Leadership Battle Escalates Over Who Will Run 2026 LA Korean Festival

A leadership dispute over who will run the Los Angeles Korean Festival is intensifying just three months before the annual event is scheduled to open in Koreatown.

The latest clash comes after a California appeals court upheld a lower-court ruling invalidating the removal of three foundation directors as well as the subsequent election of Alex Cha and two others to the board of the Los Angeles Korean Festival Foundation.

Despite the ruling, Cha, who has been serving as president of the foundation, issued a news release announcing this year’s festival dates and plans. Directors set to return to the board under the court ruling countered that Cha will not be in charge of the 2026 festival.

The dispute has raised concerns in the Korean American community that the foundation must quickly restore stable governance to prevent disruption to one of Los Angeles Koreatown’s largest annual events.

Cha’s side issued a news release on behalf of the foundation on June 30 officially announcing that the 53rd Los Angeles Korean Festival will be held Oct. 1-4 at Seoul International Park in Koreatown. The festival’s official website also lists the same dates and venue.

“This year’s Korean Festival will be a special stage showcasing the global rise of K-culture,” Cha’s side said.

But Yoonsook Park, one of the directors whose return to the board was affirmed by the appellate ruling, rejected the idea that Cha would continue leading the festival.

“Alex Cha will not be running this year’s festival,” Park told The Korea Daily on July 1.

He said the festival itself should proceed without interruption because much of the day-to-day preparation is handled by foundation staff.

“The employees are the ones who actually handle most of the practical preparations, so the festival itself will go forward without a problem,” Park said. “But for Cha to continue acting as though he owns the organization is an overreach that ignores the court’s decision.”

Park said that once the Court of Appeal’s decision becomes final and jurisdiction returns to the trial court, the lower court’s judgment can be enforced and Cha will have to leave the foundation under the required procedures.

The California Court of Appeal on June 23 affirmed the trial court judgment in Kim et al. v. Cha et al. The underlying litigation challenged the removal of Chester Kim, Howard Park and Al Ilsoon Choe and the election of Alex Myung Cha, Young Nae Lee and Benedict J. Pak to the nonprofit’s board. The appellate court upheld the judgment in favor of the plaintiffs.

Cha plans to seek California Supreme Court review

Cha’s side, however, says the legal battle is not over and plans to ask the California Supreme Court to review the case.

Yonah Hong, a spokesperson for Cha’s side, said a petition for review was expected to be filed around July 3.

“The future status of Chairman Cha and board members Brandon Lee and Ben Pak will depend on the Supreme Court’s final decision,” Hong said.

She said Cha had not immediately sought review because the Court of Appeal decision had not yet become final.

Under California appellate procedure, a Court of Appeal decision generally becomes final in that court 30 days after filing, after which the case proceeds through the remaining appellate process. The plaintiffs had also asked the appellate court to issue its remittitur immediately, according to the court docket.

Hong said preparations for the October festival have continued regardless of the litigation.

“Separate from the legal dispute, the staff has continued preparing for the festival,” she said. “Preparations are moving smoothly, and the food booths for this year’s festival were already sold out in January.”

Park dismissed the planned Supreme Court petition as an attempt to delay the leadership transition.

He accused Cha of using the period before the appellate ruling becomes final, along with the additional review process, to remain president through the October festival.

Park said the event can be run successfully without Cha.

“Jun Bae Kim, Ilsoon Choe and I have all previously served as foundation presidents and have experience putting on the festival,” she said. “We are making every preparation necessary to ensure that businesses and organizations participating in the festival are not harmed.”

The same directors had previously said they intended to preserve the broad framework of preparations already underway while making whatever changes were necessary to ensure the Oct. 1-4 festival proceeds as scheduled.

The legal dispute dates back to disagreements over the selection of new directors in 2023. The three directors who were later removed argued that the newly selected board members did not meet eligibility requirements under the foundation’s bylaws. The conflict escalated when they were expelled from the board.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court subsequently ruled that their removal was invalid and also invalidated the election of the new directors. On June 23, the Second District Court of Appeal affirmed that judgment.

With the festival approaching, both sides insist the event itself will take place as planned.

The unresolved question is who will be in charge when the gates open in October.