COMMUNITY WATCH : The Right Thing

Hyung Kim, a Korean immigrant, and Decatur James, a retired African-American railroad worker, have little in common besides their South Los Angeles neighborhood and a deeply shared mutual goal: To help create better understanding and harmony between the Korean shopkeeper and his patrons and neighbors.

Kim and his wife, Connie, are making a conscious effort, with the help of customers like James, to overcome language and cultural barriers that have triggered friction and ill will toward Korean merchants in some black communities here and elsewhere.

By learning and working with each other they hope to avoid ugly confrontations, such as the year-long black boycott of two Korean-owned grocery stores in Brooklyn. The boycott was in protest to the alleged mistreatment of a customer by one of the store owners.

Kim’s Royalty Market is one of 800 liquor and convenience stores owned by Koreans. Located mostly in black and Latino neighborhoods on the south side of Los Angeles, they tend to be operated by immigrants who toil long hours and are very protective of their shops and merchandise. Too often small misunderstandings ignite explosive feelings of resentment, distrust and disrespect.

Community efforts like the Black-Korean Alliance have been under way since 1986 to relieve tensions between Korean and African-Americans. Two men in South-Central Los Angeles named Hyung Kim and Decatur James are making a sometimes hostile city a little less mean.