The Los Angeles Korean Chamber of Commerce (KCC) has elected Ki-hwan Ha as its 41st president. Ha, the only candidate who submitted the request before the deadline, was elected as voting became irrelevant.
Ha reportedly submitted his eligibility 30 minutes before the deadline on May 2. Sung-su Park, Shirley Shin and Bong-hyun Kim, who submitted their candidacy as vice-presidents, will also lead the L.A. KCC for the upcoming 2017-2018 season. Park was named the chief vice-president.
“I return as the president after 25 years as no one else wanted to run for the position,” said Ha, who was L.A. KCC’s 16th president. “I believe that my role is to nurture the next generation of leaders within the organization. It won’t be easy for me to invest considerable money or to work fulltime in this position as I have my own business. However, I will try to grow this organization while maintaining its current reputation alongside our talented vice-presidents and directors.”
About 20 directors visited the L.A. KCC office to congratulate Ha after he was elected.
“No concrete plans have been made yet, but I remember visiting North Korea in 1989 as a member of the KCC,” Ha said. “I also visited Brazil in 1993 to network with the KCC located there as well. Once the current inter-Korea relations improve, I can consider a plan to go out there again in the future. I will obviously continue to maintain the current projects, including community services and seminars.”
The term for KCC presidency is one year. Ha will start in his new position on July 1.
By Moonho Kim
