September 8, 2004


Re: Case Number 275912



To the esteemed Judge

I am plaintiff Simon Bae. I do not want to go to court on September 24. I do not even want to see the face of the attorney Jeffrey B. Endler.

I have been working as a journalist for the past 34 years, and have never seen such an irresponsible attorney. Can we call someone a lawyer when they completely mess up a case that should have been won?

This person, during the appeals process, would not even meet with his client. He evaded me and was difficult to reach by phone. Ultimately, he did not even prepare for the hearing but delayed things for six months and have worried me, the client as such. He asked for the attorney fees up front and then evaded me on purpose.

Finally, he did not even file the appropriate papers for the appeal, and then went to court in December of 2003 where the judge said to him, “are you a California attorney? Why did you come here without filing the papers?” He answered by saying that this was the first time ever doing an appeals case and thus enraged the judges.

Consequently, due to such “suspicious” lawyers’ actions, I was not able to disclose the facts about this very important matter regarding the illegal election of the Korean Community President. I, as an immigrant, was surprised to find that such lawyers of feeble ethics existed here in America. I immediately reported this fact to the FBI and the California Bar Association.

Because of such reasons, I am writing you today to let you know that I do not want to go to court and face that hideous attorney. I am very sorry about this.





__________________________________
Simon Bae
President and Editor of Korea Unitypress TV




October 12, 2004


Korea Unity Press, U.S.A., Simon Bae
Plaintiff

Vs.

Korean American Federation of Los Angeles; Ki Hwan Ha
Defendant

Case No. BC275912

Judge: Hon. Kenneth Freeman



Honorable Judge Freeman,

I am plaintiff Simon Bae publisher and editor of Korea Unity Press, U.S.A.

1.        The plaintiff does not have the funds to hire an attorney. Therefore, I plan to proceed with this case with only a court interpreter.
2.        Defendant Ki Hwan Ha has completely ignored the very fundamental democratic principles and laws of this country. He has specifically broken the rules governing the non-profit organizations of California. The defendant is not at all regretful of his wrongdoings, but rather has sent his daughter (as attorney) to court. And after he has lost his case, he has hired a law firm to appeal the case and attack the weak points of this poor plaintiff thereby violating certain ethical rules of attorneys.
3.        This is the essence of this case: the defendant, who was elected as president of the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles(there was another suit in 2000 for corruption in the election process), which is the premier Korean American organization and which is also registered as a California non-profit organization. The defendant, after his term of two years has passed, decided that he wanted to serve another term, and so amended the bylaws by his own accord and extended his term. He proclaimed that on May of 2002, that he has been re-elected without an election which caused a tremendous stir within the Korean community. This kind of incident is the first of its kind in the Korean Community since 1960. Moreover, the amendment of bylaws do not apply to the defendant. That is because we’ve never had anyone who wanted serve two terms as president. (Especially, the end of the term of the presidency for the past twenty years was to be on January 30th. However, the defendant, on his own accord, extended that term to June. )

However, no one wanted to confirm the illegality of this practice through a trial. (The defendant has assets totaling some 10 million dollars some of which are corrupt. He also has a record of being indicted by some 100 Korean real estate investors for fraud. This case about the illegal amendment of the bylaws has also started because of the defendant’s arrogant mindset that since “I have a lot of money, who will dare take me to court?.”

4.        Just as the judgment was passed on July 10, 2002 after three trials regarding the “provisional disposition of cessation of term for the defendant,” the defendant has completely disregarded the bylaws and posited that the amendment of the bylaws fall under the authority of the board of directors. However, the defendant continued to lose his cases. The rules governing the non-profit organizations of California states that when a president wants to extend his/her term, one has to give notice to the registered members (some 20,000 constituents who take part in the election process) and open a hearing. However, as stated above, the defendant said “there may be a lawsuit later, but I can’t help that” during a press conference. He then went on to amend the bylaws with only 18 out of the 45 board members present. At the time of the amending process, as the defendant claims, not even 2/3 of the board of directors were present. Because the board members would not show up, he tried to gather them illegally three times. Then, finally he received a fax from the board members and then told the media and newspapers that 2/3 of the members were present and the amendment has passed. This fact that they were not present but sent faxes, this is also illegal. (The members of the board of directors are almost all supporters of the defendant.)

What’s especially grave is the fact that when 2/3 of the board members were not present, he lied and said that they were present. Then he forged the signature of Mrs. Grace Han who is the head of the bylaw amendment committee and submitted this to the court.

Evidence: Mrs. Grace Han, during the trials in July of 2002 told the plaintiff and friend at a hotel coffee shop that the submitted signature was forgery. After the fact, the defendant bought off Grace Han and later received the signature that 2/3 were present and submitted it to the court.

5.        Therefore, since Korean American Federation of Los Angeles is not a private company, it must receive consent from the constituents (who are the registered voters only) to extend the term of the presidency. However, the defendant has claimed that the amendment of the bylaws falls under the authority of the board of directors and not the registered voters and thus disregarded the principles of a democracy. This is clearly a violation.

To the honorable judge,

The Appeals trial was unjust. The court disregarded the request to cease the term of the illegal extension. The appeals process dragged on for more than one year and so this corrupt president was able to finish out his illegitimate term and snickered at the court system as he stepped down. There was a problem of having this appeals case tried anew after the defendant has stepped down. How can this be? The right of the citizen to receive a speedy trial has been abrogated. And as a result, the Korean American community maintains until now this unlawful bylaw. Moreover, the defendant has created another clause in the bylaws called “limitations of registering for the president candidacy” which states that even if there is nothing legally holding you back from running for the presidency, if you don’t have the funds to register yourself, then you cannot run. Defendant, Ki Hwan Ha and those who took part in the election trials  have no right to run for president for the next ten years. They change the bylaws of the election process as they wished and did many other illegal activities which violate the spirit of democracy.

That is why the plaintiff even sold their car to pay the attorney’s fees. I was also deeply shocked by the betrayal of my lawyer. However, I stand in earnest desire to receive a fair trial regarding the illegal activities of the defendant which completely overlooked and disregarded the rules of California non-profit organizations.

Such outrageous acts as lying about the presence of 2/3 of the board members when actually they were not there, then forging the signature; I wish to see such activities be justly dealt with. Even now some 700,000 Korean immigrants, the Korean government, and principal American organizations are watching this case. Even the deputy chief of LAPD, Mr. Paul Kim, a Korean, once said that “there were laws being broken in this democratic country.” I earnestly await your adjudication so that the defendant may not abuse his wealth and power even in the court settings. Please let me be able to experience the justice of America which was founded upon the spirit of the Puritans and the spirit of opposing injustice.


Thank you





Plaintiff Simon Bae, Korea Unity Press, USA.
* 발행인님에 의해서 게시물 이동되었습니다 (2005-12-22 15:03)