The LA Korean Festival Foundation, which recently appointed a new chairman, has begun auditing its financial statements. The board of directors, which had previously opposed an external audit due to the cost, has changed its stance to secure accounting transparency and is looking to proceed with an external audit. The organization also plans to recruit two to three new board members soon.
On March 4, the Festival Foundation Board of Directors (Chairman Alex Cha) announced that it is currently looking for an external certified public accountant (CPA) to conduct an audit of the accounting that has not been conducted for the past two years. The board said that it will decide whether to proceed with the audit at the board’s general meeting after calculating the cost of hiring a CPA to handle the external audit.
However, some directors reportedly prefer an internal audit due to the cost ($20,000 to $30,000).
Over the past two years, the board of directors of the Festival Foundation has been in a fierce conflict over whether to have an external audit and whether to disclose it. The previous board members Yoon Sook Park, Jun-bae Kim, and Il-soon Choe insisted on an external audit, while former chairman Moo Han Bae and the new board members argued for an internal audit, citing the cost burden. As a result, the festival’s financial statements and announcements for 2022 and 2023 were not made.
However, the board of directors elected Alex Cha as the new chairman in January and removed three directors who insisted on an external audit, and has since taken steps to normalize the process.
“One of the removed directors was in charge of auditing, but the former director did not play a proper role,” said a current board official, adding, “The new board members are somewhat in agreement with the need to report financial statements through an external audit.”
The board plans to disclose its income and expenses to the Korean-American community, as it has done in the past, once the external audit is complete.
“We will proceed with the audit,” said Chairman Alex Cha, “but there is some disagreement over whether to have an external audit. We will decide after discussing it at the board meeting.” “We will be able to report the financial statements to the Korean community as usual,” Cha added.
The board also plans to appoint two or three additional members to the board once the date of the March general meeting is finalized. Current candidates for additional directors include next-generation firefighter Lawrence Kim of the Los Angeles Fire Department and attorney Soo Y. Park. “The board of directors has also begun preparations for The 51st LA Korean Festival,” said Cha. “We want to make the LA Korean Festival a world-class festival, so we will continue to inherit the best aspects of the old festival, but also try new changes. We hope that the Korean American community will be interested and watch with anticipation.”
Meanwhile, the Festival Foundation board and the three expelled board members are engaged in a legal battle, which is causing concern. On February 5, the three expelled board members filed an administrative preliminary injunction lawsuit in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming that the appointment of the three new board members was invalid, their removal process was invalid, and the appointment of Alex Cha (the current chairman) was invalid.
In response, the current LA Korean Festival Foundation Board of Directors said that it will respond to the lawsuit filed by the expelled board members legally. Two weeks ago, the LA County Superior Court denied the ’emergency file for injunction’ filed by the plaintiffs, the expelled directors.
BY HYOUNGJAE KIM, JUNHAN PARK [kim.ian@koreadaily.com]
