With the Los Angeles Korean Festival just two weeks away, the board of directors of the festival foundation is in disarray. The 51st Korean Festival has been put on red alert as the court sided with former board members who were removed from the board, invalidating the election of four of the five current board members.
The Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in an administrative lawsuit filed by former board members against the Los Angeles Korean Festival Foundation and current board members to demand the current members’ disqualification and invalidate their expulsions.
According to the plaintiffs (former board members Jun-bae Kim, Yun Sook Park, and Il-soon Choi), the judge ruled that the January 23, 2023 board meeting electing current chairman Alex Cha and new board members Brandon Lee and Ben Park was invalid.
The plaintiffs had been expelled from the festival’s board of directors on January 3 for defaming the foundation. At the time, Chairman Moo Han Bae explained that the plaintiffs were removed for “defaming the Festival Foundation by exposing it to the media, and falsely accusing of misappropriation and embezzlement of public funds against an innocent person.”
The three directors who were removed from the board responded by saying, “How can the unqualified chairman and directors remove us?” In the end, four of the seven directors, including the recused chairman, voted in favor of the expulsion, a majority of four, not including the three targeted for removal.
Previously, in September 2023, the plaintiffs had requested a California District Attorney’s Office to investigate the three new directors for non-payment of $5,000 in board fees.
When the board subsequently expelled them, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in February 2024 in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to invalidate the election of the three new directors, the expulsion process, and the election of the current Chairman Alex Cha. On February 26, the court denied the plaintiffs’ request for a temporary restraining order but ruled in favor of the plaintiffs with the recent ruling.
“As a result of this ruling, the Festival Foundation’s board of directors has become a four-member board again, including directors Bae Moo-han, Park Yoon-sook, Kim Jun-bae, and Choi Il-soon, who were present before the election of directors on January 23, 2023,” said Dan Lee, an attorney for the plaintiffs, “and all decisions made by the board of directors on January 3, 2024, after the removal of the three directors are also legally invalid.”
As a result, Lawrence Kim, who became a member of the board in August, was also invalidated by the court decision.
“We will soon hold a press conference to clarify specific plans for future activities,” said Jun-bae Kim, one of the plaintiffs.
The festival’s board of directors has announced its intention to appeal the first court ruling. “The current board of directors disagrees with the court’s ruling and will appeal as soon as possible,” said Alex Cha, Chairman of the festival’s board of directors. “The board will do its best to prepare and proceed with the 51st Korean Festival that is just two weeks away.”
The 51st Los Angeles Korean Festival is scheduled to take place from September 26-29 at Seoul International Park in Koreatown.
BY HYOUNGJAE KIM, HOONSIK WOO [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
