The removal and relocation of displays in Los Angeles City Hall is upsetting some in the Korean and Japanese communities, who are calling it disrespectful.
The displays will be replaced by the Olympic flags scheduled to be given to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass by the Mayor of Paris ahead of the LA28 Olympics.
These displays were gifts from LA’s sister cities of Nagoya, Japan in 1959 and Busan, South Korea in 1982. They’ve been part of City Hall for decades.
The city says a replica of a Korean turtle ship, a gift from Busan, and a portable shrine called a Mikoshi from Nagoya are being moved to the LA Convention Center.
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Former Koreatown Neighborhood Council President Scott Suh is among those who are angry about the relocation.
“It’s not good it's very disrespectful it's very insensitive,” says Suh. “Once our diplomatic artifact goes to the Convention Center it's not a diplomatic artifact anymore it just becomes a display item that is very very disrespectful to the communities of Korean and Japanese.”
Ellen Endo of the Little Tokyo Business Association says for decades the sister cities have been exchanging visitors as well as gifts. Endo says she’s concerned that the gifts will continue to get moved and damaged in the process.
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“This is been kind of a jarring move,” says Endo. “They didn’t ask what our opinion was they just decided to clean house.”
In a posted sign, the city wrote, “This relocation will allow for an entirely new audience to be able to enjoy these works of art as we continue to enhance and preserve their rich history in Los Angeles."
The city also says Juarez busts from Mexico are also being relocated from City Hall to the Historic El Pueblo on Olvera Street.
