City Services and the Justice System: 

Do Korean American Storeowners 

in Baltimore, Maryland 

Get Equal Treatment?

Maryland Advisory Committee to 

the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

July 2004 

This report of the Maryland Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was prepared for 

the information and consideration of the Commission. Statements and viewpoints in this report should not 

be attributed to the Commission, but only to the participants at the community forum, other individuals or 

documents cited, or the Advisory Committee. 
The United States Commission on Civil Rights 

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights is an independent, bipartisan agency established by Congress in 

1957, reconstituted in 1983, and reauthorized in 1994. It is directed to investigate complaints alleging 

that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote by reason of their race, color, religion, sex, age, 

disability, or national origin, or by reason of fraudulent practices; study and collect information relating 

to discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of race, 

color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice; appraise 

federal laws and policies with respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws 

because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of 

justice; serve as a national clearinghouse for information in respect to discrimination or denial of equal 

protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin; submit 

reports, findings, and recommendations to the President and Congress; and issue public service 

announcements to discourage discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws. 

The State Advisory Committees 

By law, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has established an advisory committee in each of the 50 

states and the District of Columbia. The committees are composed of state citizens who serve without 

compensation. The committees advise the Commission of civil rights issues in their states that are 

within the Commission’s jurisdiction. More specifically, they are authorized to advise the Commission 

on matters of their state’s concern in the preparation of Commission reports to the President and the 

Congress; receive reports, suggestions, and recommendations from individuals, public officials, and 

representatives of public and private organizations to committee inquiries; forward advice and 

recommendations to the Commission, as requested; and observe any open hearing or conference 

conducted by the Commission in their states. 

This report is available on disk in ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 for persons with visual impairments. 

Please call (202) 376-8110. It is also posted on the Commission’s Web site at www.usccr.gov.
City Services and the Justice System: 

Do Korean American Storeowners 

in Baltimore, Maryland 

Get Equal Treatment?
iii 

Letter of Transmittal 

Maryland Advisory Committee to 

the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 

Members of the Commission 

Mary Frances Berry, Chairperson 

Cruz Reynoso, Vice Chairperson 

Jennifer C. Braceras 

Christopher Edley, Jr. 

Peter N. Kirsanow 

Elsie M. Meeks 

Russell G. Redenbaugh 

Abigail Thernstrom 

Les Jin, Staff Director 

The Maryland Advisory Committee submits this report, City Services and the Justice System: Do 

Korean American Storeowners in Baltimore, Maryland, Get Equal Treatment? as part of its responsibility to advise the Commission on civil rights issues in the Free State. The Committee approved 

this report in a vote of 11 to 0, with no abstentions. 

The Asian American population in Maryland, which includes Korean Americans, grew over 60 percent in the last decade according to the 2000 census. While Korean Americans reside throughout the 

Baltimore metropolitan area, they own and operate many small businesses in the predominately African 

American inner city. In the 1990s, frictions between the Korean American community and the African American community developed amid complaints about the treatment of African American patrons by Korean merchants and the quality of food sold to African Americans by Korean grocery 

stores. Adding to the tension were the growing fears of personal safety after a rash of violent robberies, shootings, and murders of Korean Americans. The simmering tensions reached a boiling point in 

the mid-90s after a mostly black jury acquitted an African American suspect accused of murdering a 

Korean American college student in a robbery. 

Questions arose as to whether these crimes were racially motivated with accusations that it was 

“open season” on Korean Americans and their establishments. Korean American storeowners and 

Korean community representatives complained to the Committee that law enforcement and city government failed to respond to their need for police protection and other city services. In addition, leaders of both the Korean American community and the African American community sought ways to 

foster better relationships between the groups. 

The Committee conducted a community forum to investigate the allegations of discrimination that 

helped bring attention to the concerns of Korean American storeowners. As a result, Baltimore City’s 

mayors, municipal departments, and police and fire officials have expanded communication with the 

Korean American community, and recently enacted federal and state laws now require that language 

assistance be provided by law enforcement and government agencies. While the report documents
iv 

events from several years ago there are, nevertheless, issues that still need to be addressed by government officials. The Committee hopes the observations made in this report will help inform these agencies so that they can better respond to the needs of Korean Americans and other new immigrant groups, 

as required. 

Sincerely, 

Rev. Douglas B. Sands, Sr., Chairperson 

Maryland Advisory Committee
v 

Maryland Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights 

Rev. Douglas B. Sands, Sr., Chairperson

Mt. Airy 

Gary Gerstle

College Park 

Jenkins Odoms, Jr. 

Maryland City (Laurel) 

Lea A. Gilmore 

Baltimore 

K. Patrick Okura 

Bethesda 

Mary Louise Jones 

Cumberland 

Mariana A. Pardo 

Fort Washington 

Anne Lee 

Timonium 

Houng-Mai Tran* 

Potomac 

Debra Lemke 

Westminster 

Chester L. Wickwire** 

Baltimore 

Arthur Nierenberg* 

Randallstown 

Gilberto Alejandro Zelaya, II 

Montgomery Village 

*Former member 

**Past chairperson, presided at the forum

Acknowledgments 

The Maryland Advisory Committee wishes to thank the staff of the Commission’s Eastern Regional 

Office. The planning and holding of the community forum, initial report writing, and follow-up research were conducted by Edward Darden, civil rights analyst. Ki-Taek Chun, then director of the 

Eastern Regional Office, provided overall supervision of the project. Ivy Davis, acting director of the 

Eastern Regional Office, edited the final report draft. Barbara de La Viez updated the report for publication. Dawn Sweet provided editorial services and prepared the report for publication. Dorothy 

Pearson-Canty and Alfreda Greene provided production and distribution services. 

The Committee also wishes to acknowledge Chester Wickwire, former chairperson and member of 

the Committee, for his leadership in developing the project’s proposal and convening the forum, and 

former members Arthur Nierenberg and Huong-Mai Tran for their invaluable contributions during 

the planning and holding of the Committee’s forum.
vi 

[blank page] 
vii 

Contents 

Chapter 1: Background.......................................................................................................................1 

Purpose of the Forum.......................................................................................................................1 

Organization of the Forum...............................................................................................................2 

Organization of This Report ............................................................................................................3 

Chapter 2: Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics of the Baltimore Area ..................5 

Urban Losses, Suburban Gains........................................................................................................5 

The Central City: Majority Black, Highly Segregated ....................................................................6 

Sharp and Rising Inequality.............................................................................................................6 

Whites and Asian Americans Concentrated in the Suburbs ............................................................7 

Business Ownership by African Americans and Asian Americans.................................................8 

Chapter 3: Chronology of Key Events Leading Up to the Forum...................................................9 

The Renovation of Lafayette and Belair Markets............................................................................9 

The Boycott and Closure of Canaan Food.....................................................................................10 

The Campaign to Close Chang’s Mart ..........................................................................................11 

The Joel Lee Case..........................................................................................................................11 

The Shootings of January 1997 .....................................................................................................12 

Chapter 4: Korean American Merchants and the Surrounding Communities ...........................14 

Korean American Businesses in the Inner City.............................................................................14 

Characteristics of the City and Its Neighborhoods..................................................................14 

Characteristics of Stores and Merchants .................................................................................15 

Impact of Social and Economic Changes in the Inner City.....................................................18 

African American Perceptions of Korean American Merchants ...................................................19 

As Helpful Service Providers and Caring Neighbors..............................................................19 

As Profit-Seeking, Exploitative Outsiders ..............................................................................20 

As a Favored Minority Group .................................................................................................21 

Korean American Perceptions of African American Residents ....................................................22 

As Valued Customers, Friends, and Potential Allies ..............................................................22 

As Ghetto Dwellers, Drug Dealers, and Thieves.....................................................................23 

Efforts to Improve Relations .........................................................................................................23 

Neighborhood-based Programs ...............................................................................................23 

Work Among Churches...........................................................................................................24 

City Government Initiatives ....................................................................................................25 

Chapter 5: Provision of City Services to Korean American Merchants.......................................26 

Law Enforcement...........................................................................................................................28 

Are Korean Storeowners Disproportionately Targeted? .........................................................28 

Coverage and Response Time .................................................................................................29 

Quality of Service....................................................................................................................29 

Ambulance and Fire Emergency Services.....................................................................................33 

Regulatory Agencies......................................................................................................................35 

The Case of Canaan Food........................................................................................................35 

The Case of Chang’s Mart.......................................................................................................36 

Financial Assistance to Businesses and Community Organizations .............................................37 
viii 

Chapter 6: Korean Americans and the Justice System: The Lee Case.........................................40 

The Acquittal in State Court..........................................................................................................40 

The Federal Decision.....................................................................................................................41 

Implications of the Lee Case .........................................................................................................42 

Chapter 7: Observations ...................................................................................................................44 

Appendices 

1. List of Forum Participants ..............................................................................................................48 

2. Profile, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods.....................................................................................49 

3. Letters, From Mayor Martin O’Malley and M. J. “Jay” Brodie, President, Baltimore 

Development Corporation, Re: Redevelopment and Korean American Merchants .......................55 

4. Letter, From Peter Beilenson, M.D., M.P.H., Baltimore City Commissioner of Health, 

Re: Revocation of a Food Service Facility Permit for the Canaan Food Outlet .............................59 

5. Interview Summary, Kap Yung Park, Vice President, Korean American Grocers 

Association of Maryland.................................................................................................................61 

6. Letter, From Alvin O. Gillard, Director, Baltimore City Community Relations Commission, 

Re: Update to 1998 Forum on Korean American Concerns ...........................................................62 

7. Letter, From Robert M. Stanton, Colonel/Chief, Baltimore Police Department, 

Re: Safety Education and Outreach to Korean American Storeowners..........................................63 

8. Letter, From L. Kim Hale, President, Korean Society of Maryland, 

Re: Views on the Committee’s Report ...........................................................................................66 

 
1

Chapter 1 

Background 

Purpose of the Forum 

Since the 1970s, many Korean immigrants to the United States have chosen small-business ownership as a livelihood and path to mobility, and have purchased or started corner groceries, convenience 

stores, liquor stores, dry cleaners, and other small enterprises in large U.S. cities. Seeking low rents, 

the storeowners found a niche in inner-city neighborhoods shunned by large retailers as too poor to 

be profitable and abandoned by earlier generations of mainly white merchants fleeing the urban core. 

In the process, Korean Americans, some of them new immigrants, most of them residents of the suburbs, became property owners and retailers both serving and profiting from a customer base made up 

mainly of racial minorities in impoverished city neighborhoods. 

During the mid-1990s a series of events in Baltimore, Maryland, sharpened existing tensions between 

African American residents and Korean American storeowners in the city (see chapter 3). Efforts by 

churches and city agencies to bring the two communities together and air the issues that divide them 

met with limited success. The tensions peaked in January 1997 when a spate of robberies and shootings in Korean-owned businesses killed two grocers and wounded another, raising fears in the Korean American community of racial targeting. 

These events in Baltimore mirrored similar conflicts elsewhere in the nation, some of which erupted 

into violence during the 1980s and 1990s.1

 In a 1986 report, Recent Activities Against Citizens and 

Residents of Asian Descent, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights noted that African American residents in various cities had complained that Korean merchants were disrespectful of black customers, 

did not hire blacks, and took profits out of the community, while Korean American merchants complained of harassment, vandalism, and robberies against their stores.2

 In a 1992 report, Civil Rights 

Issues Facing Asian Americans in the 1990s, the Commission noted that “anti-Asian activities are 

often targeted at Asian-owned businesses”; among the reported incidents were ones in which white 

residents had attacked Korean American stores because of racial bias.3

 The 1992 report also noted 

 

1

 During the 1980s there were nine firebombings of Korean American–owned stores in Washington, D.C. In Brooklyn, 

New York, in 1990, an altercation between employees of a Korean American market and a Haitian American customer led 

to a yearlong boycott of local Korean-owned stores. In Los Angeles in 1992, a Korean American grocer fatally shot a 

black teenage girl suspected of shoplifting and received only probation for the killing; outraged African Americans responded by looting 800 Korean American businesses in the city during the Rodney King riots. See U.S. Commission on 

Civil Rights (USCCR), Recent Activities Against Citizens and Residents of Asian Descent, Clearinghouse Publication 88, 

1986, pp. 53–56; and U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Civil Rights Issues Facing Asian Americans in the 1990s, 1992, 

pp. 34–40. 

2

 USCCR, Recent Activities Against Citizens and Residents of Asian Descent, pp. 53–56. 3

 USCCR, Civil Rights Issues Facing Asian Americans, pp. 32–33. 
2

problems in the relationship between the Asian American community and the police “that leave 

many Asian Americans without effective access to police protection.”4

Following the shootings in Baltimore, Korean American representatives complained to the Maryland 

Advisory Committee about the services and protection provided to them by the Baltimore City government. They alleged that because of anti-Korean racial and language bias, city agencies do not provide them equal access to city services, especially in the areas of police protection, public safety, and 

emergency services, such as fire and ambulance. They suggested that the Baltimore City government, 

then under the administration of Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke,5

 was bringing pressures on their businesses at a time when many of the small stores were already struggling economically. They raised 

concerns about the justice system, questioning whether Korean Americans who are victims of crimes 

can get justice in the Baltimore courts. 

In organizing a public forum in July 1998, the Maryland Advisory Committee sought to provide an 

opportunity for the Korean American community to voice these complaints and for other city residents to share their perspectives on these issues. In addition, the Committee sought to provide Baltimore City officials, and their state and federal counterparts, an opportunity to publicize their agency 

responsibilities and commitments to civil rights protection, and to address the specific question of 

whether Korean American merchants receive equal access to city services. 

Although the broader panorama of intergroup relations between African Americans and Korean 

Americans forms the backdrop for some of the issues addressed, intergroup relations were not intended to be the focus of the forum; rather, the purpose was to explore the question of equal access to 

city services. In addressing the latter topic, however, many participants spontaneously brought up their 

experiences and views regarding relations between Korean Americans and African Americans, since 

the latter make up the majority of the stores’ customers and many of the personnel providing city services, and also dominated the top levels of Baltimore City government during the period in question. 

Organization of the Forum 

In preparation for the forum, the Maryland Advisory Committee contacted more than 60 people in 

Baltimore to gather background information and invite them to attend the event. Those contacted included Korean American storeowners and community representatives, African American clergy and 

community representatives, the office of Mayor Schmoke, state officials, and the U.S. Department of 

Justice.6

 

Respondents to this broad outreach included Korean American storeowners, as well as the daughter 

of one storeowner and the employee of another; representatives of several statewide Korean American organizations; African American clergy and grassroots activists involved in outreach efforts to 

the Korean community; city officials from the Baltimore Police Department, the Baltimore Fire De-

 

4

 Ibid., p. 192. 

5

 Current Baltimore City Mayor Martin O’Malley was elected in 1999. 

6

 Chester Wickwire, chairperson of the Maryland Advisory Committee, telephoned approximately 40 Korean American 

storeowners in Baltimore, explaining that the Committee was conducting a survey to discover whether there were complaints about city services, public safety, or the justice system, and offering the storeowners an opportunity to speak at the 

upcoming forum. Mr. Wickwire, accompanied by Ki-Taek Chun and Edward Darden of the U.S. Commission on Civil 

Rights Eastern Regional Office, then visited five of the storeowners previously interviewed by telephone who had agreed 

to be contacted in person. 
3

partment, and the Community Relations Commission;7

 two U.S. Department of Justice officials, the 

U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland and a deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights; and 

other interested members of the community. 

Organization of This Report 

Following this background chapter, the report has six chapters as follows: 

 A sketch of relevant demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the Baltimore 

area, including the city and adjoining suburban counties, based mainly on U.S. census data. 

 A chronology of key events leading up to the forum, including the renovation of two city 

markets, the boycott and closure of Canaan Food, the campaign to close Chang’s Mart, the 

Joel Lee case, and the shootings of January 1997. 

 A chapter on Korean American merchants and the communities surrounding their 

stores, looking at the economic and social role of Korean businesses in the inner city, African American residents’ perceptions of the merchants, the merchants’ perceptions of African 

American residents and customers, and efforts to improve relations between the two communities. 

 A chapter on provision of equal access to city services to Korean Americans, including 

law enforcement, fire and ambulance services, and financial assistance to businesses and 

community organizations. The interaction between Korean American businesses and city 

regulatory agencies is also discussed. 

 A chapter on Korean American perceptions of the justice system in Baltimore, centering 

on the community’s reactions to the Joel Lee case. 

 A summary of key observations based on the testimony at the forum and limited additional 

research. 

The primary source document for this report is the transcript of the Committee’s public forum entitled “Municipal Services, Public Safety, and the Justice System: Do Korean American Storeowners 

in Baltimore Get Equal Treatment?” (July 23, 1998). See appendix 1 for a complete listing of forum 

participants. 

To ensure a factually up-to-date report, the Committee, in June and July 2002, obtained a significant 

amount of new information from forum participants, newly installed organization representatives, 

and government officials, which is incorporated in the report. There are also added footnotes, comments, and appended correspondence as follows: 

 Appendix 3: Letters from Martin O’Malley, mayor, Baltimore City, and M. J. “Jay” Brodie, 

president, Baltimore Development Corporation, regarding the effects of redevelopment on 

Korean American merchants in Baltimore. 

 

7

 The director of the Baltimore Community Relations Commission, Alvin O. Gillard, attended as Mayor Schmoke’s representative. The Committee notes, however, that Mr. Gillard’s comments may be more reflective of his personal views and 

may not fully reflect the mayor’s position of the issues. His letter appears in appendix 6. 
4

 Appendix 4: Letter from Peter Beilenson, M.D., M.P.H., commissioner of health, Baltimore 

City Health Department, regarding reasons for revoking a Food Service Facility Permit of the 

Canaan Food Outlet. 

 Appendix 6: Letter from Alvin O. Gillard, director, Baltimore City Community Relations 

Commission, regarding the 1998 forum series on Korean American concerns. 

 Appendix 7: Letter from Robert M Stanton, colonel/chief, Criminal Investigation Division, 

Baltimore Police Department, regarding serious crimes involving Korean Americans as victims, outreach initiatives to the Korean American community, and workforce utilization of 

Asian Americans and Korean Americans. 

 Appendix 8: Letter from L. Kim Hale, president, Korean Society of Maryland, regarding updated information and accuracy of report’s content. 
5

Chapter 2 

Demographic and Socioeconomic Characteristics 

of the Baltimore Area 

The questions raised at the forum must be understood within the context of population trends in Baltimore and its suburbs.1

 These trends largely resemble those found in other large Eastern and Midwestern cities in the 1990s: a continuing exodus of the white and black middle class from the central 

city to the suburbs, an African American majority in the city with a high degree of urban residential 

segregation and poverty that is disproportionately higher among African Americans, and the concentration of white and Asian American residents (including those who own businesses in the central 

city) in the higher-income suburbs. Maryland and Baltimore also show several distinguishing traits, 

notably their unusually large percentages of businesses owned by African Americans and Asian 

Americans, and within the universe of Asian-owned businesses, the predominance of Korean American enterprises. 

Urban Losses, Suburban Gains 

For the last half-century most large Eastern and Midwestern cities have been losing population, and 

Baltimore is no exception, having dropped from almost 950,000 residents in 1950 to just over 

650,000 in 2000.2

 Baltimore stands out, however, for its continued pace of population decline: in the 

1990s, among the nation’s larger cities, Baltimore had one of the highest population losses in both 

real and percentage terms, losing 84,860 residents, or about 11.5 percent of its population. By contrast, the suburban counties surrounding Baltimore all had population increases, ranging from 9 percent for Baltimore County to 32.3 percent for Howard County. These figures reflect both an outflow 

of city dwellers to the suburbs and the tendency of new arrivals to the area to choose suburban residence. Since the middle class, both black and white, is the core of the suburban exodus, this population loss is also draining resources from the inner city. 

 

1

 The U.S. Census Bureau considers Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, along with several smaller cities in Maryland and 

Virginia, to comprise a single “Washington-Baltimore Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area,” the fourth largest such 

area in the nation. However, the present report is concerned only with Baltimore City and, to a lesser extent, its suburbs. 

This approximately corresponds to the “Baltimore Primary Metropolitan Statistical Area” defined by the Census Bureau, 

consisting of Baltimore City, Baltimore County, and five surrounding counties of Harford, Queen Anne’s, Anne Arundel, 

Howard, and Carroll. Unless otherwise noted, documents attributed to the U.S. Census Bureau are available on the bureau’s Web site, <www.census.gov>. 

2

 Data in this section are from the Baltimore Department of City Planning, “Census News 2000: Issue One: Population and 

Race,” December 2001, <www.ci.baltimore.md.us/government/planning/census/index.html> (last accessed June 5, 2002), 

and are based on data from the 2000 census. 
6

The Central City: Majority Black, Highly Segregated 

Maryland and Baltimore City are among the places in the nation with the largest African American 

populations, in both absolute and percentage terms.3

 Maryland is one of 10 states with the largest African American populations and one of just six where the black population exceeds a quarter of the 

total. African Americans significantly increased their share of the state’s population in the last decade, from 24.9 percent in 1990 to 27.9 percent in 2000 census (nationwide, African Americans are 

12.3 percent of the population). 

Baltimore City, with almost 419,000 African Americans in 2000, ranks sixth among large U.S. cities 

in both the size of its African American population and the percentage of its population that is black. 

In the 2000 census, 64.3 percent of the city’s residents identified themselves as black or African 

American, up from 59.1 percent in 1990. Nonetheless, the number of African Americans in the city 

decreased during the decade of the 1990s, mostly due to migration to adjacent Baltimore County. 

Whites make up 31.6 percent of Baltimore City’s population, with a sharp decrease of more than 28 

percent since 1990. Residents identifying themselves as Hispanic or Latino (of any race) are 1.7 percent of the city’s population, and Asian residents of the city are an even tinier minority, 1.5 percent. 

Like other large U.S. cities where African Americans are concentrated, Baltimore shows a high degree of residential segregation. Large swaths of the central city, including most of the western part 

and an area northeast of downtown, are more than 89 percent African American, with whites accounting for less than 7 percent in most of these neighborhoods. In other areas of the city, whites 

make up more than three-quarters and blacks less than one-quarter of the residents; these include 

neighborhoods south of downtown and a north-central area beginning around Johns Hopkins University and stretching north and west to the city limits. The city’s small Asian population lives mainly in 

neighborhoods that are either majority white or relatively integrated between black and white; few 

Asians live in the majority-black neighborhoods. 

Sharp and Rising Inequality 

With its strong economy based on research and development, biotechnology, information technology, science, and engineering, Maryland is a wealthy state. Its median household income of nearly 

$52,000 was the highest of any state in the nation in 1998–1999,4

 and its poverty rate of 7.3 percent 

was one of the lowest.5

 However, not everyone is sharing in the prosperity. The statewide figures 

conceal wide disparities in income, and inequality among Maryland families has grown dramatically 

in the last two decades, following nationwide trends. The economic growth of the 1980s and 1990s 

benefited the already wealthy much more than the poor: from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, the 

poorest fifth of Maryland families increased their incomes by 21 percent, while the richest fifth increased their incomes by 51 percent. As a result, the gap widened between rich and poor: in the late 

 

3

 Data in this section are from U.S. Census Bureau, “The Black Population: 2000,” August 2001; Baltimore Department of 

City Planning, “Census News 2000: Issue One: Population and Race”; and U.S. Census Bureau, “Profile of General 

Demographic Characteristics: 2000: Baltimore City, Maryland.” 

4

 Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, “How Well Are We Faring? Prosperity, Poverty, and the Impact of Policy 

Choices in Maryland,” February 2001, <http://www.marylandpolicy.org/chartpoorwebintro.htm> (last accessed June 5, 

2002). 

5

 U.S. Census Bureau, “Poverty in the United States: 2000,” September 2001. The figure is for 1998–2000. 
7

1970s the richest fifth had average incomes 6.9 times as large as the poorest fifth, but by the late 

1990s that ratio increased to 8.6.6

There are sharp disparities in wealth between different parts of the state, especially between Baltimore City and the surrounding suburban counties. Baltimore City’s median household income, at 

$28,398, is the lowest in the state. By contrast, the six adjacent counties have some of the highest 

median income levels, ranging from $46,577 in Baltimore County to $72,187 in Howard County, the 

highest in the state. Baltimore City also has the highest percentage of people in poverty, 21.8 percent, 

while the suburban counties have far lower poverty levels, ranging from 3.9 to 5.5 percent.7

 The gap 

between urban poverty and suburban affluence in the Baltimore area is wider than for the nation as a 

whole (nationwide in 2000, average poverty rates were 16.1 percent for the central cities and 7.8 percent for the suburbs).8

Whites and Asian Americans Concentrated in the Suburbs 

Just as Baltimore City is disproportionately African American in relation to statewide population 

percentages, the city’s suburbs are disproportionately white.9

 Whites make up 64 percent of Maryland’s population, but percentages of whites in the suburban counties around Baltimore range from 

just over 74 percent in Baltimore and Howard counties to more than 95 percent in Carroll County. 

The Asian American share of Maryland’s population has risen in the last decade, from 2.9 percent in 

1990 to 4 percent in 2000, and is slightly above the nationwide average of 3.6 percent. Koreans are 

the third largest Asian American group in the state, behind Asian Indians and Chinese, but the Korean population in Maryland has not increased as fast as the Asian American population as a whole. 

Statewide, 0.7 percent of the total population reported Korean ancestry in the 2000 census, barely 

changed from 0.6 percent in 1990.10 This mirrors nationwide trends: among the five largest groups of 

Asian-born persons in the United States, Koreans were the only group whose numbers did not grow 

significantly between 1990 and 1997.11

Of the 39,155 Korean Americans in the state, fewer than 2,000 live in Baltimore City. The great majority are concentrated in a few suburban counties: Montgomery County outside Washington, D.C., 

and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Howard counties outside Baltimore City. Montgomery and Howard counties, with 15,130 and 6,188 Korean Americans, respectively, have the largest concentrations 

in the state; these two counties also lead the state in median household income. 

 

6

 Economic Policy Institute/Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, “Pulling Apart: A State-by-State Analysis of Income 

Trends,” state fact sheet for Maryland, April 2002, <http://www.cbpp.org/4-23-02sfp.htm> (last accessed June 5, 2002). 

Income gaps also widened in most other states in the nation. 

7

 U.S. Census Bureau, “County Estimates for Median Household Income for Maryland: 1998” and “County Estimates for 

People of All Ages in Poverty for Maryland: 1998,” December 2001. These estimates are based on the March 1999 Current Population Survey. 

8

 U.S. Census Bureau, “Poverty in the United States: 2000.” 

9

 Data in this section are from U.S. Census Bureau, “Profile of General Demographic Characteristics: 2000” for Maryland, 

Baltimore City, and the counties; U.S. Census Bureau, “Profile of General Demographic Characteristics for Maryland,” 

1990 and 2000; and U.S. Census Bureau, “From the Mideast to the Pacific: A Profile of the Nation’s Asian Foreign-Born 

Population,” September 2000. 

10 Other Asian American groups in Maryland include Filipinos, Vietnamese, Japanese, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and a number of smaller groups. 

11 The four other major groups are Chinese, Indians, Filipinos, and Vietnamese. 
8

Business Ownership by African Americans and Asian Americans 

While a large majority (79 percent) of Maryland businesses are owned by whites, minority business 

ownership in the state is nonetheless above the national average, with African Americans and Asian 

Americans particularly well represented.12 Maryland ranks second in the nation, behind only the District of Columbia, in the percentage of firms owned by blacks. Almost 12 percent of Maryland businesses, 47,614 firms, were owned by African Americans in 1997, triple the national average of 4 percent. The state ranks sixth in the nation in terms of the number of African American–owned firms. 

Maryland is also one of the 10 states in the nation with the largest number of Asian-owned firms as a 

percentage of all firms in the state. Almost 6 percent of Maryland businesses, 22,164 firms, were 

owned by Asian Americans in 1997; in only three states was the percentage higher.13 Maryland is 

further distinguished by the leading position of Korean American businesses within the universe of 

Asian-owned firms. Korean Americans owned 5,831 Maryland businesses in 1997, followed by Chinese with 5,085, and Indians with 5,054; whereas in the nation as a whole, Korean-owned businesses 

rank third behind those of Indians and Chinese. 

Korean Americans have high levels of business ownership in relation to population, with one Korean-owned business for approximately every seven Korean Americans in Maryland. There is one 

white-owned business for every 11 whites in the state and one black-owned business for every 31 

African Americans.14 

In Baltimore City, African Americans owned 16,712 businesses in 1997, 9 percent of all firms in the 

city. Black-owned businesses in Baltimore are small, however: only 1,795 had any paid employees, 

and those that did averaged eight employees each, compared with an average of 20 employees each 

for all Baltimore firms with a payroll. Businesses owned by blacks had average revenues of only 

$81,367, compared with an average of $833,933 for all firms in the city. 

Korean Americans owned 2,875 businesses in Baltimore City in 1997. Koreans are the leading Asian 

American entrepreneurs in Baltimore, owning almost as many businesses as Indians and Chinese 

combined. These Korean American businesses are small: less than half have any paid employees, and 

those that do average fewer than three employees each. Korean businesses in Baltimore had an average of $186,036 in revenues. 

The Baltimore-Washington corridor has a particularly high rate of immigrant entrepreneurship compared with large urban areas nationwide. A 1999 study comparing the nine U.S. metropolitan areas 

that have the most immigrants found that Baltimore-Washington had the highest rate of selfemployment among foreign-born residents. It was also the only area where self-employment among 

the foreign born (almost 14 percent) significantly exceeded that among natives (10 percent).15 

 

12 Unless otherwise noted, data in this section are from U.S. Census Bureau, “1997 Economic Census: Survey of MinorityOwned Business Enterprises: Black,” March 2001; U.S. Census Bureau, “1997 Economic Census: Survey of MinorityOwned Business Enterprises: Asians and Pacific Islanders,” May 2001; and U.S. Census Bureau, “1997 Economic Census, 

Minority- and Women-Owned Businesses in Maryland.” 

13 Hawaii, California, and New York. 

14 Calculated using population figures from the 2000 census and business-ownership figures from the 1997 economic census. 

15 Center for Immigration Studies, “Reconsidering Immigrant Entrepreneurship: An Examination of Self-Employment 

Among Natives and the Foreign-Born,” January 1999, <http://www.cis.org/articles/1999/selfemployment/index.html> 

(last accessed June 5, 2002). The study is based on Census Bureau sampling data from 1997 and 1998. 
9

Chapter 3 

Chronology of Key Events Leading Up to the Forum 

Participants in the July 1998 forum referred frequently to five chains of events that received extensive press coverage in Baltimore between 1993 and 1998 and largely set the tone for public discourse 

on issues involving the city’s Korean American community. The following summaries are drawn 

mainly from press accounts and give further context to testimony at the forum. 

The Renovation of Lafayette and Belair Markets 

In 1994, as part of an ambitious plan to revitalize depressed areas of downtown Baltimore and give 

an economic boost to low-income residents, the Schmoke administration undertook the renovation of 

Lafayette Market, a dilapidated facility where Korean American merchants ran 19 of 21 stalls.1

Stated goals of the renovation included honoring the African American cultural roots of the historic 

Pennsylvania Avenue neighborhood and increasing the number of African American merchants in 

the market. The city’s announcement that all leases would be terminated at the end of that year to 

make way for the renovation raised anxiety in the Korean American community and helped spur nascent political activism, including formation of a political action committee for upcoming municipal 

races. The following year, the city announced plans to partially demolish a second market, Belair, 

where Korean Americans owned 22 of 27 stalls. 

By the end of 1996, Lafayette Market had been transformed by a $4 million renovation and reopened 

as Avenue Market, featuring African-themed decor. Market developers told the Baltimore Sun that 

the goal of having two-thirds of the 26 shops in the market owned by African Americans had been 

met; Korean Americans owned the rest. Many of the Korean American stall owners who were forced 

out by the renovation have been unable or unwilling to return. 

During the update, the Committee received letters that appear as appendix 3 from current Mayor 

Martin O’Malley and M. J. “Jay” Brodie, president of the Baltimore Development Corporation, regarding redevelopment of the Lafayette and Belair markets, the impact on Korean American merchants, and the support system provided for displaced merchants. According to current estimates, the 

percentage of African American and Asian American merchants in the redeveloped Avenue Market 

has reversed, since reported to the Baltimore Sun in 1996. Then, African Americans were estimated 

to hold 66 percent of the businesses in Avenue Market, and today, Asian Americans hold 65 percent 

of the businesses in Avenue Market, according to Mr. Brodie. He estimated that African American 

entrepreneurs hold 35 percent of the Avenue Market businesses today. In 1995, the Belair Market 

was partially closed in anticipation of potential redevelopment of the entire area, Mr. Brodie reported. Underscoring the current administration’s emphasis on small-business development as essen-

 

1

 Sources for this section: “Plans for Baltimore Market Threaten to Split Blacks, Koreans,” Washington Post, Apr. 23, 

1995; “A Welcome Gift to the Neighborhood,” Baltimore Sun, Nov. 23, 1996. 
10

tial to the health of neighborhoods, the Baltimore Development Corporation created an office of 

Small Business and Neighborhood Development whose mission is to reposition business districts to 

better serve the customer base, strengthen the capacity of business associations to promote business 

district interest, reduce vacancies, coordinate city service delivery, expedite the permit approval 

process, and connect those who have commercial property for sale with interested parties. Pursuing 

these aims, the director of the newly created office and a representative of the Baltimore City Liquor 

Board met with the three principal officers of the Korean American Grocers Association (KAGRO) 

of Maryland. In the meeting, the officials outlined available services and discussed community relations. The KAGRO representatives are continuing to have a direct voice with city leadership, according to Mr. Brodie, through their participation on the Small Business Neighborhood Development 

Team. Furthermore, as indication of current support for Korean Americans, Mr. Brodie referred to 

the mayor’s recent appointment of Joshua Lee as the mayor’s liaison to the Korean American community. (Lee was dismissed December 31, 2002, and the office is now on its third liaison since the 

position was created. Portions of the Web site describing the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods appear as appendix 2.) These steps by the O’Malley administration are intended to ensure inclusion and 

opportunity for Korean Americans and other minority businesses, Mr. Brodie said. 

The Boycott and Closure of Canaan Food 

For six weeks in the fall of 1996, a boycott targeted Canaan Food Outlet, owned by Korean grocer 

Eun Mu Lee, amid complaints that the store was selling inedible food.2

 African American spokespersons emphasized that the community was fed up with unscrupulous merchants selling shoddy and 

overpriced goods to black customers. As residents picketed the Park Heights Avenue store, the protests became a daily topic on a radio talk show hosted by C. Miles Smith, a controversial figure 

known for his black nationalist views and scathing criticisms of local black leaders. While some African American clergy tried to ease the mounting tensions, Mr. Smith urged his listeners to defend 

the black community against Korean “bloodsuckers taking our money.” Initial inspections by the city 

health department found no violations, but amid escalating public pressure inspectors returned to the 

store for multiple visits and cited Mr. Lee for various violations, including selling moldy meats and 

leaving eggs unrefrigerated. A public hearing on the case held by the health department on December 

6 was combative and racially charged.3

 On December 11 the city revoked Mr. Lee’s business license 

permanently, closing Canaan Food and another store owned by Mr. Lee. 

In the update, Peter Beilenson, M.D., M.P.H., the Baltimore City commissioner of health, provided 

extensive additional information about the Canaan Food Outlet case that is referenced in appendix 4. 

The attachments to Commissioner Beilensen’s letter are too voluminous for the appendices and include investigator reports, hearing records, and numerous items related to the Lee case. 

Commissioner Beilenson vigorously rejects any inference that may be drawn from statements by others that the revocation of a Food Service Facility Permit of Eun Mu Lee, owner of the Canaan Food 

Outlet, was based on anything except his failure to meet required safety standards. In the attached 

 

2

 Sources for this section: “Angry Residents Pack Grocery Store Hearing,” Baltimore Sun, Dec. 7, 1996; “City Takes 

Business License of Grocer in Park Heights,” Baltimore Sun, Dec. 11, 1996; “Koreans and Blacks at Odds, Again,” editorial, Baltimore Sun, Dec. 14, 1996; “Radio Show Host Makes Waves,” Baltimore Sun, Dec. 27, 1996; “Korean-American 

Group to Meet on Closed Store,” Baltimore Sun, Jan. 11, 1997; “Koreans, Blacks Clash at Grocers’ Meeting,” Baltimore 

Sun, Jan. 13, 1997. 3

 The Baltimore Sun reported that radio host Smith had urged listeners to “pack that room with strong black men,” and the 

paper noted in an editorial that the hearing had featured “racist and stereotypical remarks.” 
11

materials, the commissioner maintains there are numerous examples of recurring violations of both 

city and state standards at the Canaan Food Outlet that constituted dangerous health hazards for customers and the general public. 

The Campaign to Close Chang’s Mart 

Since 1984, Kun Soo Chang has operated a liquor and grocery store called Chang’s Mart from the 

basement of an apartment building for the elderly and people with disabilities on Eutaw Place in central Baltimore.4

 The store is located between a mostly low-income black neighborhood and Bolton 

Hill, where affluent professionals have been moving in to restore elegant 19th-century townhouses. 

Contending that the store attracts litter and “a criminal element,” Bolton Hill’s white-led neighborhood group, the Mount Royal Improvement Association, has pursued a campaign since the mid1990s to force Mr. Chang to close the store or move it farther away from Bolton Hill. But Mr. Chang 

has strong support from his customers, almost all of them African Americans, including many seniors from the apartment building, who praise the storeowner for his services and friendship and want 

the store to stay. 

The improvement association has filed numerous complaints with the city liquor and zoning boards 

and has sent a flood of letters to elected officials. The liquor board has attempted to mediate the dispute and Mr. Chang has spent money to meet a number of the association’s requests, including hiring 

a part-time security guard. However, Mr. Chang was cited and fined twice in 1997 for selling liquor 

to buyers under age 21, apparently in connection with police sting operations.5

 

The Joel Lee Case 

In September 1993, Joel Lee, a Korean American student at Towson State University, was accosted 

by a group of young men in a northeast Baltimore parking lot and robbed of his wallet; in the course 

of the robbery he was shot and killed.6

 Davon Neverdon, a 20-year-old African American man, went 

on trial in Baltimore City Circuit Court in July 1995 on first-degree murder, robbery, and deadly 

weapons charges. Before the trial, the defense attorney offered a guilty plea in exchange for a 40-

year sentence, but the Lee family and the prosecutor decided to go to trial and seek a harsher sentence because of what they thought was compelling evidence from four eyewitnesses and another 

witness who said Mr. Neverdon had bragged of the crime. 

On July 28, 1995, the jury returned a verdict of not guilty on all counts. The Korean American community, stunned and furious, protested that the acquittal was racially motivated, noting that the jury 

consisted of 11 African Americans and one Pakistani. About 150 people, mostly Korean Americans, 

 

4

 Sources for this section: “Two Cultures Clash Around Corner Store,” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 1, 1998; “Bolton Hill’s Struggle for Stable Community,” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 14, 1998; “17 City Businesses Charged with Sale of Liquor to Underage 

Buyers in Sting,” Baltimore Sun, March 1, 1999; Mount Royal Improvement Association minutes on Bolton Hill Online, 

Apr. 3, 2001, <www.boltonhill.org> (last accessed June 5, 2002). 

5

 Subsequent press reports revealed that as a result of police sting operations, Mr. Chang was cited again for selling to 

underage buyers in 1999 and 2000, and in early 2001 his liquor license was suspended for five days. At that time the 

Mount Royal Improvement Association was still trying to get Mr. Chang’s liquor license revoked permanently, according 

to the association minutes of April 3, 2001. 

6

 Sources for this section: “Verdict Shocks Koreans,” Baltimore Sun, July 30, 1995; “Jurors Defend Verdict in Slaying of 

Student,” Baltimore Sun, Aug. 2, 1995; “Korean Americans Protest Verdict in Slaying Trial,” Baltimore Sun, Aug. 3, 

1995; “Lee Case Reviewed for Potential Civil Rights Probe,” Baltimore Sun, Aug. 23, 1995; “U.S. Ends Rights Probe in 

Lee Death,” Baltimore Sun, Jan. 16, 1997. 
12

rallied in front of the courthouse protesting the verdict and demanding justice. Some other observers 

also raised the question of jury nullification. But several jurors who spoke to the press after completion of the trial adamantly denied that race had played a role, saying they doubted the credibility of 

the prosecution witnesses on whose testimony the entire case rested—since there was no physical 

evidence and the weapon was never found—and were left with too much uncertainty to convict. 

Davon Neverdon was not charged under Maryland’s hate crime statute because state prosecutors 

found insufficient evidence that the crime was based on race.7

 After the acquittal, the Lee family 

asked for a federal review to determine whether the crime could be prosecuted under federal civil 

rights laws. An 18-month investigation ensued, ending in January 1997 with the decision by Department of Justice officials that insufficient evidence existed to meet the high burden of proof required 

by the federal hate crime law.8

 With the previous acquittal in state court, the decision not to prosecute 

at the federal level closed the case. 

The Shootings of January 1997 

The two weeks following the federal decision in the Lee case saw a spate of shootings in Korean 

American businesses in Baltimore, with two deaths.9

 On January 20, two masked men entered a liquor store and fired at a Korean American worker, but the bullet missed and the gunmen fled without 

taking any money. The following day, liquor store owner Yang Koo Yoon was shot and killed after a 

brief struggle with robbers. On January 23 another merchant, Won Hee Ma, was shot and wounded in 

a robbery at her food store. And on January 27 grocer Chi Sup Kim was fatally shot in the back by 

robbers after he had handed over several hundred dollars in cash. 

The question of whether these incidents involved racial targeting or merely reflected the high levels 

of violent crime in the city was controversial in the weeks that followed. Unquestionably, the shootings frightened many Korean Americans. Some, notably the father of Joel Lee, asserted publicly that 

the merchants were being targeted as Koreans and that the federal decision in the Lee case had made 

them vulnerable by sending a signal that crimes against Korean Americans would go unpunished. 

Some media voices, including an editorial in the Baltimore Sun, also suggested that African American perpetrators might be directing violence specifically toward Koreans.10 But other community 

leaders, both African American and Korean American, spoke out to say that the crimes should not be 

blamed on race. Baltimore has 35 armed robberies a day, and the shootings took place in a month 

that saw an exceptionally high level of homicides throughout the city, with mainly black victims. In a 

statement at the funeral for grocer Kim, attended by both African Americans and Korean Americans, 

the Korean Society of Maryland blamed “the common enemy—crime” and asked the media not to 

turn the tragedies into a racial issue. 

 

7

 MD. CODE ANN. §§ 10-303, 10-305 (2003). 8

 18 U.S.C. § 245 (2004). 

9

 Sources for this section: “Crime Grips Korean Merchants: Slayings, Robberies Unsettle Community,” Baltimore Sun, 

Jan. 29, 1997; “Are Korean Americans Crime Targets?” editorial, Baltimore Sun, Jan. 30, 1997; “Worried Koreans Plan 

Unity Motorcade,” Baltimore Sun, Jan. 31, 1997; “The Violence Spree Continues,” Baltimore Afro-American, Feb. 1, 

1997; “Mourners Note Common Enemy—Crime,” Baltimore Sun, Feb. 1, 1997; “Shootings: Lee Case a Message of Fear,” 

Baltimore Sun, Feb. 2, 1997; “Black-Korean Relations Across the Urban Divide,” Baltimore Sun (Howard edition), Feb. 9, 

1997. 

10 The January 30 editorial began by acknowledging that with so much crime in Baltimore, “it is hard to say it is targeted 

according to race,” but added: “There appears to be a difference, though, with robberies of stores operated by Korean 

Americans. More violence. . . . the unknown African-American suspects seem to be more concerned with inflicting fear, 

pain and death among the Korean-American community than in the money they steal.” 
13

The shootings brought pressure on the city government to provide increased protection to the merchants. The Baltimore Sun editorialized that “local political leaders need to provide personal assurances to the Korean American community that they are as concerned about them as they are about 

any citizen.” The Korean Society of Maryland presented city officials with a short list of requests, 

including increased police patrols near Korean American businesses and the hiring of a Koreanspeaking police officer. Responding to these concerns, the police department met with the Korean 

Merchants Association to discuss security procedures, assigned a bilingual officer as a liaison, and 

stepped up patrols around Korean American stores. 
14

Chapter 4 

Korean American Merchants and the Surrounding Communities 

Virtually every forum participant who addressed the question of whether Korean American merchants receive equal access to city services from the city placed it in a larger context encompassing 

the role of Korean American stores in the neighborhoods where they are located and the storeowners’ 

relationships with residents and customers. Based on testimony at the forum and limited additional 

research, this chapter summarizes the economic and social role of Korean-owned businesses in Baltimore and the perceptions and attitudes influencing relations between the merchants and residents. It 

concludes with a brief look at some of the efforts to improve relations undertaken by government and 

private groups. 

Korean American Businesses in the Inner City 

Characteristics of the City and Its Neighborhoods 

Korean American stores in Baltimore are located mainly in parts of the inner city that are predominantly African American and poor. As in other cities, small mom-and-pop stores are found mostly in 

low-income areas because in more affluent areas larger businesses, including national chains, dominate the retail scene. In Baltimore, these low-income neighborhoods are predominantly African 

American, although there are a few poor white and Latino residents as well. In addition, gentrification has brought middle-class homeowners into some parts of the inner city, increasing the racial and 

economic heterogeneity of these areas. 

In Baltimore, Korean Americans are the principal merchants doing business in black inner-city 

neighborhoods. As one panelist noted, “almost all the small businesses presently operated in the African American community . . . are Korean owned and operated.”1

 This has important implications. It 

means that poor residents and small shopkeepers are locked in a relationship of mutual economic dependence that forces a degree of intimacy seldom present in merchant-customer relations elsewhere. 

The storeowners cannot prosper in other neighborhoods, and thus depend on inner-city residents for 

their livelihoods, while the residents depend on the corner stores for daily necessities given the lack 

of other shopping options near their homes. In this context of forced interdependence, all aspects of 

merchant-customer interaction—the quality of goods offered, the prices charged and terms of payment, the physical layout of stores, the hiring of workers, the communications between storeowners 

and customers—take on heightened importance and can become emotionally charged. 

Many speakers at the forum referred to poverty, unemployment, crime, and drugs as pervasive realities that make both living and doing business in the inner city a constant struggle. Data show that 

much of Baltimore is very poor indeed, even compared with other U.S. cities of comparable size. 

 

1

 Rev. Douglas Miles, statement before the Maryland Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, community forum, Baltimore, MD, July 23, 1998, transcript, p. 104 (hereafter cited as Forum Transcript). 
15

This reflects, in part, Baltimore’s status as an aging industrial city that has lost its manufacturing base 

and has not yet consolidated a new economy that can produce plentiful and diverse jobs. These troubles are reflected in the city’s continuing population exodus and in other indicators such as the housing vacancy rate, the highest among the nation’s big cities.2

A study by the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that in 1990, 33 percent of Baltimore children lived 

in “distressed” high-poverty neighborhoods, almost twice the average (17 percent) for the 50 largest 

cities in the nation.3

 Thirty-two percent of Baltimore children lived in households that received public assistance (the 50-city average was 21 percent); 25 percent of Baltimore families with children 

had no resident parent employed (50-city average, 17 percent); and 15 percent of Baltimore families 

with children lived in “extreme poverty” (50-city average, 10 percent). More than half the city’s children lived in single-parent families. The study also found very high indicators for poverty-related 

social problems. The arrest rate for juvenile violent crimes was 1,504 per 100,000 youths aged 10 to 

17 in Baltimore, compared with 842 for the 50-city average. Among youths aged 16 to 19, 21 percent 

were high school dropouts, a higher percentage than in all but two other cities. Baltimore ranks worst 

among the 50 cities in both its percentage of births to teen mothers (22 percent) and percentage of 

babies with low birth weight (14.7 percent). 

Declining access to public supports (health care, cash assistance) for poor Maryland families may be 

exacerbating the hardships faced by inner-city Baltimore residents. Maryland lags behind other states in 

access to both publicly financed health care and cash assistance for working families; in 2000, a parent 

with two children who earned $522 a month made too much money to qualify for cash assistance.4

 

Characteristics of Stores and Merchants 

After 1965, Koreans became one of the three largest immigrant groups entering the United States.5

Many of those who came were middle class, with postsecondary education, some financial assets, 

and sometimes professional training, but the language barrier and licensing requirements kept most 

from pursuing professional careers in this country. Early Korean immigrants found work in bluecollar occupations, but by the mid-1970s they began turning to small-business ownership—a livelihood that did not require English fluency, but depended instead on education, access to capital, and 

hard work. In Los Angeles, New York, Baltimore, Washington, and other large cities, Korean merchants steadily moved into inner-city neighborhoods to buy out the small businesses of shopkeepers, 

many of them Jewish, Italian, or Greek, who were leaving for the suburbs or retiring.6

 

2

 “Neighboring Cities on Different Roads: D.C. Succeeding, Baltimore Struggling at Revival, Census Finds,” Washington 

Post, May 9, 2002. 3

 Data in this paragraph are from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, <www.aecf.org/kidscount> (last accessed June 5, 2002). 

See the foundation’s profiles of Baltimore in “City Kids Count: Data on the Well-Being of Children in Large Cities” and 

“The Right Start for America’s Newborns: A Decade of City and State Trends (1990–1999).” Figures are for 1990, except 

the figures on teen births and birth weight, which are for 1999. A “distressed” neighborhood is defined as a census tract 

with a high poverty rate (above 24.7 percent) that also meets certain criteria related to the percentages of female-headed 

households, unemployed males, and families receiving public assistance. 

4

 Maryland Budget and Tax Policy Institute, “How Well Are We Faring? Prosperity, Poverty, and the Impact of Policy 

Choices in Maryland,” February 2001, <www.marylandpolicy.org/chartpoorwebintro.htm> (last accessed June 5, 2002). 5

 A number of factors combined to boost Korean emigration to the United States, including reform of U.S. immigration 

policy in 1965, extensive U.S. involvement in the Korean peninsula during the Cold War, and barriers to higher education 

for children of the middle class in South Korea. 

6

 Since African Americans have owned and operated businesses in Baltimore since the 1800s, there is a natural question as 

to why more black entrepreneurs did not take over the properties of the departing white merchants. Some of the barriers to 
16

In Baltimore, Korean Americans own convenience stores, groceries, liquor stores, take-out eateries, dry 

cleaners, and stores selling clothing, jewelry, and trinkets. Estimates in the press and at the forum of the 

number of Korean-owned businesses in the city range from 1,000 to 2,000. Many are located on street 

corners, on the ground floor of residential or retail buildings. Stores offering combinations of goods and 

services, such as groceries, liquor, and sandwiches, are common. Many sell items by the piece to cater 

to a clientele without much money—not only liquor singles but also individual diapers and even cigarettes. Many owners do business from behind Plexiglas shields installed to deter crime. 

A consistent pattern has been for Korean American storeowners to work very long hours and to depend on their immediate family for additional labor rather than hire paid employees. This has been a 

key factor enabling the small stores to survive and sometimes thrive, but it has obvious implications 

for relations with surrounding communities; speakers at the forum suggested that most Korean storeowners do not hire in the community and that this has fostered resentment. Rev. Douglas Miles, an 

African American pastor, pointed out that “Korean business people tend not to hire African American people to work in neighborhood stores” and that this has contributed to mistrust on both sides.7

Certainly, some Korean stores do have African American employees—the forum heard from Irma 

Norton, a black employee of Chang’s Mart—but it is unclear how frequent this is. Given the small 

size of the stores and the fact that many have no paid workers at all, it is safe to assume that the 

stores are not a significant source of employment for the neighborhoods where they are located. Several panelists also mentioned that merchants make in-kind donations, such as Thanksgiving baskets 

for needy families or refreshments for a community meeting, on request or on their own initiative.8

 

Many of the merchants speak little English, though this is not true of all. Both Korean American and 

African American panelists pointed to communication problems as a significant factor in merchants’ 

relationships with their customers (as well as with the authorities, as will be discussed later). Rev. 

Sidney Daniels, an African American pastor, emphasized this point: 

Then the language barrier! My brothers and sisters, there’s a language barrier because 

Koreans cannot speak English.9

He added that the English dialect spoken by some black youths figures into the communication gap 

as well. Jeanna Cho, daughter of storeowner Chang Joon Cho, also focused on the language barrier as 

a source of misunderstanding in her parents’ store: 

I think first of all that communication is the biggest thing, because Korean people, of 

course, can’t speak. . . . If I’m in the store, there’s not that many fights because I can 

understand what the customers are saying. They know what I’m trying to say because 

we can communicate better, because we have a better understanding of each other. 

 black business development in the city are explored in U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Greater Baltimore Commitment: 

A Study of Urban Minority Development, 1983. These barriers include “racially discriminatory policies in the banking, 

bonding, insurance, and real estate industries,” as well as “discrimination by, and competition from, white European immigrants” (p. 7). A major factor affecting the overall lack of minority business development, the report notes, is the inability to obtain credit (p. 29). 

7

 Miles statement, Forum Transcript, p. 105. As an update on June 20, 2002, Rev. Miles added the following written comment: “In recent times, relationships between the two communities have improved with joint vigils held to celebrate the 

lives of both African Americans and Korean Americans, who had been victims of random violence. More needs to be done 

to foster [trusting] relationships between the communities.” 

8

 Pak statement, Forum Transcript, p. 137; Norton statement, Forum Transcript, p. 63; Cornish statement, Forum Transcript, p. 142. 

9

 Daniels statement, Forum Transcript, p. 112. 
17

But when my parents are in the store, they have a lot of miscommunications, so it 

leads to an argument and things like that.10

The children of storeowners are usually bilingual, having been raised in the United States, and sometimes translate for their parents. But owners’ children are seldom in the stores, since most of the Korean American families live in the suburbs and school their children there. Young bilingual Korean 

Americans who could potentially mediate between storeowners and customers, or between storeowners and the authorities, are generally busy with their studies and reluctant to get involved with their 

parents’ problems in the stores.11 

Reaching adulthood, children of the merchants tend to pursue more lucrative professions and fields 

of business rather than take over their parents’ corner stores. Thus the merchant community is aging 

and is not being revitalized with the entry of younger, educated, English-speaking Korean Americans 

who could represent the merchants more effectively in relations with the larger community. Pyong 

Kuk Pak, president of the Korean Society of Maryland, highlighted this problem: 

The Korean American business community is at a crossroads now. It is in one sense 

gratifying that many of the one-and-a-half and second-generation young Korean 

Americans are venturing into other, more prosperous fields in business, but many of 

us, the immigrant generation persons, are in one sense stopped and we do not have 

much career options other than just make a living out of the small stores we bought 

and renovated and established.12

Several factors apparently inhibit Korean American merchants from taking more organized actions to 

address their concerns, including difficulty with English, limited financial resources, and reluctance 

to become involved in public controversies. According to Ms. Cho, the storeowners are always 

“complaining,” but feel helpless to do anything about their complaints because of their limited English.13 In several other cities with large Korean American populations, the merchant community has 

raised money to hire a bilingual spokesperson, but this has not been done in Baltimore.14 There are 

several associations of Korean nationals and business owners in Maryland, but questions were raised 

about how effective these organizations are beyond their social function. Ms. Cho said that they do 

very little, but Kap Park, vice president of the Korean American Grocers Association of Maryland, 

disagreed. He said that the association provides help to members who request it, such as translation 

or a liaison to city offices, but merchants may not be aware that this help is available and therefore do 

not always bring their problems to the association. He also suggested that the association could provide more services if it had more resources.15

Park’s comments during the update, representing the views of Korean American storeowners, are 

summarized in appendix 5. In a series of points regarding intergroup relations and government initiatives, he takes encouragement from the developing friendships between Korean Americans and African Americans in Baltimore’s minority communities but discouragement from government and po-

 

10 Cho statement, Forum Transcript, p. 13. 

11 Ibid., p. 34. 

12 Pak statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 94–95. The “one and a half generation” refers to persons who were born abroad 

but emigrated to the United States as older children or teenagers; they are typically bilingual and have a foothold in both 

cultures. 

13 Cho statement, Forum Transcript, p. 34. 

14 Comments by Mr. Okura of the Maryland Advisory Committee, Forum Transcript, pp. 51–52. 

15 Kap Park statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 85–87. 
18

lice initiatives that seem lacking or short sighted. He urges the creation of a local cabinet-level department to address concerns for all minority groups in the city. 

Impact of Social and Economic Changes in the Inner City 

The role of the corner stores in Baltimore is being affected not only by demographic shifts in the Korean American community but also by socioeconomic changes in the inner city, although the direction and impacts of these changes are not uniform. One significant development is city-sponsored 

urban renewal, which has the potential to displace Korean American businesses, as illustrated by the 

renovation of Lafayette and Belair markets. 

The other important shift is gentrification and the widening gap between rich and poor in the inner city. 

The influx of affluent residents into erstwhile poor neighborhoods can have complex consequences for 

Korean American stores. On the one hand, an infusion of spending power into a neighborhood could 

conceivably boost sales for some of the businesses. On the other hand, once a part of the city gains a 

level of affluence, the environment may become less hospitable to the corner stores. 

The potentially negative effect of gentrification on Korean American businesses—and its potential to 

reshuffle alliances—was illustrated at the forum by the case of Chang’s Mart, the store being pressured by a white-led neighborhood association to move from its long-time location or close down. 

African American residents have defended Mr. Chang’s right to remain and have denounced the 

pressure on the store as racist against both Koreans and blacks. Mr. Chang told the forum that wellheeled residents were urging him to move farther from the gentrified Bolton Hill neighborhood, into 

an adjoining area that is more solidly African American and poor: 

Two, three years ago, high-income white neighborhood people call me, so I will see 

them. They told me, why don’t you move across the street to the Pennsylvania Avenue side.16

Mr. Chang employs Irma Norton, an African American, as store manager. She interpreted the campaign against the store as both a class and racial issue: 

They asked him to stop selling products that the lower-income people could afford. 

Mr. Chang said, I can’t do that, I want to accommodate all of my customers. After he 

refused to stop selling the products that they asked him to stop selling, like malt liquor miniatures, whatever, they started the smear campaign. . . . He has all the support 

of the black community. No one in that community complains about Mr. Chang. 

That’s another thing [the whites] do not like. They have sent several letters to several 

council members smearing his name and also involving anyone in the community who 

supports Mr. Chang. They refer to them as derelicts, panhandlers, prostitutes. . . . They 

are blaming the prostitution in the area on him and getting other people to support 

them. They are blaming all the panhandlers on this establishment, any loitering, any 

crime; the smallest crime is because Mr. Chang’s establishment is there. 

Not only are they discriminating against Koreans, they are also discriminating against 

African Americans, and if we unite, they are really going to come out and get you because they do not like that kind of support. . . . They say it is not a black and white issue, it is not a racial issue. First I even put it off as an economic issue, I said it’s about 

 

16 Chang statement, Forum Transcript, p. 59. 
19

the lower-income people. I said it myself because I was in denial, but when I really 

got into this whole situation, this is a racial issue, and they do not want this Korean in 

this neighborhood.17

Press accounts make clear that all sides perceive this dispute as about more than just the store. One 

resident of the Marlborough apartment building told the Baltimore Sun that the confrontation “has 

nothing to do with Mr. Chang and his liquor license. It’s about those white people wanting to come 

back in and take over this neighborhood again.” In the same article, a member of the Bolton Hill 

group was quoted as saying that the store draws “a criminal element into Bolton Hill” and that “you 

have to fight for every block . . . neighbors have to protect the borders.”18

African American Perceptions of Korean American Merchants 

While press accounts frequently highlight the negative dimensions of merchant-resident interaction, 

African American residents’ perceptions of Korean American storeowners are actually a complex 

mix of positive and negative elements that vary depending on the time, place, circumstances, and 

particular actors involved. 

As Helpful Service Providers and Caring Neighbors 

Some merchants clearly have excellent relations with the surrounding neighborhoods and are appreciated for offering goods and services, and sometimes credit and jobs, in areas otherwise bereft of 

them. The main example cited at the forum was that of Mr. Chang, as described by his African 

American employee Ms. Norton: 

He’s friendly with everyone in the community, African American and white, and everyone loves him. . . . His establishment is in the Marlborough apartments for senior 

citizens and handicapped people, who have no complaints. They love Mr. Chang. Mr. 

Chang is one of the only merchants I know in 1998 that still gives credits to his local 

community. He knows it’s a low-income area. He tries to help them; he donates to 

them. He supplies food when they give functions, and this is in the whole community, 

not just the lower-income community.19

Ms. Norton and Mr. Chang each described the other as a “friend.” She added: 

When I worked with Mr. Chang, we started to understand each other’s culture a lot 

better. We have made our own stereotypes. We found out that we are both loving and 

caring people that just want to make it in this world.20

Press accounts confirm Ms. Norton’s positive assessment of Mr. Chang’s relationship with his African American neighbors and customers.21 Although Mr. Chang’s circumstances are special, such 

 

17 Norton statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 61–67. 

18 “Two Cultures Clash Around Corner Store,” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 1, 1998. 19 Norton statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 63–64. 

20 Ibid., pp. 64–65. 

21 An article on the store describes Mr. Chang’s African American customers as “his most avid supporters,” and notes: 

“When harsh winter weather makes it tough to get to the nearby SuperFresh, many rely on him for provisions. He cashes 

checks, gives credit and delivers food to sick residents. He has never been robbed.” “Two Cultures Clash Around Corner 

Store,” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 1, 1998. 
20

positive perceptions of the merchants do not appear to be unique. For example, the Baltimore Sun

profiled Soon Jae and Eun Ja Lee, owners of a corner store in West Baltimore since 1978, who are 

highly regarded in their neighborhood. The merchants employ two neighborhood men, extend credit 

to selected customers, and donate large amounts of food to needy residents. One resident describes 

Mr. Lee as having “a caring commitment to people,” saying, “Even though he’s Korean, I don’t look 

at him as Korean but as just another person who cares about the community.”22 

As Profit-Seeking, Exploitative Outsiders 

At the same time, certain negative perceptions of the storeowners were reported to be widespread. 

Korean Americans are often seen as outsiders (foreigners, suburban residents) who have set up shop 

in African American communities in order to profit at poor people’s expense, resulting in a flow of 

money out of the neighborhoods. This view was put forth vehemently during the boycott of Canaan 

Food, along with additional allegations of poor quality goods and high prices in the corner stores. 

Although emotions ran particularly high during that period, a number of panelists at the forum mentioned anti-Korean verbal assaults as an ongoing reality. 

Alvin Gillard, director of the Baltimore Community Relations Commission, stated that— 

the community is asking whether merchants and their families are members of the 

communities in which they earn a living, or are they interlopers taking from the 

community and not putting anything back into the community?23

Mr. Gillard raised concerns that merchants are not reinvesting enough of their profits in the communities where they do business: 

You continue to hear the call to have some connection to the community, other than 

the fact that you’re operating this business. Is there any investment in the schools? Is 

there any investment in recreation? Is there any investment in public safety, other 

than what public safety can do for me as a merchant?24

Jackie Cornish, executive director of the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation, has 

worked to improve relations between Korean Americans and African Americans in the neighborhood.25 Asked what Korean Americans could do to help that effort, she replied: 

I would say that we need . . . for the Korean American merchants to consider living 

more in their communities. There is a lack of that, and of course that creates a perception of, here they come in the community getting the money and going.26

When merchants do not live in the neighborhoods where they do business, she noted, it is all the 

more important for them to contribute in other ways: 

 

22 “Merchants Build Trust,” Baltimore Sun, Sept. 24, 1995. 23 Gillard statement, Forum Transcript, p. 186. 

24 Ibid., pp. 227–28. 

25 Cornish, responding during the update on June 26, 2002, regarding accuracy in the report wrote, “I agree with all statements.” 

26 Cornish statement, Forum Transcript, p. 141. 
21

Korean American merchants [should] get more involved in the community and 

what’s going on in the community, be it living in their communities and helping to 

build those communities up, or be it participating in community activities, involving 

themselves more in the community associations, even if they choose not to live in the 

communities. I think it’s very important because it really breaks down that barrier 

that says they are not here like we are, overnight, 24/7 as the saying goes—they just 

come in and do this and leave.27

Ms. Cornish detailed ways that the Druid Heights neighborhood group has encouraged the merchants 

to participate in community affairs, adding, “I think that it is also incumbent upon the community to 

reach out to the merchants. It’s not a one-way street.”28

As a Favored Minority Group 

African American perceptions of the merchants are also shaped by the belief, reportedly widespread, 

that preferential treatment has allowed Koreans to quickly move beyond their newcomer status and 

establish themselves as merchants in black neighborhoods. Mr. Gillard of the city’s Community Relations Commission emphasized this view: 

There continue to be questions within the African American community as a whole as 

to how and why Korean Americans are so prevalent within the African American 

community, owning and operating businesses in those communities. The explanations 

offered, particularly coming from those in government at all levels, federal, state and 

local, have not altered the beliefs of many in the community who believe that Korean 

immigrants receive unfair government assistance in establishing their lives and livelihoods throughout African American communities.29

When pressed, Mr. Gillard acknowledged that he did not believe the perception of unfair access to 

startup capital was grounded in fact: 

From everything that I have heard, the reality is that that’s not the case . . . [but rather 

that] the Korean immigrants, when they come over, they sort of pool resources, and 

they borrow from each other . . . to get their businesses off the ground.30

But he stressed: “Whether factually based or not, this belief [that Korean Americans receive unfair 

assistance] has created a tremendous amount of frustration, resentment, and anger within the African 

American community toward Korean Americans.”31

Jackie Cornish of the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation reported that many people in her neighborhood initially resented the merchants because of misconceptions about the Korean 

Americans—“where they got their money from, how the government had to support them to bring 

them into our community to tear us down.”32

 

27 Ibid., pp. 141–42. 

28 Ibid., pp. 142–43. 

29 Gillard statement, Forum Transcript, p. 182. 

30 Ibid., p. 233. 

31 Ibid., p. 182. 

32 Cornish statement, Forum Transcript, p. 126. 
22

Rev. Douglas Miles, who has also been involved in efforts to build bridges between the two communities, elaborated further on this point of view:33

Some of the bias has to do with African Americans’ history in this country, a history 

that has allowed every immigrant group to come into our communities, reap the benefit, and then pass us on both the economic scale and social acceptability scale. That 

bias is further fueled by rumors that Koreans and other Asian people have received 

preferential treatment from government in starting businesses, treatment that African 

Americans find it difficult to receive.34

Korean American Perceptions of African American Residents 

Just as African Americans have both positive and negative perceptions of Korean merchants, the 

storeowners’ perceptions of their customers and residents of the surrounding neighborhoods depend 

on many factors. 

As Valued Customers, Friends, and Potential Allies 

Since the forum was convened to consider the concerns of Korean Americans, there was relatively 

little discussion of their positive perceptions, but clearly there are positive elements in the mix. 

Again, Mr. Chang’s experience stands out; he obviously values his customers, telling the Baltimore 

Sun, “My customer very good ladies and gentlemen. They are good people.”35 

Ms. Cornish told the forum that merchants in her neighborhood feel “protected” because community 

activists have insisted on mutual respect: 

In the Druid Heights community, talk to our merchants. They will tell you they feel 

loved, respected, and protected. We will not tolerate anybody coming from the outside or the inside of our community disrespecting any one of our merchants. On the 

other hand, we will not tolerate the merchants disrespecting any of the residents of 

the community.36

In Druid Heights, cooperation on mutually beneficial projects has led to friendships across ethnic 

lines. Mr. Park of the Korean American Grocers Association, who works closely with the Druid 

Heights group, told the forum: “Two of my best friend is not Korean American. It’s African American who sit right there, Jackie Cornish and Tony [Pressley]. They know how to respect, and they 

know how to respond.” 

Another theme that emerged at times was that African Americans and Korean Americans are both 

minorities in a white-dominated society, and thus should work together. Soshik Seo, president of the 

Korean Business League, suggested that— 

 

33 In updating comments written on June 20, 2002, Rev. Miles remained upbeat about improving intergroup relations, yet 

concerned that more resources were not forthcoming to assist these efforts. He noted, “In recent times, relationships between the two communities have improved with joint vigils held to celebrate the lives of both African Americans and Korean Americans, who have been victims of random violence. More needs to be done to foster relations between the communities.” 

34 Miles statement, Forum Transcript, p. 105. 

35 “Two Cultures Clash Around Corner Store,” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 1, 1998. 36 Cornish statement, Forum Transcript, p. 131. 
23

Korean American business owners as well as African American colleagues and friends, 

we all are minority members and as such there is a need for us to unite. And if we do 

unite, I believe that there is a future and prospect from which we can all benefit.37

As Ghetto Dwellers, Drug Dealers, and Thieves 

At the same time, panelists indicated that many Korean American storeowners hold negative perceptions of the inner-city neighborhoods where they do business, based in part on their experiences with 

vandalism, drugs, and crime, and that these perceptions can shade into racist attitudes and stereotyping of African American residents. Ms. Cornish, who is black, noted that when her organization 

started its efforts, 

Korean Americans [in Druid Heights] had big misconceptions about African Americans: we all carry knives, all we want to do is be on welfare . . . rob and kill Koreans.38 

Jeanna Cho detailed her parents’ troubles in their corner store, referring to customers who come in 

“cussing and acting all crazy,” and to petty vandalism, such as youths opening a fire hydrant and 

flooding the entrance of the store. But she added: 

I do have to say that my parents are very prejudiced, and I think a lot of Korean people are because they are basically living in ghetto, in that bad neighborhood. . . . I was 

prejudiced myself, but as I learned to understand the different cultures [I am] not 

really prejudiced like I used to be. But my parents are very prejudiced because they 

only see the bad black ones or whatever.39

One element of this prejudice, she suggested, is the Korean American stereotype of inner-city residents, black and white, as being people without much education: 

We all know that we’re having stores in a bad neighborhood, which they are all not 

educated. Majority of them are not educated, majority of them are on drugs, have 5 

million kids. It’s not just blacks, it’s whites too. It doesn’t matter what race you are. 

If you are not educated, you’re going to be like that.40

Efforts to Improve Relations 

Panelists mentioned a number of efforts to diminish misconceptions and tensions and promote communication between Korean Americans and African Americans, including neighborhood-based programs, work among local churches, and public forums sponsored by the city. 

Neighborhood-based Programs 

The Druid Heights Community Development Corporation began working in 1992 to address what 

was then, according to director Jackie Cornish, a “tremendous problem” of poor relations between 

residents and merchants in the neighborhood. The centerpiece of the program is a free cross-cultural 

 

37 Seo statement, Forum Transcript, p. 99. 

38 Cornish statement, Forum Transcript, p. 127. 

39 Cho statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 16, 33. 

40 Ibid., pp. 34–35. 
24

summer camp for 60 African American and 60 Korean American children run by Ms. Cornish and 

Tony Pressley; merchant Kap Park teaches Korean language at the camp.41 The goal is to build 

friendships between the children and teach them to appreciate differences so that they can lead their 

parents to greater understanding. Along with outings to zoos and amusement parks, the children 

study Swahili and Korean and learn about both cultures. In 1998 the camp was in its sixth summer, 

and Ms. Cornish described its impact: 

We have found in many years in dealing with this program that our children and our 

adults come out with a better understanding of each other, and we come to find out 

that we have more likenesses than we have differences. We are about our children. 

We are about safety. We are about having a nurturing environment for our children. 

That’s what African Americans are about. Guess what, so is the Korean American. 

We want the best for our children.42

The summer camp receives support from some of the merchants, as well as from foundations and the 

state. The Druid Heights group also makes other efforts to involve the merchants in the community, producing a newsletter with some articles written in Korean so they can keep up with community events. 

Work Among Churches 

A number of local pastors and churches in Baltimore have brought together African American and 

Korean American congregations for shared worship and social get-togethers. Mr. Pressley described 

an exchange between the Korean Methodist Church and the Payne Memorial African Methodist 

Episcopal Church in Druid Heights that is an outgrowth of the summer camp program. The two congregations worship together at the Payne Memorial during Black History Month, and the Korean 

Methodist Church⎯sharing a dinner of soul food and Korean food after the respective services.43 

Broader efforts to have Baltimore churches promote intergroup harmony appear to have had uneven 

results. In the summer of 1996, 25 African American and Korean American ministers and community 

leaders from Howard and Baltimore counties traveled to South Korea on a visit organized by the Council of Korean Churches in Howard County. After the trip, pastors organized more joint events among 

their churches. However, these efforts during the fall of 1996 coincided with the boycott of Canaan 

Food and appear to have been eclipsed to some extent by the bitter controversy around that issue. 

At the forum, Rev. Douglas Miles, president of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, suggested that many of the churches that participated in the Korea trip were not oriented toward social 

change, and as a result the discussion stayed mainly at the level of evangelicalism.44 According to 

Rev. Sidney Daniels, former president of the alliance, this same division hindered past efforts by the 

alliance to work with Korean churches. He called for practical and sustained efforts to tackle social 

problems in the inner city: 

 

41 The summertime programs included an annual picnic, called “Unity Day,” that celebrated its seventh consecutive year 

on Aug. 1, 2002. See Park Comments on improved intergroup relations in appendix 5. 42 Cornish statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 125–26. 

43 Pressley statement, Forum Transcript, p. 134. 

44 Miles statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 116–17. The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance involves affiliates from 

within Baltimore City and its surrounding vicinity. 
25

Unemployment, we’re working on that in the alliance, and we are saying to the Korean 

community, if you’ll work with us, not spasmodically, but on a consistent basis . . . 

we’ll work with you.45

City Government Initiatives 

The Schmoke administration’s Community Relations Commission convened a citywide summit on 

race relations in 1990. In 1998, the commission organized three community forums to bring members 

of the Korean American and African American communities together to discuss the issues that have 

kept them apart. The Baltimore Sun reported that tensions ran high at the May meeting.46 Mr. Gillard 

also mentioned that a Korean American had been appointed to the board of commissioners of the 

Community Relations Commission.47 

In the update, a letter from Mr. Gillard, which appears as appendix 6, answered the Committee’s request for information about developments resulting from the Community Relations Commission’s 

1998 hearings series. He reported that the commission did not set new priorities as a result of the 

hearings. Although he asserted that the commission continued to work closely with the Korean 

American community, he did not offer examples to show the nature of that working relationship. 

Mr. Park of the Korean American Grocers Association called for a more robust dialogue between 

Korean Americans and others in Baltimore in which city agencies and the churches would play an 

active role: 

Next 21st century, we should focus on renovating in the city speech power. That cannot 

be done by one side. We need teamwork, and we ask the same thing of city government 

and the police department, all the churches all over Baltimore City. There are so many 

people, so many congregations that are willing to do it, but they are looking for each 

other. Who’s going to do it first? I believe this is about time to do it . . .We should focus on the same goal.48

 

45 Daniels statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 114–15. 

46 “Black, Korean Tension Is Focus,” Baltimore Sun, July 23, 1998. 47 In May 2004, there was no longer a Korean American on the board of commissioners. 

48 Kap Park statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 90–91. 
26

Chapter 5 

Provision of City Services to Korean American Merchants 

The central issue of interest to the Maryland Advisory Committee was whether Korean American 

businesses receive equal treatment from the City of Baltimore, especially with respect to the provision of public services. Four main areas were discussed; they reflect the nature of the complaints received by the Committee: 

 Law enforcement. 

 Fire and ambulance emergency services. 

 Regulation. 

 Financial assistance to businesses and community groups. 

Overall, the forum revealed divergent perceptions on the question of whether Korean American businesses are receiving fair treatment. For example, Keith Kim, a retired chemist, asserted that Korean 

Americans are not receiving equal treatment and that city officials are unresponsive: 

I would like the Korean community to get equal treatment under the law. Equal treatment meaning treated the same in every way, such as funding from the mayor’s office 

on down to city government services, but we are not getting that as I see it. . . . Also 

when problems arise, when you try to get in touch with higher authority, there is always some way to shunt it back and nothing to be heard from.1

Mr. Kim recounted his own experiences with unresponsive city offices and pointed to the failure of 

the mayor to attend the forum as evidence of indifference to Korean American concerns, saying “I 

am sorry nobody really is here from the mayor’s office this morning. . . . This meeting’s important 

enough, they should come over here and observe what we have to say.”2

Alvin Gillard, director of the Baltimore Community Relations Commission, who attended the forum 

as the mayor’s representative, offered a contrasting view.3

 He stressed the Schmoke administration’s 

commitment to being “inclusive and responsive,” noting that the administration had encouraged all 

 

1

 Keith Kim, statement before the Maryland Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, community 

forum, Baltimore, MD, July 23, 1998, transcript, pp. 148–49 (hereafter cited as Forum Transcript).

2

 Ibid., pp. 150–51. One month before the forum, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Eastern Regional Office sent a 

letter to the office of Mayor Schmoke, explaining the purpose of the upcoming forum and inviting the mayor to lead a 

delegation of city officials to the event. The mayor did not attend, but sent Mr. Gillard, head of the Community Relations 

Commission. 

3

 When asked whether his prepared speech had cleared the mayor’s office, Mr. Gillard explained that while the mayor had 

asked him to attend “in his stead,” his remarks were his professional view as the director of the Community Relations 

Commission. The commission is the fair employment practice arm of the city government and the agency charged with 

improving intergroup relations in the city. 
27

city agencies to produce literature to explain their services to non-English-speaking residents and had 

assigned liaisons to those communities to facilitate access to city services and City Hall.4

Mr. Gillard stated: “I believe Korean American storeowners are being afforded all civil rights protections and have forged a strong relationship with municipal government.” He continued: 

I don’t believe there exists any widespread bias against Korean Americans by city 

government, including police, fire, et cetera. There does exist, however, tension between the two communities, which appears to be primarily rooted within the context 

of the African American consumer/Korean American entrepreneur relationship. 

I have not seen any supportive data, nor heard a preponderance of anecdotal evidence 

from anyone in the Korean American community that would suggest that Korean 

American storeowners are not extended the full benefit of city services. As a matter 

of fact, I am somewhat surprised that Korean Americans perceive that [they] lag in 

receiving city services and administration of justice in relation to Korean American–

owned businesses. I have been at the Community Relations Commission off and on 

for the past 18 years, and I have met with many Korean Americans, and I have not 

heard this view repeatedly expressed as to be an issue.5

 

Mr. Gillard questioned whether equal provision of services was an appropriate topic for the forum, 

contending that a more pertinent issue was the tension between the Korean American and African 

American communities, and in particular, the question of whether Korean Americans might actually 

be receiving preferential treatment: 

One of the most sensitive issues presently being debated within the African American 

community is whether Korean American storeowners receive preferential treatment, 

not less-than-equal treatment. . . . From my perspective, there are issues which beg to 

be addressed which impact the total community. I simply do not believe, however, 

the ones you identified are the ones that need to be addressed. I believe factual information on the lingering questions relating to alleged startup assistance provided by 

government to Korean American immigrants needs to be shared so that that issue can 

be put to rest. I believe the issue of whether Korean American storeowners have an 

easier time obtaining insurance, loans, and credit lines versus that of African Americans needs to be addressed, and the issue of why the African American community is 

not yet moving beyond where it has been in terms of overall economic development 

needs to be addressed. . . . I see the pertinent issues being relationship-oriented between communities, not the level of services Korean American businesses are receiving from city government.6

 

4

 Gillard statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 183–84. 

5

 Ibid., pp. 181–82, 184–85. A look at the Web site for the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods paints a different picture. 

The site lists many accomplishments for the Hispanic liaison and none for the Korean liaison. It also lists “a number of 

important web sites that serve the Hispanic Community” while there are none listed for the Korean community. See 

<http://www.baltimorecity.gov/government/moon/hispanic.html> (last accessed May 26, 2004). 

6

 Gillard statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 185–86. 
28

Law Enforcement 

Much of the discussion around city services centered on the police protection provided to Korean 

American businesses. Three issues were highlighted: 

 Whether there is disproportionate, racially motivated crime against Korean Americans. 

 Police coverage and response time. 

 The quality of services rendered when officers arrive at a Korean American business in response to a call. 

Are Korean Storeowners Disproportionately Targeted? 

During the spate of shootings in January 1997, some Baltimore residents and media voices expressed 

fears that Korean storeowners were being targeted because of anti-Korean bias and that the city was 

failing to provide them adequate police protection. Others, noting the high levels of violence 

throughout the city, considered that the January incidents were most likely not motivated by racial 

hatred, but were robberies of the sort frequently targeted against small inner-city stores. It is widely 

agreed that the location of many of the corner stores in neighborhoods plagued by unemployment and 

drug abuse creates insecurity for merchants as well as for residents—a fact that does not, in itself, 

preclude the possibility of racial targeting.7

 

Noting the high crime rate citywide, Colonel Robert Smith of the Baltimore Police Department reported that robberies have occurred in the Korean American community but “not more so than they 

have occurred in other communities.”8

 Based on his review of every robbery report filed with the department’s Operations Bureau, he said, 

[O]n a daily basis, I do not see robberies in Korean-owned businesses. I see robberies 

in other businesses, and mostly black and Jewish businesses, and they far outnumber 

the incidents that occur in the Korean community.9

While acknowledging that “Korean business people have suffered terribly from crimes of violence,” 

Rev. Douglas Miles added that: 

Much of this, in my opinion, has less to do with the ethnicity than with the fact that 

almost all the small businesses presently operated in the African American community, particularly in high-crime areas of the city, are Korean owned and operated. 

Thus, the crimes tend not to be racially motivated as much as they are crimes of opportunity driven by the drug culture and poverty of the city. The same stores would 

be targeted no matter who owned them.10

While saying he knows of a few instances in which Korean American merchants were robbed because of their ethnicity, Rev. Miles emphasized that there is no concerted effort by African Ameri-

 

7

 In a background interview, merchant Kwang Lee noted that not only is shoplifting common, but drug dealers even transact business inside his store, something he feels helpless to prevent. 

8

 Smith statement, Forum Transcript, p. 193. 

9

 Ibid., pp. 201–02. 

10 Miles statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 104–05. 
29

cans to drive Korean Americans from the community. He added that in some instances where deaths 

have occurred, “African Americans have stood with Koreans to protest the senseless violence.”11

Coverage and Response Time 

At the time of the January 1997 shootings, Korean American criticisms of police protection included 

allegations of insufficient coverage of their businesses, and Korean American business leaders called 

on the police commissioner to take steps to remedy the problem. Responding to these concerns, the 

Baltimore Police Department directed its officers to pay closer attention to Korean American stores 

in their patrol areas; the department also assigned a bilingual officer to serve as a liaison with the Korean American community, sent out letters written in Korean telling merchants about police services, 

and held a crime prevention seminar for Korean American merchants.12 

Col. Smith stated that the police department responds to calls from Korean American businesses with 

the “same effort” it puts forth for other calls, adding: 

Sometimes we respond, probably, even more faster—well, not faster, but with more 

effort . . . because we want to continue to bridge the gaps that once were. All our responses to any shooting, any incident within the city, are immediate. Since the shootings [of January 1997], we have ordered patrol officers to make constant visits to the 

Korean-owned establishments, more so than they were doing before. They have to 

make four of those visits on their daily activity sheets, and the officers are doing 

that.13

On the other hand, Rev. Miles asserted that the poorer areas of the city typically receive less police 

coverage than the richer areas, and that this affects Korean American businesses: 

In the area of equal protection under the law Korean business people may find themselves the victims of neighborhoods in which they do business, neighborhoods notorious for poor police protection, not only for business people, but for residents as 

well. Where I live in the 1900 [block] of McKean Avenue in West Baltimore, I know 

that I don’t nor will I ever receive the response time to my call as do residents of 

Homeland-Guilford. I know that we do not get the same level of patrol as do the residents of Bolton Hill.14 

Quality of Service 

In discussing police protection, Korean Americans speaking at the forum and in background interviews focused principally on the service they receive when police arrive in response to a call. The 

main concern raised was that officers frequently give short shrift to the merchant’s complaint and 

instead appear to side with the suspect. Two explanations were offered: that the language barrier impedes communication between the merchants and the police, and that in some instances racial bias 

affects officer behavior. In response, the police department representative outlined steps the depart-

 

11 Ibid., pp. 106–07. 

12 “Crime Grips Korean Merchants; Slayings, Robberies Unsettle Community,” Baltimore Sun, Jan. 29, 1997. 13 Smith statement, Forum Transcript, p. 193. 

14 Miles statement, Forum Transcript, p. 107. 
30

ment has taken to facilitate communication in such situations and to increase cultural sensitivity 

among law enforcement personnel. 

In a pre-forum interview, merchant Chang Joon Cho asserted that African American police officers 

side with African Americans suspected of theft, and he told of his own experience when he caught a 

youth shoplifting and called police.15 The same incident was later recounted at the forum by his 

daughter Jeanna Cho, who said the officer listened only to the suspect and not her father, who speaks 

limited English, giving her father no chance to tell his side of the story. The daughter, who could 

have provided translation, was not in the store at the time. The officer wrote in his report that Mr. 

Cho pointed a gun at the youth, an allegation Ms. Cho disputed; as a result Mr. Cho spent three days 

in jail and had to hire a lawyer and post $50,000 bail. The case against the merchant was later 

dropped when the youth did not show up in court.16 

In attempting to explain these events, Ms. Cho emphasized the language barrier, but also perceived a 

racial dimension to the encounter between her father, the officer, and the youth: 

It’s not really the communication that I think was the problem. I think [the officer] 

was just straight up being racist because [the suspect] was a black boy, young boy 

standing there with my father, and he was the only police and nobody was around. 

The witness already had left, so he felt like he could do anything about it, him being 

police.17

She suggested that both communication difficulties and racial bias affect the quality of policing provided to Korean American businesses: 

When there’s problems in the store . . . Korean owners, they call the police, and police come to them and they don’t really listen to the owners who actually call the police. They listen to the other people. . . . The majority of the owners . . . can’t speak 

English, and [the police] don’t want to be bothered, so they listen to the others—

customers or whatever. . . . That’s really something that the Baltimore City needs to 

look at. Because if we call the police, they should be listening to us first. 

The justice system, especially the police in Baltimore City, I think is very poor because—I wouldn’t just say black police because by all means I’m very diverse and all 

that—but a majority of the Korean stores are in black neighborhoods, and there are 

many black police out there.18

Ms. Cho added that in her experience growing up in the city, police officers do sometimes lie on their 

reports, causing people to get locked up unfairly, and not only when Korean Americans are involved: 

“a lot of white police have things against blacks too.”19

Businessman Kap Park, vice president of the Korean American Grocers Association of Maryland, 

also stressed the impact of the language barrier in encounters between merchants and police: 

 

15 “Civil Rights Commission Forum, Background Information.” Internal memorandum, July 23, 1998. 

16 Cho statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 14–15. 

17 Ibid., p. 40. 

18 Ibid., pp. 13–16. 

19 Ibid., p. 39. 
31

One thing I want to suggest to the police department, when they come to the merchants, they should pay little bit extra time, attention when they try to write the report 

because all things happen because they are rushed. They want to make a report fast 

and quick and leave. So that if you have language problem, somewhat misunderstanding about this society, your opinion is eliminated. Your side of story is not part 

of the incident report.20 

Col. Robert Smith of the Baltimore Police Department presented the department’s response to the 

concerns raised.21 He acknowledged that there had been some problems in serving Korean businesses 

in the past and attributed this mainly to the language gap: 

We have had reports that officers—not just black officers, [but] officers who are responding to calls for service at Korean businesses—where the officer who could not 

understand the Korean person’s language, listened to the person that the Korean 

called on and only took that information to service the call, and in most cases, let the 

person go.22

Col. Smith detailed some of the steps taken by the police department to remedy the communication 

problem: 

We have established a Korean liaison officer, Officer Kim, who is in the audience today. We have provided him with a take-home car. He’s on call 24 hours a day, seven 

days a week. He responds to all problems within the Korean community, which involves shootings, holdups, or anything dealing with communication problems with 

the patrol officer. All supervisors and officers have been instructed to call communications whenever there is a problem. We would immediately contact Officer Kim, 

who responds in from his home or responds while on duty to take care of the language problems.23

In response to questions, Col. Smith acknowledged that it is up to the patrol officer to call for Officer 

Kim’s assistance if he or she feels it is necessary, and that Officer Kim is not called very often. He 

also said that Korean merchants sometimes withhold information from police out of fear. 

Col. Smith described steps taken to increase cultural sensitivity in the police department and improve 

the relationship with the Korean American community: 

All officers and supervisors—that’s from officer all the way up through the police 

commissioner—have gone through eight hours of training in cultural diversity, so 

they could be more aware and more sensitive to other community needs. And that’s 

not just the Korean community; that’s also the Spanish community and so forth. We 

have also given several crime prevention seminars and are planning more in the future. We have also distributed a Korean incident reporting guide and safety tips translated in Korean.24 

 

20 Kap Park statement, Forum Transcript, p. 88. 

21 Col. Smith, chief of the Baltimore Police Department’s Field Operations Bureau, was standing in for Police Commissioner Thomas Frazier, who was out of town. 

22 Smith statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 219–20. 

23 Ibid., pp. 193–94. 

24 Ibid., p. 195. 
32

In response to an observation from the Advisory Committee that complaints received recently from 

Korean Americans seemed to offer a contrasting, and much less positive, picture of the relationship 

with police, Col. Smith acknowledged that a gap might exist between the experiences and perceptions of the various actors. But he stressed his belief that the situation has improved in the last couple 

of years: 

I feel, in my years of service within the agency, the relationship with the Korean 

community and other non-American communities has improved tremendously. I’m 

not saying there are not more steps we have to take, and those steps we are willing to 

take.25

During the update, Robert M. Stanton, colonel/chief of the Baltimore Police Department’s Criminal 

Investigation Division, provided additional information that appears in appendix 7. Col. Stanton supplied statistical data showing a general decline in crime victimization of Asian Americans from 1998 

to 2001. (The database does not recognize Asian American subgroups; therefore Korean American–

specific statistics are not available.) From January to June 2002, the data show 13 total crimes involving Asian American victims. The number suggests a continuing sharp decline in Asian American 

victimizations that totaled 833 in 1998, 581 in 1999, 503 in 2000, and 371 in 2001. Although Col. 

Stanton drew no connection between the dropping rate of Asian American victimization and Asian 

American participation on the police force, there was only one Asian American officer in 1998 and 

now there are 22 Asian American officers, 12 of whom are Korean Americans, including two supervisory personnel. In addition, Col. Stanton noted specific activities of the department’s officer assigned as Korean-language translator/community liaison. Among the liaison’s activities are special 

efforts targeted to Korean American storeowners, including providing ongoing crime prevention 

seminars and writing a column about crime safety for a monthly paper distributed by the Korean 

American Safety Council of Maryland; within the wider Korean American community, the liaison 

officer works closely with Korean American organizations and provides pertinent public information 

to the Korean-language press. 

In contrast to Col. Smith’s generally positive assessment of police department efforts, depicting 

communication and cultural sensitivity as the core of both the problem and the solution, Mr. Gillard 

of the Community Relations Commission offered a more pessimistic outlook, citing the unease between the two communities and the “interloper” status of the merchants as an explanation of officer 

behavior: 

I don’t want to disagree with the Colonel, but I have some concern that we seem to be 

making members of the Korean American community the victims at the expense of 

the African American community, because I simply don’t think that’s reflective of 

reality. I think if there are officers who are responding this way, they are not doing it 

in a vacuum. I don’t want to validate any wrong behavior on the part of the officers. 

But if you are talking about officers who grew up in Baltimore City and who now 

serve in Baltimore City, you’re talking about officers who view the Korean American 

merchants in these neighborhoods as outsiders, because that’s the neighborhood they 

grew up in. If you are talking about Korean American merchants who only come in to 

operate businesses and establish no ties to the community other than of an entrepreneur nature, then you are going to have problems . . . So we have problems that are 

rooted in the nature of the relationship and has very little to do with the types of ser-

 

25 Ibid., pp. 195–96. 
33

vices that merchants are receiving from city government. That’s not the true nature of 

the problem.26

Asked by the Committee whether he meant to say that officers’ siding with black suspects was understandable and therefore condonable, Mr. Gillard clarified his view as follows: 

I didn’t say it was understandable. I said it should not be surprising. And I think 

that’s a difference. . . . They have rules, standards that they have to adhere to as an officer. And I would in no way suggest that those rules and standards should be dismissed simply because of the relationship between the two communities. What I said 

was it should not be surprising. Those folks don’t grow up in a vacuum. Now, it’s up 

to the department to deal with them if they are exhibiting the biases that they have. 

But it shouldn’t be surprising that they have these biases.27

Ambulance and Fire Emergency Services 

The Baltimore Fire Department is responsible for dispatching ambulances as well as extinguishing 

fires and inspecting buildings for fire code compliance. Fire Chief Herman Williams asserted that 

equal services are provided to the Korean American community:28

This is the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to address any problems at all with 

the Korean community. Certainly, the fire department’s dealings with the Korean 

community as well as the community in general is the same. . . . I can assure that our 

responses are the same for all people of Baltimore City, regardless of whether they’re 

Korean, black, or whatever.29 

The Advisory Committee asked Chief Williams to address concerns around the department’s handling of a specific case, the January 1997 shooting of grocer Chi Sup Kim. Mr. Kim died of his 

wounds, and members of his family alleged that there was inordinate delay both in the arrival of the 

ambulance and in providing paramedical treatment at the scene; they claimed that instead of paying 

prompt attention to the injured man, paramedics stayed in their truck, conversing. The family alleged 

that Mr. Kim’s death was due in part to this delay and asked the fire department for an explanation. 

The victim’s brother, Harry Kim, later informed the Advisory Committee that he received a satisfactory but belated explanation from the fire department in July. 

At the forum, Chief Williams spoke to concerns about the alleged delays in sending the ambulance, 

in treating Mr. Kim at the scene, and in responding to the family’s request for an explanation. In regard to the question about dispatch, the fire chief acknowledged that “I can’t really speak to specifics 

on how long it took to get the ambulance out there” in the particular case of Chi Sup Kim. He did, 

however, report that Baltimore generally maintains good response times despite having too few ambulances for its needs: 

 

26 Gillard statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 221–23. 

27 Ibid., p. 240. 

28 Fire Department Chief William J. Goodwin, Jr., succeeded former Fire Chief Herman Williams, who retired. On July 

26, 2002, as part of the update, Fire Chief Goodwin, after reviewing former Fire Chief William’s forum comments, wrote 

to the Committee, “I concur with the previous statements, to the best of my knowledge.” 

29 Williams statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 189–90. 
34

Baltimore City has only 18 ambulances. Last year alone, we responded to 111,000 

incidents. . . . So now even with those statistics, we generally respond to an emergency with an ambulance anywhere within one to eight minutes, which is a record for 

a city the size of Baltimore.30

Because there are so few, the ambulances are nearly always out on the street, responding to calls, 

rather than sitting at the fire station waiting to be called. In light of this situation, the department has 

put in place a new system to improve response times further: 

In order to ensure that we do have the best response and people are not sitting around 

waiting and saying that the ambulance is not coming—because it is our policy to send 

the closest ambulance to a scene of an incident when there is one—we have just installed a new 800 megahertz communication system with a vehicle locator system, 

whereby we will know at a given moment where every ambulance in the City of Baltimore is at any given time. So that, in the case of an incident, instead of dispatching 

the nearest ambulance from the nearest firehouse, we can pick up that piece of 

equipment on the street wherever it is and dispatch it in time.31

Chief Williams acknowledged that in the past, language difficulties have sometimes hindered the fire 

department’s capacity to respond to calls from Korean Americans, as no one in the department 

speaks Korean: 

What happened in the past—and I’ll admit, we received a call from an incident that a 

Korean was involved, and we did not know anything at all what they were saying, not 

one thing. I think my dispatcher mistook what was said on the other end. Instead I 

think the person was saying, “He’s been shot.”32 

In such situations, the department traces the phone number from which the call was placed and then 

dispatches an ambulance to that address. In addition, a new mechanism has been installed to assist in 

fielding calls to the fire department in languages other than English. The department is now using an 

800 number available 24 hours a day to contact an interpreter when needed, in any language needed. 

If a Korean-language call comes into the department’s communications center, the dispatcher can 

have an interpreter on the line within one minute and patches him or her into the call.33

Concerning the appearance of delay in treating injury victims such as Mr. Kim, Chief Williams explained that paramedics have to follow protocols that call for consultation with doctors before giving 

treatment: 

Once the paramedic arrives on the scene of an incident, we are responsible by state 

laws and protocols to perform certain operations on a patient before we remove them 

from the scene. That person has to be stabilized. Oftentimes, it’s been mistaken that 

because the paramedic is talking on the phone or talking with someone else, that he is 

wasting time or whatever. But in most incidents, especially the incident that happened, the paramedic is in contact with the hospital, receiving instructions from a 

doctor as to what he’s supposed to do. . . . Lots of times I’ve heard people call and 

 

30 Ibid., p. 209. 

31 Ibid., pp. 190–91. 

32 Ibid., p. 212. 

33 Ibid., pp. 211–12. 
35

say, “You know, the person was laying there 20 minutes, and these guys were just 

standing over them.” But . . . the paramedics have to do what we call protocols.34

Pressed to explain the six-month delay in providing the explanation requested by the Kim family, the 

fire chief stated that it is not the policy of the fire department to deliberately withhold information, 

and that “if that happened, I can assure you it won’t happen in the future.”35

Regulatory Agencies 

Although the interaction between Korean American businesses and city regulatory agencies was not 

explored in depth, panelists discussed two cases in which they believed city agencies had taken action against a Korean American business because of racially biased pressure on them to do so. These 

cases offer interesting points of similarity and contrast. In the case of Canaan Food, a panelist sympathetic to the storeowner perceived the health department to have capitulated to pressure from blacks 

to take action against the store. In the case of Chang’s Mart, the owner and his employee perceived 

the liquor board, the zoning board, and elected city officials to be yielding to pressure from whites to 

act against the store and its black customers. No representative of any of these city agencies attended 

the forum, so no official response was made to these complaints. 

The Case of Canaan Food 

According to a citizen speaking at the forum, Robert Kaufman, after the first complaint (of outdated 

meat for sale) was phoned into the C. Miles Smith radio show, the health department visited the store 

and found no violations. Mr. Kaufman acknowledged that the store, owned by Eun Mu Lee, was selling frozen meats that were past the sell-by date, but he said this is a usual and legal practice for meat 

discounters.36 Picketing of the store continued, and according to Mr. Kaufman: 

Every day they called the health department with a complaint. By law, the health department had to immediately investigate. In each instance they investigated, they 

found that there is no reality to the complaint. But Mr. Lee, who speaks very broken 

English, and is always trying to accommodate—they will say, well, can we inspect 

again, and he will say yeah. By law, he doesn’t have to say that. If he had a lawyer, 

he would say no. And they would find something else.37 

According to Mr. Kaufman, the alleged violations that gained the most media attention were actually 

misunderstandings that reflected communication problems. Samples of deli meats taken by inspectors were tested and found inedible; Mr. Kaufman said that those samples were ends that are normally cut off and discarded before the meat is sliced for sale. Mr. Lee poured bleach over some deli 

meat while an inspector was in the store, and it was alleged in the media, including in a Baltimore 

Sun editorial, that Mr. Lee had done so to thwart lab tests. According to Mr. Kaufman, the inspector 

told Mr. Lee to disinfect a knife with bleach before cutting the meat, and Mr. Lee, with his limited 

English, thought the inspector was telling him to pour bleach over the meats.38

 

34 Ibid., pp. 210–11. 

35 Ibid., p. 215. 

36 Kaufman statement, Forum Transcript, p. 20. 

37 Ibid., p. 21. 

38 “Korean-American Group to Meet on Closed Store,” Baltimore Sun, Jan. 11, 1997. 
36

Mr. Kaufman suggested that the health department took action in response to public pressure rather 

than on the merits of the case: 

Now from what I understand, the health department was very much intimidated by all 

this, every day being called in. By what I understand in the beginning, they were 

sympathetic to the store, but the pressure just built up. The reason why: they were 

getting pressure from one side of the community, but no defense from the other side 

of the community.39 

Finally, the health department held a hearing on the alleged violations, which Mr. Kaufman attended: 

It was like a kangaroo court . . . C. Miles had been agitating over the media for weeks 

and weeks for people to go down there to defend black people that were being poisoned by Koreans. . . . People were yelling out and screaming. Every time Mr. Lee’s 

lawyer was asking a question or trying to speak, some guy would stand up and say 

lies, lies, lies, and there would be comments and derogatory remarks and the person 

running the hearing did nothing to stop that from happening.40 

In the end, the health department permanently revoked the license for Canaan Food, closing the store; 

another store owned by Mr. Lee closed as well. The Korean American community widely saw the 

closures as emblematic of anti-Korean bias in the city. Mr. Kaufman saw the episode as illustrating 

the need for Korean Americans to have their own effective organization to present their positions 

publicly and intervene on their behalf with city agencies: 

I think what needs to be done is the Korean community needs a defense committee . . . 

It should have been there to advise Mr. Lee of his rights from the very beginning. It 

should have been there to investigate whether the accusations were true at the very 

beginning, and by the next day, they should have been countering if the charges were 

not true. They should have prevented the health department from being so intimidated, and they should have prevented the health department from acting on that intimidation. They could have gotten an injunction against the boycott because the reasons given for it had nothing to do with the reality. . . . The Korean community 

should be pooling its resources for that sort of thing and to support another Korean 

store that is unjustly being attacked by sharing the expense of it.41

The Case of Chang’s Mart 

Kun Soo Chang, the owner, and his employee Irma Norton described the campaign by the Mount 

Royal Improvement Association to induce city agencies to take action against the store. In this case, 

the panelists suggested that the agencies as well as elected city officials were sensitive to pressure 

from aggressive and politically connected white residents.42 The improvement association filed complaints with the liquor and zoning boards, claiming the store violated regulations that limit liquor 

sales to 25 percent of its capacity, but city inspectors repeatedly found the store in compliance with 

 

39 Kaufman statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 24–25. 

40 Ibid., pp. 25–26. 

41 Ibid., p. 21. 

42 In an article on the dispute, the Baltimore Sun noted that the committee formed by the Mount Royal Improvement Association to fight Chang’s store included “several lawyers and others with high-level city contacts.” “Two Cultures Clash 

Around Corner Store,” Baltimore Sun, Oct. 1, 1998. 
37

the law. However, Mr. Chang was cited and fined twice in 1997 for selling liquor to buyers under the 

legal drinking age of 21. Ms. Norton stated that these citations were the result of a police sting operation, and she suggested undue influence by the Mount Royal Improvement Association on the Baltimore police: 

We have found this sting where they have sent minors into liquor store. . . . Mr. 

Chang on several occasions has been the only store that this sting [targeted], and we 

have also found that this Mount Royal Improvement Association is very much, very 

much involved with the Baltimore City Police Department. . . . We discovered this at 

one of the hearings, and the officer who did the sting, they asked him well, how many 

stings have you done? He said, well it was just this one. They said, we find that odd 

that it was just one. They didn’t elaborate on it, but they admitted it was just Mr. 

Chang.43 

Asked why he did not file a complaint about the sting, Mr. Chang explained that he thought a complaint would be ignored because city agencies have connections to white residents: 

Even a complaint, it’s not going to work, it’s not going to help to me. The community, when they talk to—complain to city, people, like, complain white people to 

white people, and they send white policemen to look around my store for a while, and 

just drive me crazy.44 

In addition, Ms. Norton suggested that Mr. Chang has been unsuccessful in garnering support from 

his elected representatives because they side with the more powerful members of the community: 

He’s called in support of his congressman, his councilman, and because of some of 

the prestigious people that are in this association, he does not get the support that he 

deserves. They shake his hand, and they come and they give him some campaign 

about we are going to support you, Mr. Chang, and we are going to help you, Mr. 

Chang, but when we go to the hearings, they are all on this association’s side.45

Financial Assistance to Businesses and Community Organizations 

The question of city financial assistance to businesses and community organizations was not explored systematically, but several speakers suggested that the Korean American business community 

receives less assistance from the city than it deserves, and indeed is subject to pressures that have 

driven some out of business. At the same time, as previously noted, several panelists reported a widespread belief in the black community that Korean Americans receive more business assistance from 

the city than African Americans do. 

Pyong Kuk Pak, president of the Korean Society of Maryland, said that Korean stores have contributed since the late 1970s to the renovation and revitalization of inner-city Baltimore, but that the city 

has done little to help them now that economic conditions have become more difficult for small businesses. The economic situation of Korean American businesses has taken a “drastic downturn,” ac-

 

43 Norton statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 69–70, 73. 

44 Chang statement, Forum Transcript, p. 76. 

45 Norton statement, Forum Transcript, p. 64. 
38

cording to Mr. Pak, who predicted that up to 500 businesses may have to close in the next three or 

four years, adding to the deterioration of the neighborhoods around the stores.46 Mr. Pak commented: 

I hope it goes without saying that there was huge need for the city government to recognize this dire situation and then render some assistance. If half of the Korean 

American–owned small businesses close down, then it is obvious there will be a huge 

economic loss in terms of tax revenue business for the city government and this is going to be just unavoidable fact of life. And we hope that city government would recognize this and somewhat help us so that we can sustain business in the downtown 

area of the city.47

Soshik Seo, president of the Korean American Businessmen’s League, has owned a small business in 

Lafayette Market since 1988. He raised the issue of Korean American merchants being forced out of 

Lafayette and Belair markets as an example of the economic hardship that many of the merchants 

have endured. He contended that in spite of their hard work and investment, small-business owners 

are unfairly pressured, either by the city (as in the case of the two markets) or by residents (as in the 

case of Mr. Chang’s store): 

I think it’s a prime case of social injustice when . . . owners of a small business invest 

their hard-earned capital and make a goal out of that, then at certain time, pressures 

from the city government or neighborhoods [force them] out of existence.48 

Both Mr. Pak and Mr. Seo said that city assistance to help Korean American businesses survive 

would also benefit the surrounding neighborhoods. Mr. Pak stated that “we have been doing our utmost to . . . give help to the neighboring black communities,” but he also suggested that if the city 

enables the small stores to prosper, “we are prepared to do far more than what we have been doing 

and rebuilding and contributing to the neighboring black communities.”49 Mr. Seo expressed a desire 

to see the stores create more employment for neighborhood youth and said he hoped they eventually 

would be bought and run by African American residents (given the fact that younger Korean Americans have shown little interest in taking over their parents’ stores).50

While Korean Americans at the forum expressed regret that the city was not doing more to help 

them, and was in some cases bringing pressure to force them out of business, Mr. Gillard of the 

Community Relations Commission pointed out that many black residents believe Korean American 

merchants receive more assistance from the city than other would-be entrepreneurs: 

I believe factual information on the lingering questions relating to alleged startup assistance provided by government to Korean American immigrants needs to be shared 

so that that issue can be put to rest. I believe the issue of whether Korean American 

storeowners have an easier time obtaining insurance, loans, and credit lines versus 

that of African Americans needs to be addressed, and the issue of why the African 

 

46 L. Kim Hale, president, Korean Society of Maryland, succeeded Pyong Kuk Pak and revised Pak’s prediction of 500 

closings, to an estimated 250 closings. In an independent effort, Hale conducted interviews with Pak and several other 

leaders finally writing to the Committee on July 29, 2002, that its report is “fair and accurate.” Hales’ letter appears as 

appendix 8. 

47 Pak statement, Forum Transcript, p. 95. 

48 Seo statement, Forum Transcript, p. 100. 

49 Pak statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 95–96. 

50 Seo statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 98–99. 
39

American community is not yet moving beyond where it has been in terms of overall 

economic development needs to be addressed.51

An additional issue touched on briefly was whether the city government provides as much assistance 

to Korean American community organizations as it does to other ethnic organizations. Several 

speakers commented on the weak role of Korean American organizations in responding to perceived 

injustices against Korean merchants, while panelists representing the groups said that they could do 

more if they had more resources. Kap Park, vice president of the Korean American Grocers Association of Maryland, said that the association provides some assistance such as translation and liaison 

with city offices, but could offer more services if it had the resources: 

Since we have so many Korean American merchants in Baltimore City and it’s a 

large population, we deserve some better service from Baltimore City. I heard in Virginia they have fund coming to the Korean Society . . . provided by state or local 

government for the job training, there is a language class. They have a grant. But if 

we have some sort of grant to the Korean Society, we can provide same kind of service they do over in Virginia.52

Keith Kim, a retired chemist who advises the Korean Society of Maryland, alleged that Korean 

American organizations receive less support than others: 

All the other communities such as blacks, whites, and Jewish, they have support from 

the city government in terms of community organizations. They set up building. They 

have a full-time director paid by city government to operate the facility, but the Korean community doesn’t get anything. There is no investment that protects the Korean 

community to make sure that the true stories are heard. That’s my feeling as a person, 

a Korean American.53

 

51 Gillard statement, Forum Transcript, p. 188. 

52 Kap Park statement, Forum Transcript, p. 87. 

53 Kim statement, Forum Transcript, p. 149. Mr. Kim attended the forum and spoke in his individual capacity. 
40

Chapter 6 

Korean Americans and the Justice System: The Lee Case 

During the 1990s, public debate on whether Korean Americans in Baltimore receive equal treatment 

from the justice system focused almost entirely on the highly publicized Joel Lee murder case. This 

was also true of discussions at the forum. Two aspects of this case were addressed: the jury acquittal 

of Davon Neverdon in Baltimore City Circuit Court in July 1995, and the decision in January 1997 

by Department of Justice officials not to prosecute the crime under federal civil rights laws. Kenneth 

Lee, Joel Lee’s father, addressed these two aspects together, seeing an overall failure of the system to 

punish wrongdoing and an African American bias against Korean Americans. The two Department 

of Justice officials who spoke drew a clear distinction between the two decisions. They explained the 

basis for the federal decision in detail, but because they have no authority to investigate or prosecute 

state law violations, declined to speculate about the reasons for the jury trial outcome. 

The Acquittal in State Court 

As described in chapter 3 of this report, Joel Lee was killed during a robbery in Northeast Baltimore. 

Police arrested and charged Davon Neverdon with his murder. Mr. Neverdon was tried in a Baltimore court and the jury found Mr. Neverdon not guilty on all counts. The 12-member jury had 11 

African Americans, leading a number of Korean Americans to allege publicly that there was jury nullification, that is, the jurors failed to convict the defendant because of their anti-Korean bias. Kenneth 

Lee echoed this view at the forum, noting that despite “five witnesses within five feet . . . a jury 

composed of 11 blacks and one Pakistani” acquitted the defendant.1

Jurors who spoke to the press after the trial denied that the verdict was influenced by race, citing their 

doubts about the veracity and credibility of the prosecution witnesses. During a radio talk show that 

featured a juror from the Neverdon trial, callers were angry that the judgment of the jurors was being 

questioned and fumed about allegations of racism being leveled at the jurors. Lynne Battaglia, the 

U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, was asked at the forum whether the acquittal in the Lee 

case could be considered an example of jury nullification. She replied: 

It’s very difficult for us to determine what the jury did in this case because we didn’t 

have an opportunity to speak to the jury. . . . I do not know whether any state prosecutor, if he or she were here, could tell you what the basis of the jury decision was, so 

I can’t speculate with you whether jury nullification was the basis. I think people 

have speculated on that, but no one knows the reason.2

 

 

1

 Kenneth Lee, statement before the Maryland Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, community 

forum, Baltimore, MD, July 23, 1998, transcript, pp. 146–47 (hereafter cited as Forum Transcript). 2

 Battaglia statement, Forum Transcript, p. 294. 
41

The Federal Decision 

State prosecutors had already determined that they lacked sufficient evidence to prosecute the Lee 

killing under Maryland’s hate crime law. To secure justice in his son’s killing, Kenneth Lee asked 

the U.S. Department of Justice to determine if the case could be prosecuted under the federal hate 

crime statute.3

Three agencies were involved in deciding whether to go forward with such a prosecution: the United 

States Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, represented at the forum by Lynne Battaglia, 

U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland; the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, represented by Thomas Perez, deputy assistant attorney general of the United States for civil 

rights; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mr. Perez stated that Attorney General Janet Reno 

had put “the highest priority on civil rights” and further noted that Maryland has been “one of the 

most aggressive states” in the investigation and prosecution of all civil rights violations.4

 Mr. Perez 

and Ms. Battaglia explained, however, that federal authority to pursue such prosecutions is sharply 

limited by law. The principal federal hate crime statute uses a two-tiered standard of proof: the government must prove, first, that the crime was motivated by bias against the victim’s race, color, national origin, or religion, and second, that the crime was intended to interfere with the victim’s right 

to engage in a federally protected activity.5

 Those activities as specified in the statute are very limited, and include the rights to pursue employment, to travel in interstate commerce, and to pursue 

education.6

 Because of this high burden of proof, federal officials investigate each case brought to 

them to determine whether credible evidence exists to support a successful prosecution, and not all 

cases are prosecuted.7

The federal investigation of the Lee case, therefore, looked at the sufficiency of evidence in relation 

to two questions: whether Joel Lee was killed because he was Korean American, and whether he was 

killed to prevent him from exercising a federally protected right. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s 

Office for the District of Maryland interviewed Joel Lee’s father and various witnesses, and a grand 

jury was convened to look into the case. Ms. Battaglia stressed that the investigation, which took 

over a year, was taken “very seriously” and was led in her office by the supervisor of the Priority 

Crimes group.8

 

3

 18 U.S.C. § 245 (2004). In the U.S. legal system an acquittal generally stops any further action at the state level, as the 

state has no right of appeal. 

4

 Perez statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 252–53. 

5

 18 U.S.C. § 245 (2004). 

6

 Specifically, the hate crime statute makes it: 

unlawful to willfully injure, intimidate or interfere with any person, or to attempt to do so, by force or 

threat of force, because of that other person’s race, color, religion or national origin and because of 

his/her activity as one of the following: A student at or applicant for admission to a public school or 

public college; A participant in a benefit, service, privilege, program, facility or activity provided or 

administered by a state or local government; An applicant for private or state employment; a private or 

state employee; a member or applicant for membership in a labor organization or hiring hall; or an applicant for employment through an employment agency, labor organization or hiring hall; A juror or 

prospective juror in state court; A traveler or user of a facility of interstate commerce or common carrier; A patron of a public accommodation or place of exhibition or entertainment, including hotels, motels, restaurants, lunchrooms, bars, gas stations, theaters, concert halls, sports arenas or stadiums. 7

 Battaglia statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 265–66. 

8

 Ibid., p. 261. 
42

In the end, the three agencies made a joint decision that they lacked enough credible evidence to support a prosecution under the federal hate crime statute, and in the fall of 1996 they met with the Lee 

family and other members of the Korean American community to explain the decision. According to 

Ms. Battaglia, evidence was lacking to meet both elements of the dual burden of proof.9

 While noting 

that the decision was unanimous, Mr. Perez expressed regret at the outcome: 

This case, it goes without saying, is a tragedy, and it is especially frustrating for a 

prosecutor . . . I’ve never expected Mr. Lee’s family to agree or comprehend, because 

their son is dead, and as a parent, I know that that’s the only thing I will ever be 

thinking about. Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do to change that. Our role, 

however, as prosecutors is to conduct a thorough analysis of the facts and apply the 

facts to the law, and in this case, it was our judgment and it was our unanimous 

judgment. There was not one person involved in this case that expressed any disagreement with that judgment that we did not have the evidence to meet the high burden [of proof] that we carry in this case.10

Mr. Perez added that there was nothing further that federal officials could do to help the Lee family 

“because we have to deal with the statutory tools that are given us.”11 

In an impassioned response, Mr. Lee criticized the legalistic arguments offered for closing the case 

and letting the crime go unpunished: 

Problem is, someone did wrong, someone did wrong at the beginning. Right now it’s 

based on law, nobody responsible. What the heck is this society? Something wrong. 

State say according to the law this is that way. . . . If I kill person, it’s okay because 

according to law. We have to find who’s wrong and why is it wrong. Even [if] I cannot change it, let me know who did wrong. That’s what I wanted to know because I 

want to close my son’s case.12 

Implications of the Lee Case 

Most of the forum participants focused on the specifics of the Lee case; only a few addressed the 

broader question of whether Korean Americans consistently receive equal treatment in the justice 

system. No evidence was presented at the forum to show any pattern of disparate treatment of Korean 

Americans in the city courts or at any level of the justice system. Nonetheless, several remarks gave a 

glimpse of contrasting perceptions on this issue. 

Kenneth Lee, in his comments on the acquittal by the mostly African American jury in the Neverdon 

trial, alleged that juries in Baltimore are deliberately set up to exclude nonblack jurors: 

 

9

 Ibid., p. 277. 

10 Perez statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 263–64. 

11 Ibid., p. 268. In this context, Mr. Perez also mentioned that new legislation pending in Congress would broaden the basis 

for prosecution of hate crimes. The bill would amend the federal hate crime statute by adding three new protected categories (sexual orientation, gender, and disability), and eliminating the second part of the burden of proof (dealing with the 

exercise of federally protected rights) in cases involving racial or religious violence. Mr. Perez said that his office was 

actively supporting the legislation, but even if the bill were to pass, it would be too late to help the Lee family. 12 Lee statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 299–300. 
43

Whenever you go to the city, if you’re not black, if you’re white, like a juror, you’re 

out. This is Baltimore City’s trial. I don’t know. People say it is fair. . . . The problem 

right now is the jury system.13

Expressing frustration, anger, and anguish, Mr. Lee suggested that the unpunished murder of his son is 

emblematic of a failed justice system in which justice is denied to less powerful members of society: 

My son was slain with innocent way, [and] people right now die in innocent way, but 

there is no justice. . . . We think America has fair justice. We don’t have any fair justice here. Who controls the society, they belongs to their justice.14

On the other hand, two panelists strongly disputed the implication that Baltimore juries regularly allow racial bias to affect their verdicts. Mr. Gillard of the Community Relations Commission asked, 

Are black juries allowing black criminals to commit crimes against Korean American 

merchants and allowing them to go unpunished simply because the merchant is Korean? The answer is no, period.15

Rev. Douglas Miles of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance, while acknowledging that there 

is “some bias” against Korean Americans in the black community, asserted that most cases involving 

Korean victims and black jurors and suspects result in convictions: 

If you ask me [whether] African Americans, for the most part, can be fair in dispensing justice in cases involving people of other racial and ethnic groups, my answer is 

yes. History has shown that African Americans tend to be as anti-crime and anticriminal or more so than people of other ethnic groups. . . . The number of cases involving Korean business people and African American suspects and jurors that result 

in conviction of African American suspects, vastly outweigh those instances when 

one would feel that justice was not served.16

 

13 Ibid., pp. 146–47. 

14 Ibid., pp. 146–48. 

15 Gillard statement, Forum Transcript, p. 185. 

16 Miles statement, Forum Transcript, pp. 107–08. 
44

Chapter 7 

Observations 

Drawing on the testimony of participants in the July 1998 forum and the update, a brief summary of 

key observations of the Maryland Advisory Committee is presented below. 

Provision of Law Enforcement Services to Korean American Merchants 

The most specific complaints presented had to do with the quality of service provided to Korean 

American merchants when they call the police to their premises. The concerns raised were of two 

general types. First, there appears to be broad agreement that the language gap frequently affects interactions between Korean-speaking merchants, English-speaking officers, and English-speaking 

suspects, making it difficult for the merchants to present their version of the incident and have it 

taken seriously by the officer. The Baltimore Police Department has acknowledged the problem and 

taken steps to facilitate communication when officers respond to calls from Korean American businesses, and the police department representative believes the situation has improved significantly. 

After the forum, President Clinton issued Executive Order 13166 in August 2000, which requires that 

recipients of federal funding, such as state and local police, take responsible steps to ensure meaningful access to government services and programs by limited-English-proficient (LEP) individuals. In 

its guidance aimed at assisting agencies to ensure they comply with the requirements, the Department 

of Justice specifically addresses functions such as law enforcement and requires that when language 

interpretation is necessary and reasonable, it should be provided in a timely manner. While there is 

no definition for timeliness, the guidance is clear that “language assistance must be provided at a 

time and place that avoids the effective denial of the service, benefit, or right at issue.” Otherwise, 

meaningful access is denied. The failure to provide language assistance may constitute discrimination 

in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and its implementing regulations against national origin discrimination. It seems, however, that some Korean Americans still perceive continuing problems in providing language assistance. Thus, the police department should continue strengthening its 

efforts to ensure that officers have the resources they need to respond timely, appropriately, and 

fairly to calls from persons who speak limited English. 

Second, there are troubling allegations that racial bias on the part of some officers may have affected 

police handling of certain cases involving Korean American merchants. While the perception of bias 

appears to be widely shared among the merchants contacted, and was confirmed by Alvin O. Gillard, 

director of the Baltimore Community Relations Commission, only one such case was presented in 

detail at the forum; thus it is difficult to know whether the perception of biased behavior is well 

founded or how frequent such behavior may be. Nonetheless, it appears likely that the persistent tensions between the Korean American and African American communities in Baltimore do to some 

extent spill over into the law enforcement arena. The police representative noted that the department 

has provided cultural diversity training to all its personnel; enhanced its outreach for crime prevention to include special emphasis on Korean American storeowners; and tracked significant reductions 
45

in the number of crimes involving Korean American storeowners; these efforts should be continued 

and strengthened. Nevertheless, it is important for the city to take broader measures to increase dialogue and improve relations between Korean Americans and other communities in Baltimore City 

(see below). 

Provision of Fire/Ambulance Services to Korean American Merchants 

No evidence was presented to show that Korean American storeowners consistently receive a lower 

level of fire or ambulance services than other groups in the inner city. While the fire chief noted that 

there have been some miscommunications in telephone calls from Korean speakers, particularly 

when providing medical treatment, the Baltimore Fire Department has taken steps to improve its capacity to handle requests for service that come into the department from Korean citizens. Continued 

monitoring is needed to ensure that these measures are effective. The department should develop 

written internal policies as well as provide outreach to the community to promote an understanding 

of department policies for treating injury victims and handling other emergency situations for its Korean American citizens. 

Korean Americans and the Justice System 

The Joel Lee case unquestionably had a chilling effect in the Korean American community, and 

many members of this community continue to believe that the acquittal was a miscarriage of justice. 

However, no facts were presented at the forum that would shed any additional light on whether jury 

nullification actually occurred in this case, nor was any evidence presented to show a pattern of disparate or biased treatment of Korean Americans in the Baltimore courts. 

While the decision not to prosecute the case as a hate crime deeply disappointed the Lee family and 

others, the Department of Justice officials at the forum emphasized the seriousness with which the 

case was investigated. They explained the process leading to their finding that insufficient evidence 

existed to support a prosecution under the federal hate crime statute, an outcome that reflected the 

high burden of proof required by federal law. No evidence was presented to suggest that cases involving Korean Americans are handled differently from other potential hate crime cases investigated 

at the federal level. 

Relations with City Regulatory Agencies 

As merchants doing business in the city, Korean Americans in Baltimore have much at stake in their 

relations with city regulatory agencies, such as the health department, the liquor board, the zoning 

board, and others. In two cases discussed at the forum—the closing of Canaan Food and the attempts 

to close Chang’s Mart—panelists perceived that city agencies were vulnerable to pressure from more 

organized, vocal, and politically connected segments of the public, both black and white, to act 

against the interests of Korean American businesses. Although there was no opportunity to hear from 

representatives of the agencies mentioned, the variance in opposing perspectives as demonstrated by 

the Baltimore City Health Department’s vigorously defending the Canaan Food Outlet closing and 

that of Korean Americans raises concerns that the health department needs to better educate the public and ensure public confidence that regulatory agencies deal evenhandedly with all sectors of the 

population. 
46

Relations Between Korean American Merchants and Community Members 

Relations between Korean American merchants and the largely African American communities they 

serve are complex. While some merchants enjoy friendly relations with the neighborhoods where 

their stores are located, tensions and suspicions between the two groups persist and form the prism 

through which questions regarding equal access to city services are viewed. An easing of these tensions and the promotion of more positive relations would benefit not only the merchants but also all 

residents of Baltimore City. 

A number of positive efforts have been made to promote dialogue and understanding between Korean Americans and African Americans in Baltimore. These include, among others, the successful 

summer camp run by the Druid Heights Community Development Corporation, various cultural exchange initiatives undertaken by churches, and city-run seminars for discussion of intergroup relations and issues. Although their impact has been uneven, these efforts have undoubtedly been helpful 

on balance, and they should be continued and supported. In this regard, city agencies, community 

organizations, religious groups, and educational institutions should play leading roles in developing 

new ways to bring people together and promote dialogue and cooperative endeavors.1

Recently, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods added a new position among its liaison officers to 

focus on the Korean American community. The function of the liaison includes conducting outreach 

to the Korean business community, working to strengthen the relationship of Korean-owned businesses and the neighborhood where the businesses are located, working with Korean organizations 

and leadership, and working to increase the number of Koreans that choose to live in Baltimore City. 

This initiative, which began in early 2002, had a somewhat rocky start—its first incumbent departed 

after six months and it now has its third liaison after only two years. Moreover, a review of the accomplishments listed by the Office of Neighborhoods on its Web site reveals that although considerable outreach and liaison efforts are made for the Hispanic community, relatively little, if any, are 

made for the Korean community. The mayor needs to monitor the office to ensure that it fulfills the 

goals and vital work of Korean American community relations. 

City Agencies Can Do More 

City government agencies have an obligation to provide services and exercise their regulatory authority without bias. While the Maryland Advisory Committee found no consistent pattern of unfair 

treatment of Korean Americans with regard to these functions of city government, there are several 

ways in which the city can and should do more to ensure that Korean American merchants have 

equal access to city services and are treated fairly by city agencies. 

First, the language barrier is key. Strategies to overcome its effects may include, among others, providing access to Korean-language interpreters for service calls, printing and distributing information 

about services in Korean, and recruiting more Korean-speaking personnel for key city agencies that 

deal with the public. Agency representatives noted that the city has already taken some of these initiatives; these efforts should be expanded and strengthened. These initiatives not only serve the interest of improving the provision of services for the city’s Korean American citizens, but are also consistent with recently enacted federal and state law. In addition to President Clinton’s executive order 

 

1

 A new project started since the forum is the African-American/Korean Initiative, launched in February 2000 by Coppin 

State College, a historically black college in Baltimore. To foster a closer relationship between African Americans and 

Korean Americans in the Baltimore metropolitan area, the college is offering classes on the language, history, and culture 

of both groups, and the Coppin State College choir traveled to Korea in 1999 and 2000 to perform gospel music. 
47

requiring access to government programs and services for individuals with limited-English proficiency, Maryland has recognized the need to ensure that there are no barriers to benefits or services 

for LEP citizens. In 2002, Maryland passed Senate bill 265, a law that requires state departments, 

agencies, and programs provide equal access to public services for individuals with limited English 

proficiency. Included in the law is the requirement that agencies provide oral language assistance to 

any consumer that does not speak English. The law also requires all vital documents be translated 

into any language spoken by any LEP population that constitutes 3 percent of the overall population 

served by that agency. In light of the clear recognition—on both the federal and state level—that 

government services must be accessible to LEP individuals, city agencies should monitor their operations and determine what reasonable steps they need to take to achieve equal access to public services for their Korean American citizens. 

Second, cultural diversity and sensitivity training is needed to build the capacity of city personnel to 

relate effectively to the various ethnic communities they serve. The police department has undertaken 

this training in the past, and it should be continued and expanded to include relevant personnel in 

other agencies. 

Third, city agencies, both service providing and regulatory, need to reach out to the Korean American and African American communities—indeed to all city residents—to explain their functioning, 

their decision-making processes, and the decisions they make. Greater openness both in sharing information and in providing opportunities for citizen participation where appropriate can go a long 

way toward countering perceptions of bias and unequal treatment. 

Finally, a reality of urban life is that citizen groups with a higher level of organization and greater 

communicative capacity are more successful in making their voices heard, directing attention to their 

problems, and defending their interests against challenges. In practical terms, city agencies will become more responsive as the Korean American community continues to build its organizational 

structures and increase its participation in the city’s social and political life. The city should make 

sure that resources available to community organizations are adequately publicized, including 

through the dissemination of information in languages other than English, so that a broad range of 

groups in the city can take advantage of opportunities to secure resources for capacity building, 

communication, and community service projects. 
48

Appendix 1 

List of Forum Participants 

 Lynne A. Battaglia, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland 

 Kun Chang, owner, Chang’s Mart 

 Jeanna Cho, daughter of merchant Chang Joon Cho 

 Jackie Cornish, executive director, Druid Heights Community Development Corporation 

 Rev. Sidney Daniels, past president, Baltimore Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance 

 Alvin O. Gillard, director, Baltimore Community Relations Commission 

 Robert Kaufman 

 Keith Kim 

 Kenneth Lee, father of Joel Lee 

 Roxanne Maqsood 

 Robert Marsili 

 Rev. Douglas Miles, president, Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance 

 Irma Norton, employee, Chang’s Mart 

 Pyong Kuk Pak, president, Korean Society of Maryland 

 Julie Park 

 Kap Yung Park, vice president, Korean American Grocers Association of Maryland 

 Thomas E. Perez, Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the United States for Civil Rights 

 Tony Pressley, staff member, Druid Heights Community Development Corporation 

 Soshik Seo, president, Korean Business League 

 Col. Robert Smith, Baltimore Police Department 

 Herman Williams, chief, Baltimore Fire Department 












61

Appendix 5 

Interview Summary, Kap Yung Park, Vice President, Korean American Grocers 

Association of Maryland 

Kap Park participated in the update by telephone interview with Edward Darden of the Eastern Regional 

Office on July 24, 2002. The following is a summary of the points he made during the conversation: 

Welcomed improvements: 

 Previously negative perceptions of Korean Americans held by some African Americans have 

been changing and are abating in part due to informal interactions such as the Unity Day picnics 

to the extent that many persons across the two communities consider their intergroup relations as 

quite positive, even friendships. 

 There continues to be demand for his intensive three-week Korean-language course among African American children attending the Multicultural Summer Fun Camp in Baltimore’s inner city. 

Continuing problems: 

 None of the Baltimore City government’s actions has been sufficient to make a meaningful change 

in the everyday lives of most Korean American storeowners, including the police department’s hiring several new officers who speak Korean, and Mayor O’Malley’s expansion of the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods to include a liaison officer to the Korean American community. 

 Korean-language police officers are seldom available during late evening hours when Korean 

American storeowners are likely to need assistance. 

 Police officers arriving on the scene responding to emergency calls must request dispatch of a 

Korean-language police officers whose arrival seven of 10 times is too late to assist Korean 

American storeowners with English-language translation. 

 Police/Korean community liaison officers cannot facilitate quick resolution of even minor disputes. Instead they defer decisions to superior officers or advise the complaining storeowner to 

file his or her complaint through the department’s civilian complaints unit. 

 The Korean-language police officers and the Korean American community liaison officer hardly 

improve things for the storeowners for two reasons. First, Korean-language assistance arrives too 

late to help during crucial moments after a crime report, and second, the liaison’s lack of decision-making authority diminishes the possibility of resolving minor problems as they occur without resorting to the complaint process that the storeowners find too time consuming. 

 The mayor’s community liaison officer had taken the position less than a month before, and Mr. 

Park considered him too new in the post to comment on that government initiative (Joshua Lee, 

Korean community liaison, Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods, was appointed July 8 and dismissed December 31, 2002). 

 The two liaison positions coming from the police department and the mayor’s office appear to lack 

necessary authority to take action on the persistent concerns of Korean American storeowners. 

In conclusion, Mr. Park believed that such government actions as the police and mayor’s liaison officers 

were unlikely solutions to longstanding problems and part of election year politics. He favored consolidating the current special initiatives under a cabinet-level office of minority affairs and adding powers 

under the office that would enable it to serve minority groups generally, including Korean Americans.