Koreatown unrest and rebirth

L.A.’s Koreatown, above, has produced many banks. Hanmi Bank, one of the largest, announced a major expansion through its planned acquisition of Central Bancorp of Texas, which also has branches in Illinois, Virginia, New York and New Jersey.   (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Young Ok Lee, right, hands candy to 1-year-old Adrian Lopez at her OK Liquor store on 8th Street in Koreatown. Lee’s store was unscathed in the 1992 riots.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Yume Han, left, and Jimmy Han tend to customers from behind the bar at Beer Belly in Koreatown. In 1992, Jimmy watched the neighborhood burn around him. Last year he and Yume moved into a Wilshire Boulevard condo and opened up Beer Belly. Many of their diverse clientele walk or bike to the pub.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Writer and director Reubs, of Venice, smokes a cigarette on a small patio at Beer Belly in Koreatown. Koreatown is younger than it was in 1992, with a greater diversity of businesses and residents.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

A shopper looks at Tiffany sunglasses at Luxi Eyewear at the Koreatown Galleria in Koreatown.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Tafari Bayne, left, works on his laptop at a table in Tom N Toms coffee shop on Wilshire Boulevard in Koreatown. Bayne, who grew up in South L.A. and now lives on the outskirts of a burgeoning Koreantown, is a community organizer and activist who believes Koreatown has the infrastructure to sustain local, urban living.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Gus Hernandez, left, and Sascha Vandersilk eat macaroni and cheese at Beer Belly. Koreatown is a diverse cross-section of Los Angeles. Nestled within it is a Little Bangladesh and a community of Oaxacans, as well as Salvadorans, Guatemalans and Filipinos.  (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)