Liquor Store Owned By Korean American Vandalized With ‘Go Back To Korea’ Graffiti

March 16, 2017

A Korean liquor and deli shop owner in Washington D.C. came to work one day to find racist graffiti spray painted on the building.

The owner of Kogod Liquors & Deli, who remains unnamed, found that their business had been vandalized with the phrase “Go Back To Korea” which was promptly reported to the police. The owner then cleaned off the writing on the wall and proceeded to go back to work.

The store has been in business since 1946, according to Popville. In 1997, the store went under the management of an owner of Korean descent. According to their Facebook account, they have been selling the “best variety of wine, whiskey, and liquors in the district,” not to mention“fantastic sandwiches, fries, and rice bowls.”

Despite the situation, the current owners of Kogod released a statement stating how proud they are to be Korean Americans. In addition, they also said that they have made Washington D.C. their home and they have no plans to go elsewhere.

“Hello, this is Kogod Liquors & Deli. We have been in operation at our location at 441 New Jersey Avenue NW since 1946, just steps away from the U.S. Capitol. The current owners of Kogod have been operating the store for 20 years, since 1997.

“This morning, we came to work to find a racist graffiti on our wall, reported below. While we are proud to be Korean Americans, we have made Washington D.C. our home for decades, and we do not plan on going anywhere else. It is sad to find out that there are people who thought otherwise.

“Having said that, it is not our wish to turn this into any kind of political statement, other than to say that the graffiti was racist and racism is unacceptable. As soon as we took a picture of the graffiti to leave a record and reported to the police for vandalism, we erased the graffiti and got back to work—because we would prefer to focus on serving food and drinks.

“We ask that you also respect our wishes to get back to work and put this unpleasant episode behind us. This will be only statement regarding this issue, and we respectfully ask for no further media coverage or interview requests. Thank you.”

They called the unfortunate incident an act of racism that is “unacceptable.” Nevertheless, Kogod also said that they want to get back to work and put this offense behind them.

Share this Article