the US, but the economy in Korea stayed at a low level. Ties, however, were developed between the U.S. Servicemen brought home Korean wives and orphans (Huang). When the Immigration Act of 1965 got rid of quotas based on National origin, Korean immigration more than tripled (Huang). As a result man of the people who lived in the area were first or second generation immigrants. By 1992 the economy of Koreatown was nothing fancy or expensive, general stores, laundromats, general service, but whole families had saved to make these businesses and these were families that had seen war and violence a lot in the past.
In my opinion, that’s why so many people in Koreatown stayed to defend their stores and why so many Koreans did so with guns. It must have felt a lot like they were at war, especially since the the police came over when gunshots were heard, but they left and things got worse and the police quarantined the area. Here, too, I see parallels to the Korean War. The U.S. got involved but very late. Secretary of State Dean Acheson said that the Korean Peninsula was outside the “defense perimeter" of the United States (archives.gov). The US didn’t intervene until the whole UN forces were there, and when they did so it was as much about their own Cold War interests as it was about protecting Koreans themselves.
- Alexander Bradtke
The United States stepped in to support the South - this helped to balance the economy in the US, but the economy in Korea stayed at a low level. Ties, however, were developed between the U.S. Servicemen brought home Korean wives and orphans (Huang). When the Immigration Act of 1965 got rid of quotas based on National origin, Korean immigration more than tripled (Huang). As a result man of the people who lived in the area were first or second generation immigrants. By 1992 the economy of Koreatown was nothing fancy or expensive, general stores, laundromats, general service, but whole families had saved to make these businesses and these were families that had seen war and violence a lot in the past.
In my opinion, that’s why so many people in Koreatown stayed to defend their stores and why so many Koreans did so with guns. It must have felt a lot like they were at war, especially since the the police came over when gunshots were heard, but they left and things got worse and the police quarantined the area. Here, too, I see parallels to the Korean War. The U.S. got involved but very late. Secretary of State Dean Acheson said that the Korean Peninsula was outside the “defense perimeter" of the United States (archives.gov). The US didn’t intervene until the whole UN forces were there, and when they did so it was as much about their own Cold War interests as it was about protecting Koreans themselves.
https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/korean-conflict
https://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2014/12/05/17645/koreatown-origins-korean-migration-los-angeles/
http://spreadsheets.latimes.com/la-riots-deaths/
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.scpr.org/blogs/multiamerican/2014/12/05/17645/koreatown-origins-korean-migration-los-angeles/&sa=D&source=hangouts&ust=1524023576949000&usg=AFQjCNHFxMOOMG3MsLoNmWdW5q0iYFoz_Q
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