The family of the Korean-American founder of The World Kuk Sool Association (WKSA), a Houston-based martial arts organization that teaches traditional Korean martial arts to about 1.3 million people around the world, is fighting over control of the organization.
Those who have worked or studied martial arts at WKSA also accused the founder and the son of sexual harassment and sexual assault.
ABC13 reported that WKSA, which is headquartered north of Houston, Texas, is facing a $50 million lawsuit over control of the organization.
WKSA was founded in 1958 in South Korea by martial artist In Hyuk Suh, 85. Suh immigrated to the United States in 1974 and began operating the organization’s headquarters and martial arts center in Tomball, north of Houston. The organization claims to have 1.3 million members across the United States and 27 countries around the world who practice the traditional martial arts of WKSA.
Suh’s eldest son, Sung Jin Su, recently filed a lawsuit against the organization seeking $50 million in damages. The organization is currently led by the founder Suh and his second son, Alex Suh.
“My client was promised that he would be the next leader of WKSA,” said Alex Paul, an attorney representing the plaintiff. ”My client is suing WKSA for wrongful termination, breach of contract, and employment-related claims.”
The case is currently being litigated in federal court in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The eldest son of the founder, Su, is seeking $50 million in damages from WKSA.
Defense attorney Dale Jefferson countered that “all went out the window when he (the eldest son) decided to start a competing business.”
Su also alleges that his father’s and his brother’s misconduct, including sexual assaults, is being exposed.
Denise Brown, who was a babysitter for the family, alleges that she was sexually assaulted by Alex Suh, the second son, while she was a student at WKSA and working as a babysitter for the Suh family.” Brown reported Suh to the Magnolia Police Department, but Suh denied the allegations at the time and was never charged.
“I want him to be held accountable for any other victims,” Brown said in the interview. Brown has now filed a lawsuit against the organization.
WKSA is also facing a lawsuit alleging that the founder Suh molested a child. Ashley Sanchez alleges that 32 years ago, when she was around 7 years old, Suh kissed her on the lips. “No grown man should ever have a little girl kiss him on the lips,” Sanchez said.
Jefferson, the attorney for the defendant, said that WKSA had hired an investigator to look into the matter, and concluded that the allegations of sexual assault and other misconduct were unsubstantiated. He claimed the allegations were part of a legal battle in which the eldest son, Su, is seeking to extort tens of millions of dollars against his parents and half-brother.
The trial is expected to begin later this year in federal court in the Southern District of Texas.
BY HYOUNGJAE KIM, HOONSIK WOO [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
