3.30.2009

a heated campaign for president

According to the New York Times, the three candidates have spent upward of $200,000 each, hired campaign staffs, opened campaign offices, speechified and debated, conducted polling, recorded campaign songs and distributed carloads of campaign paraphernalia.

It's the biggest political campaign New York has seen since... who knows? All for the coveted title of the presidency of the Korean-American Association of Greater New York, a volunteer position in an organization that many Korean Americans, including its staff members, say is largely ceremonial.

But social and professional associations are a central part of Korean immigrant life, and candidates Semok Lee, Chang Yon Han and Yonghwa Ha aren't messing around: A Heated Campaign for a Ceremonial Post. The election was yesterday. So who won?

UPDATE: When all was said and done, victory for the presidency of the Korean-American Association of Greater New York went to 52-year-old insurance agent Yonghwa Ha: A Pitched Battle to Lead New York Koreans.

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