S. Korea buys independence group’s ex-headquarters building in U.S.

SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Yonhap) — The South Korean government has purchased a building in the United States that once served as the headquarters of a Korean independence movement group in order to preserve the historical site, officials said Thursday.

The veterans ministry said it signed a deal Tuesday (U.S. time) to buy the building in Los Angeles, which was the Young Korean Academy’s headquarters from 1929 to 1948. The group was founded in 1913 by Ahn Chang-ho, an independence fighter against Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.

After Korea’s liberation, the building had been used to support the Korean community in America, such as for education and rights protection, until 1979, when the group’s aging members sold it due to financial problems.

In 2020, a real estate company purchased the building with plans to demolish it for a redevelopment project. But the move came to a halt after civic groups applied for the site to be registered as a historical monument of the city.

When the company offered to sell the building last May, the ministry decided to purchase it. The ministry plans to hold discussions with the local Korean community on ways to utilize the building and carry out renovations for a reopening on Aug. 15, 2025, in time for Korea’s Liberation Day.

“The veterans ministry plans to utilize the Young Korean Academy’s old headquarters as a place for dialogue, and a cultural and education site for not only the 600,000 Koreans in Southern California but also for local residents,” Veterans Minister Park Min-shik was quoted as saying.