Community criticizes Korean American National Museum’s lack of transparency and progress

With the Korean American National Museum back to square one after 11 years in the making, the first public hearing for residents was held.

This was the first time that Korean Americans voluntarily held a public hearing on the project.

More than 70 people attended the public hearing at the Korean Education Center in Los Angeles on March 21, and shared their views on the project, demanding transparency from the board of directors and suggesting alternatives.

The public hearing is summarized by one phrase: “We really want to know.” Throughout the hearing, attendees pointed out that the operations of the board and the progress of the project have been shrouded in secrecy.

“They spent $2.5 million just to keep changing the architectural design, and suddenly they announced another new design out of the blue,” said Christopher Lee, an architect from the ‘Citizens’ Committee to Build the Korean-American Museum’ (tentative name), which organized the hearing. “The project is now ‘privatized’ instead of ‘public,’ as the board’s operations, financial status, and progress remain unclear.”

The public hearing also revealed the financial data (2013-2022) of the board of directors of the Korean American National Museum, in which residents researched themselves based on IRS documents. In particular, the organizers highlighted that since 2017, about 60 percent of the board’s income has been spent on the secretary general’s salary ($570,000) alone when the project was stalled.

The hearing also criticized Jaemin Chang, the current chairman of the board and chairman of the Korea Times. “If someone is doing the work, there should be progress, but they haven’t even begun construction, and I don’t even know what they plan to do,” said Dr. Seungkyu Choi, an art historian and former visiting professor at Yonsei University in Korea. “Mr. Chang should take responsibility and step down as chairman and new directors should be hired to start over.”

Criticism continued regarding the museum’s board of directors announcing the new building plan on March 19, stating that it is a completely different project from the one that was carried out in the early 1990s under the name of the ‘Korean American Museum’.

“If you look at the IRS data, the current board is still using the Employer Identification Number (EIN) that the board has been using since the 1990s,” said Byungyong Min, who served as the director of the museum from October 2002 to May 2003. “So what is the difference between the museum then and now?” he said.

The public hearing was well attended by a number of Korean-American organizations, including the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles, the Korean National Association, the Hung Sa Dahn, and the National Unification Advisory Council LA, including attorney Dongsung Seo, who served as a board member of the Korean American National Museum. Also present were Kenneth Klein, former head of USC’s East Asian Library, Majif Siddiqui, president of the Bangladeshi community’s association, and Carol Min, wife of the late attorney Byungsoo Min.

“Other communities have their own museums, and I think LA Koreatown should have a museum to showcase the history of Korean immigration, and I’m very supportive of that,” said Siddiqui. “I think the Bangladeshi community should take a look at how the Korean community builds their museums and have a project like this one day.”

Alternatives were also presented at the public hearing, including an Armenian museum under construction in Glendale. “If you go to the website of the Armenian Museum, the financial situation and the construction process are all disclosed in great detail,” said Kookhee Bae, a senior advisor to the National Unification Advisory Council. “The Korean American National Museum should also be transparent to the community and let everyone build together.”

The current website (kanmuseum.org) has been closed for several years. When you access the homepage, the words “Korea American National Museum” repeat solely in the middle of the page.

There were also opinions that the museum should organize a nationwide support group. Relying solely on big donors is limited in fostering a sense of civic engagement.

“First, we should set an exact deadline for the construction target, and then form local sponsorship committees to actively donate in various ways,” said Clara Won, president of the Korean National Association, adding, “We should also recruit many second-generation Korean Americans with networks in mainstream society to the current board of directors to push the project forward more actively.”

The hosts sent formal invitations to Heather Hutt’s 10th District office and the board of the Korean American National Museum to attend the public hearing. However, neither attended.

“I expected the board to come out and explain the questions that the citizens have,” Lee said, adding, “Councilmember Heather Hutt’s office even offered to send an aide to the hearing, but no one showed up, and this shows the reality of the project being shrouded in secrecy.”

In the meantime, the board of directors of the museum unexpectedly announced a new design for a stand-alone building on March 19, just ahead of the public hearing. The Korea Daily sent a questionnaire to Euisung Yi, the architect of Morphosis, who is known to have created the new museum design, but has not received a response as of March 24.

BY YEOL JANG, HOONSIK WOO    [jang.yeol@koreadaily.com]