A Southern California real estate investment controversy involving Won Suk Kim, head of Won Suk Kim Real Estate, has spread beyond the Korean American community as a viral social media video accusing him of misconduct draws widespread attention.
A video targeting Kim, posted August 4 on Instagram, Facebook and Threads, surpassed 1.47 million views within a day. Dead Presidents, an influencer who produces confrontation-style complaint videos, told The Korea Daily on August 5 that ITMMF, a company claiming it suffered losses involving Kim, hired him to confront Kim and produce the video. He said a second video is also being prepared. Dead Presidents has more than 110,000 followers on Instagram.
In the video, Dead Presidents visits a home in Cerritos and confronts Kim and his former wife, Erika Kim, telling them that ITMMF suffered significant losses because of them and demanding an explanation. Text shown in the video alleges that ITMMF lost $1.08 million because of a breach of contract by Kim’s side. Neither Kim nor his former wife offered a substantive response in the footage, while Kim called police.
Dead Presidents said ITMMF is a type of family-run business but declined to provide further details about the company.
The influencer later went to Won Suk Kim Real Estate, Kim’s office in Norwalk, where he raised the allegations again and staged a protest outside the building.
Dead Presidents accused Kim of taking people’s money while continuing to live a wealthy lifestyle after businesses suffered losses. He also criticized the alleged targeting of investors who had spent their lives building savings, particularly Korean American seniors.
The video drew numerous critical comments from viewers outside the Korean American community. Some commenters questioned the source of the money behind the home and vehicles shown in the video, while others speculated that Kim may have hidden millions of dollars.
Kim disputed the accusations in a phone interview with The Korea Daily on August 5. He said he did not know ITMMF, the company claiming losses, but said he knew who had sent Dead Presidents to confront him.
Kim said his attorney sent a letter to the influencer stating that attempts to demand money before the completion of bankruptcy proceedings were unlawful.
Regarding the Cerritos home shown in the video, Kim said only his former wife and children currently live there. He said he contacted police but was told officers had limited authority to intervene because peaceful protest is protected by the First Amendment. Kim added that he plans to file a complaint with the city of Cerritos.
Kim also rejected the characterization of investors who lost money as victims. He said investments can generate either profits or losses and argued that an investment loss should not automatically be described as victimization.
