Since Monday, November 4, false and malicious statements have been made about the Korean Resource Center (KRC) and our former Executive Director, Jonathan Paik. We write to you as current and former KRC staff to set the record straight and shed light on the actual injustices that have occurred at this organization under the leadership of Board President Dae Joong (DJ) Yoon.
In the past two weeks, three of the longest-serving staff at KRC submitted their resignation to protest the Board President DJ Yoon. The three staff who resigned include the Executive Director (Jonathan Paik) and two of the longest-tenured staff (Yongho Kim and Jenny Seon). Yongho worked at KRC since 2006, when our youngest staff was barely 10 years old. Yet, Yongho quit in protest of DJ and the KRC Board.
For the past 20 years, DJ Yoon recruited idealistic members of the community to join KRC, only to exploit and steal their labor, causing them to leave the organization beleaguered and isolated from the immigrant rights movement. Afraid of relinquishing his control, DJ Yoon has held an unrelenting grip over KRC for decades. In recent months, the KRC Board, led by DJ Yoon and fellow Board members, Inbo Sim and Angela Oh, have divided the organization and acted viciously to drive out emerging leaders who have steered positive changes at KRC and in the community.
The ways that their insecurities have manifested in the past few months have been shocking:
- Board President DJ Yoon and Board member Inbo Sim manufactured a false and nonexistent budget crisis to justify laying off nearly half the staff;
- DJ and Board members retaliated against 11 current and former staff members who had asked for DJ’s resignation through a workplace complaint letter;
- Board members engaged in union-busting tactics when staff unionized;
- Board members enabled then-Program Manager Young Ran Kim (a long-time friend of DJ and Inbo since the 1990s) to publicly spread false information about Jonathan Paik demanding his resignation; and
- After Jonathan’s resignation, the Board installed Young Ran Kim as de facto Executive Director of KRC.
The series of events that played out are disturbing and go against every value that we thought KRC stood for. DJ Yoon, Inbo Sim, Angela Oh, and Young Ran Kim must be held accountable for the harm and irreparable damage they have caused to KRC and KRC staff.
Below is a summary of the events that transpired:
