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Los Angeles, USA, there is a building that preserves the history of our independence movement.

This is the headquarters of the Heungdan Division established by Dosan Ahn Chang-ho.

However, a few years ago, a Chinese construction company bought the building and set out to build an apartment.



Reporter Shin Jeong-eun covered it.



<Reporter>



Dosan Ahn Chang-ho has a dream of independence and is determined to gather Koreans scattered abroad to educate young people.



In 1913, Heungdan, a national independence movement group, was established and headquartered in Los Angeles, USA. This is the place.



Here, Heungdan contributed to national education for liberation and the provision of funds for the Provisional Government.



Nearly 100 years have passed, but you can still find it.



A recent view of the building sent by a local Korean.



The yard is overgrown with trees and tents are tangled up.



There is even a demolition notice on the front of the door, making it even more cheesy.




The members of Heungdan's team suffered damage from the earthquake in 1978 and had no choice but to sell the building to raise funds.



[Lee Jang-hoon/Former Chairman of the Americas Committee of the Heung Club: (The Heung Club members) are all old and die a lot, and even international students have no money, including me.]



Two years ago, the building was put up for sale, so I had an opportunity to get it back, but 2 billion won. Couldn't come up with any significant expenses.



In the end, it was bought by a Chinese construction company and even got permission from the city of Los Angeles to demolish it, saying that it would build an apartment.



The Korean government's purchase was also considered, but it's not a good thing.



This is because the builder is likely to charge exorbitantly high prices.



Eventually, the Koreans started running for the purpose of designating a historic site.



I applied for designation of a historic site with the city of Los Angeles, and related public hearings have already been held once and there are three more to come.



[Joanne Kim / Los Angeles City Council Chief Adviser: After the Cultural Heritage Committee votes on whether to designate a historic site or not, it will go to the Los Angeles City Council for further procedures.]



However, as the construction company appoints a large law firm, the response is not easy.



[Lee Jun-hak / Heungdan's LA branch manager: (Chinese construction company side) He is a famous lawyer who knows all the lawmakers who participated in it. If it is designated as a historic site, there will be significant damage, so we will actively defend it.]



[Bae Hyun-jin / Rep. of People's Power: As it is a valuable historical asset of the struggle for independence, if the people in Korea support it with great interest and add strength...

.] The



next public hearing is on the 4th of next month.



You can attend via the Internet live link and make a statement of support.



(Video coverage: Choi Dae-woong, video editing: Lee Hong-myeong, screen provided: Lee Jun-hak)