By Chris Fuchs
Five men who are members of a Korean gang with ties to Flushing were charged last week with assaulting six waiters in a Bayside home, forcing one to eat dog food, then burning his tongue with a lighted cigarette, according to court papers.
The assault allegedly occurred on the afternoon of June 17, 1997, while the six waiters, who worked at a Korean bar in Manhattan, were sleeping at the house of the bar’s owner, Misun Cho, in Bayside, papers filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District said.
Under orders from their superiors, five members of a gang known as Korean Power drove to the house, on 214th Place, to repossess a car that the waiters were keeping as collateral for a loan they had made to the manager of the same bar, the papers said. Four of the five men, identified in court papers as Yun Kim, Jin Kim, Daniel Kim, Min Kim, were arrested at the house after one of the waiters broke free and was able to alert the police.
The fifth man, Seung Sin, who is accused of leading the attack, was arrested sometime later since he and another gang member, an informant, had left the house to drive the manager’s car back to their superiors, the court documents said.
It was unclear why the U.S. attorney’s office is prosecuting the case nearly five years after the assault took place. The men were charged with committing violent crimes in aid of racketeering and may face up to three years in prison if convicted, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office said.
The five men were originally charged with assault in State Supreme Court in Queens, said Mary de Bourbon, a spokeswoman for the Queens district attorney. In February 2000, they were convicted and sentenced to five years’ probation, she said.
In the court papers unsealed last week, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation described Korean Power as a hierarchical gang with roots in Flushing, whose chain of command is clearly drawn. For several years, the agent said in the papers, the FBI had been investigating Korean Power and the activities of its members, many of whom are allegedly involved in drug trafficking, violence and prostitution.
If a Korean Power leader issues an order, the subordinates are expected to carry it out. In the case of the six waiters who were beaten, the two highest authorities in the gang ordered the beatings to retrieve a car that the waiters were holding until a loan they had made to the bar’s manager was paid off, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
They also paid the men to punish the waiters, the papers said. The attack was done as a favor for the uncle of the manager of the bar, an establishment in Manhattan that caters mostly to Korean women, according to the papers.
Around 3:30 p.m. June 17, 1997, the six waiters were sleeping at the bar owner’s house in Bayside, according to court papers. The car was parked in the driveway. Suddenly, they were awakened by a half-dozen men wielding iron pipes, knives and guns, the papers said.
Over the course of several hours, the six waiters were beaten and kicked by the gang members, and one was even forced to eat dog food, the papers said. His tongue was then burned with a lighted cigarette. One of the victims managed to escape through an open window, the papers said, and called the police . Five of the six defendants were arrested at the house.
Reach reporter Chris Fuchs by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 156.
