Young

RIVERSIDE — It would not have been an easy reelection bid in any case for freshman Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Riverside), who barely made it to Congress two years ago.

But now Calvert’s biggest reelection hurdle may be his own indiscretions, which also could pose a problem in surviving even his own party’s June primary.

The reason: After months of denying it, Calvert, 40, has admitted having sex in his car one night last November with a woman who police say is a known prostitute.

Initially, Calvert–a member of a prominent Riverside County family–said he was doing nothing wrong with the woman when police saw them together on a Corona street.

Corona police said simply that the congressman was spotted sitting in his car with a female, that there was no criminal activity and that after a few words the congressman drove off.

But the Riverside Press-Enterprise newspaper went to court to press Corona for release of confidential police reports that had been prepared by officers who were sensitive to the fact that they had a street-level encounter with their local congressman.

The city was ordered to release the report, which indicated that there had been evidence of a sex act under way, and an embarrassed Calvert responded with a prepared statement.

“My conduct that evening was inappropriate,” he said–not because it was illegal, but because “it violated the values of the person I strive to be.” He admitted that he was caught in “an extremely embarrassing situation.”

He said he did not pay for the sex. He said he “panicked and tried to drive away” when the officers confronted him, but “came to my senses” and cooperated with them.

Corona Police Capt. John Dalzell said Calvert was not detained or arrested because “while the officer saw certain things, he didn’t see everything necessary to support a finding that a crime was committed.” Dalzell said there was no witness to an exchange of money for services, and neither party claimed to be a victim.

Dalzell said Calvert did not try to exert influence to avoid arrest. He said the officer’s decision not to pursue the matter “wasn’t a close call. He didn’t even call for a supervisor.”

In his explanation for his conduct that night, Calvert said he had come back from a rough week in Washington and was reeling from his father’s suicide a year earlier, as well as his wife’s request for a divorce, which had been granted just a few weeks before.

“I was feeling intensely lonely,” he said. “I realize now that this, or a similar incident, was probably inevitable.”

Calvert, who worked in commercial real estate before his election to Congress in 1992, was expected to coast to his party’s nomination this year to represent western Riverside County in Washington. His opponent in the primary, conservative Joe Khoury, 47, a professor of finance at UC Riverside, ran second behind Calvert in the primary two years ago but thinks he can prevail this time.

“I thought he was vulnerable, even before this incident,” Khoury said. “Riverside is conservative, and voters’ reaction to this is not pleasant. It plays differently here than it would in, say, Los Angeles.”

Calvert’s campaign manager, Ed Slevin, agreed that Calvert will have his hands full winning the primary because of the Corona incident. “I assume he’s more vulnerable in June among conservative Republicans than he’ll be in November,” he said. “I think that, by then, it’ll be considered old news.”

If Calvert wins the primary, his Democratic challenger is expected to be Mark Takano, a high school history and English teacher and trustee of the Riverside Community College District. Takano lost to Calvert by a little more than 500 votes in 1992, and is expected to handily win his party’s nomination in June against a single challenger.

Takano scolded Calvert for not coming clean earlier about the Corona incident. “Mr. Calvert has only himself to blame for his becoming a bigger issue than putting people back to work, fighting crime and improving our schools,” Takano said.

Democratic Party strategists said that, even before Calvert’s encounter with the woman in Corona, the 43rd Congressional District seat had been targeted for turnover because of what they characterized as Calvert’s lackluster performance in Washington during his first stint there and his vulnerability back home.

In the trunk of his battered 10-year-old Ford sedan, Larry Gross stores half a dozen scarred yellow folding chairs. The chairs, strewn among volleyballs, softball equipment and long-discarded papers, are essential equipment for a man who spends much of his life arranging and attending meetings.

Gross is a professional organizer, a man whose career is measured in meetings. He sets up his chairs everywhere in the tiny city of West Hollywood, in the dingy church office where he works, in the clean, well-lighted offices of City Hall, in cramped apartment common rooms and in sparsely furnished election headquarters.

What he accomplishes at those meetings often has immediate impact on the fortunes of the 16-month-old city. With the aid of a small band of young leftist activists and a loyal army of elderly Jewish tenants, Gross has built a potent grass-roots version of a political machine and become the city’s most commanding power broker.

Formidable Power Bloc

In the process, his Coalition for Economic Survival has transformed itself from a Los Angeles-based fringe pressure group with limited successes in rent control and street demonstrations into West Hollywood’s most formidable power bloc. No other organized group in the city wields as much influence or inflames as much controversy.

The coalition and its supporters have elected two of the city’s five council members–both of whom face reelection on April 8–and are priming for a third. Some of its volunteer members have wangled key appointments to the city’s commissions. Others have been hired in policy-making posts in the city’s fledgling bureaucracy.

“West Hollywood is (the coalition’s) oil gusher,” said Ron Stone, who led the city’s incorporation movement. “They’ve dug holes all over Los Angeles, but they never struck deep until they came to West Hollywood. They worked hard here and they deserve the rewards.”

The coalition’s primacy has alienated many of those who are accustomed to holding power. Landlords are roused to fury by the mere mention of Larry Gross’ name. Businessmen worry that the coalition’s continuing dominance will cost them profits. Rival politicians are jealous of the group’s clout. Even some council members seethe privately at the coalition’s refusal to compromise on minor political issues.

“CES is run by a very small group of people,” said Tony Melia, an insurance man who chairs a faction of moderate businessmen challenging the coalition for political supremacy in the April election. “They are a mystery to us all.”

Grist for Criticism

Nearly every move that the 34-year-old Gross makes as director of his coalition becomes instant grist for criticism: Passing folded notes to Mayor John Heilman and Councilwoman Helen Albert (both coalition members), Gross is accused of controlling their votes. Taping a flag over his office desk, he is branded a Communist (Gross described the flag, which has been taken down, as a United Farm Workers banner; his enemies say it was a hammer and sickle). Shaving his wispy beard and wearing suits instead of flannel shirts, he is said to be cleaning up his act for public consumption.

“People set me up as the enemy all the time,” Gross said. “They do it out of fear and envy. They really don’t have the foggiest notion of what CES is all about.”

Gross’ Hold on Coalition

Their obsession with Gross is hardly unwarranted. About 13 years after he founded the coalition with a group of peace activists and leftist leaders, Gross is the only original member left. Organizers and volunteers have come and gone, leaving because of “activist burnout,” because they needed a better-paying job or because of personal or philosophical conflicts. But Gross remains.

Although ostensibly a democratic organization, the coalition has remained securely in Gross’ control. His partisans say he is central to CES because of his natural leadership abilities; former members and enemies attribute his endurance to Machiavellian political cunning. But in the end, many who have watched Gross say he remains in control of the coalition because he simply is the coalition.

“Our success all trickles down from Larry,” said Jacqueline Balogh, the coalition’s membership director. “Without him, CES wouldn’t exist.”

Gross is a lean, fox-faced man who has a closet athlete’s fascination with competitive sports and a weakness for interrupting his organizing activities to attend Dodger and Laker home games.

He tries to keep his private life shielded from public scrutiny. “I don’t like the focus on me,” he said in a recent interview. “It’s the organization and what it has accomplished that’s important.”

Friends and former acquaintances say Gross lives in a sparsely furnished rented duplex in Echo Park. Five years ago, he made barely $500 a month at his job. These days, he makes more, but declines to reveal a figure. He still drives his decade-old Ford despite its growing list of automotive maladies.

His voice bears traces of a Queens accent that becomes thicker when he excitedly addresses crowds. “The landlords are trying to say rent control is not an issue in dis campaign!” he roared to an enthusiastic hall filled with senior citizens early this month. “The reason is dey don’t stand for strong rent control!”

Odd Man Out

The accent is one of the few facets of Gross’ activist life style that he has not polished. His is a career that began at Forest Hills High School in New York, where Gross found himself odd man out among fellow students in the late 1960s. “I was the only radical on campus,” he said.

He is the son of divorced parents. His father, a trade school teacher, lives in Miami; his mother, a volunteer with the Simon Wiesenthal Center, lives in Los Angeles, not far from West Hollywood. Both were influences on his burgeoning activism, his father as an active union member, his mother as a Holocaust survivor.

“What she went through outraged me whenever I thought about it,” Gross said.

Often joining older college students in peace marches at Central Park and other anti-Vietnam War activities, Gross graduated from high school with few prospects. He took a job as a clothing store salesman, but in 1972, came to Los Angeles to visit his mother, who had moved here.

Extending his stay by taking political science classes at Los Angeles City College, he became active in local efforts to drum up support for the impeachment of President Richard Nixon. Drifting between activist groups, Gross in 1973 became involved in new union of peace and civil rights organizations which was protesting Nixon’s cuts in social service budgets.

The umbrella group became the Coalition for Economic Survival. “They had a little flat on Vermont Avenue with a small file cabinet in the back,” said Rosa Factor, an early coalition volunteer. “It was real small-scale. Larry was a lot different in those days. His hair was long and frizzy, hippie-style.”

Strong Points

The group’s forte was picket line protest and street theater. Demonstrating against high milk prices in 1974, coalition organizers toured inner-city shopping centers, urging a boycott. Gross and his fellow activists spoke from the back of a pickup truck, where they mounted a purple papier-mache cow named “C. Brunel Cow” after then-state Agriculture Secretary C. Brunel Christensen. At a later demonstration, protesting a Pico-Union expansion of a Pep Boys warehouse complex, Gross and his followers marched to the chant: “Manny, Moe and Jack! We want our buildings back!”

At first preoccupied with consumer issues such as rising bus fares and utility costs, the coalition managed to win favorable coverage in newspaper and television reports. They had little influence, however, on the commissions which made the decisions.

Skyrocketing rents that accompanied Los Angeles’ real estate speculation fever in the late 1970s gave the coalition a ready-made issue. “We cut our teeth on rent control,” said Norman Chramoff, a former coalition member who now works in West Hollywood’s rent control administration. “That’s when CES membership grew and grew.”

The new members were senior citizens, outraged that their rents were doubling and tripling, often in the span of a year. After learning to live on fixed incomes, many elderly tenants became afraid that they would be evicted from apartments where they had lived for years.

Remembering the horrors of the Depression, many seniors feared a return to poverty. “Anybody who lived through the Depression can’t imagine how scared we were,” said Martha Newman, a woman in her 60s who is an ardent coalition supporter. “CES saved us from that.”

Limited Victories

The coalition promised relief from the surging apartment rental rates. In a series of political confrontations with landlords, the coalition won limited victories. Although it did not get the strong rent protections it wanted, the coalition did help push a moderate rent control law (4% annual rent increase) through the Los Angeles City Council. In Los Angeles County, the coalition pressured supervisors, but was only able to help pass an even weaker rent law in 1979 (7% annual increase).

In November, 1983, a coalition-sponsored referendum failed to persuade county voters to adopt a tougher rent control law. Because of overwhelming support among senior renters, the referendum did well in West Hollywood–passing there by a 5-1 ratio–but it was not enough to keep rent control alive. That vote, which led to the expiration of county rent control in 1985, set the stage for West Hollywood’s incorporation battle.

By that time, the coalition had made deep inroads into the city’s elderly community (estimated at 40% of the area’s population). Those inroads proved crucial in the 1984 incorporation election.

Gross estimates that 2,000 of the coalition’s 5,000 members are in West Hollywood. Political observers of all stripes in West Hollywood agree that in an election year campaign, the coalition can command upwards of 2,000 votes–a significant block among West Hollywood’s 19,000 registered voters.

“West Hollywood is sort of our flagship,” Gross said. “We have a tremendous opportunity here.”

The city’s elderly tenants also provide the coalition with much of its financial support. At coalition meetings, organizers pass around empty fried chicken buckets, which are often returned brimming with cash and checks.

Several allegations of discrepancies in the coalition’s finances were reported to county officials last year. But Candace Beason, a prosecutor in the county district attorney’s investigative division, said her department has declined to investigate them. “They were relatively minor complaints,” she said last week. “The case is closed.”

Since its incorporation victory in November, 1984–in which two coalition members, Heilman and Albert, were elected to the council and the coalition aided the election victories of council members Alan Viterbi and Valerie Terrigno–the coalition has worked to consolidate its power.

New Headquarters

Late last year, the group moved its headquarters from a cluttered office on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles to a cluttered office in the Crescent Heights Methodist Church in West Hollywood. Working at night, amid old metal desks and boxes sagging with files, coalition organizers quickly felt at home in the new city.

But, as with nearly everything they do, coalition organizers found themselves under attack, this time just for moving into West Hollywood. Landlords, Republicans and businessmen tried to pressure church leaders and city officials to evict them but the CES has stayed put.

The coalition–and Gross, in particular–are under constant fire. During the 1984 incorporation election, he was branded a Communist by Jewish Defense League activist Irv Rubin. Rubin claimed then–and maintains today–that he has “inside information” proving that Gross visited Cuba as a guest of Fidel Castro.

Gross labels the charges “the ravings of the far right.” Despite continued whisperings about “hidden agendas,” landlords and other political enemies of the coalition have never proved their claims.

But at least half a dozen former coalition members say they were invited by some coalition organizers to attend Marxist study meetings and similar functions. One former member, Mark Siegel, who is now chief deputy to Los Angeles Councilman Joel Wachs, said that he was asked several times to join a Marxist study group. He declined.

“The thing is, (CES) was such a loose group,” Siegel said. “There were all kinds of philosophies floating around there. We certainly weren’t being directed from Moscow.”

Both Gross and Heilman also admit that some members have been philosophical Marxists. “But we have Republicans among our steering committee people, too,” Gross said. “We even have one person who sells Amway products. Should we throw them out for that? I don’t think it really matters.”

‘I’m Scared’

“Of course it matters,” argues Tony Melia, who heads West Hollywood for Good Government, the group opposing the coalition in the April elections. “We want officials who choose for us, without any hidden agendas. If the rumors I hear are true, then I’m scared.”

Gross and his followers have also been portrayed as dogmatic and unwilling to take part in the compromises that are the basic components of small-town politics. “That is my one real gripe with them,” said Councilman Stephen Schulte. “There’s no middle ground to them.”

To that criticism, Heilman responds: “I don’t call that being dogmatic,” he said. “We stand for certain principles. Why should we deviate from them?”

Arguments over covert Marxism and political rigidity, however, mask the nature of the real power struggle in West Hollywood. Perceived as the most influential organization in the city, the coalition’s apparent clout is envied by groups that have had less sway with the City Council.

“At least until this election is over, they (the coalition) have the appearance of the most-organized political entity in town,” Schulte said. “One doesn’t confront them lightly.”

Those who do can expect to become enemies. When Melia unveiled his Good Government group earlier this year, he portrayed it as a rival of the coalition for political clout in West Hollywood. Gross immediately branded the group as a “front for the landlords.”

While it is indeed probable that the landlords would prefer victories by Good Government candidates in the April election, Gross immediately set into motion “an us-versus-them situation,” according to community activist Bob Conrich.

Black and White

“They have no gray areas,” Conrich said. “Larry’s convincing his elderly constituency that the landlords are waiting behind every corner to gouge them. It’s an effective political tactic, but it’s dishonest and it sets this city up for the same situation in every election. Larry will set someone up as a tool of the landlords and then try to knock them down.”

Such was the case earlier this month, when coalition organizers filled a hall at Plummer Park with senior citizens and raised the threat that the city’s rent control ordinance was in danger. “This election is going to be a big battle,” Gross said. “They have the money. They had it last time. But we have the people.”

It has been harder for the coalition to bring out their people when the heat of an election has cooled. During last year’s rent control battle, landlords far outnumbered tenants at public hearings on the proposed law.

Still, in rent control votes and in pressing for an affordable housing policy with the city’s interim growth ordinance, the coalition lived up to its reputation. On other votes, though, without obvious backing of its elderly constituents, the coalition has found itself sometimes limited in its influence over council decisions.

That became embarrassingly obvious to coalition organizers when the council refused to exact concessions from the Pacific Design Center in return for a planned major expansion. Heilman and Albert, backed by coalition lobbyists, pushed for fees that would have paid for a day-care center and provided seed money for a community development corporation. But in the end, the two council members gave up their fight.

Close Votes

The coalition has even had trouble getting some of its members appointed to city commissions. In close votes in recent months, the coalition’s candidates for posts on the city’s Transportation and Human Services commissions were defeated and the coalition even was unable to prevent landlord leader Grafton Tanquary from winning a spot on the Affordable Housing Task Force.

Schulte, Melia and a number of other political observers say such defeats indicate a lessening of the coalition’s clout. “I don’t think they loom as high on the horizon as they did six months ago,” Schulte said. “They haven’t kept up the pressure.”

But Gross and other coalition members say those defeats were minor ones, offset by gains achieved in a less obvious area–political organizing among the city’s 89% tenant population. The coalition is trying to win more allies among the apartment dwellers for future elections.

In recent months, Gross and his fellow organizers have shown up weekly at apartment buildings scattered throughout West Hollywood for “house meetings,” small receptions where they explain the new rent control law to tenants and answer questions about other concerns.

Last month, Gross showed up at one building to explain the details of the city’s new rent law to six tenants. As a radio faintly played “The Poet and Peasant Overture,” Gross set up his folding chairs and waited for his small audience to arrive.

The meeting lasted just over an hour. The conversation did not get beyond the level of after-dinner chat. But in the eyes of many West Hollywood political observers, the coalition’s dependence on such seemingly insignificant meetings may provide the key to its future influence.

“They do the groundwork that no one else in West Hollywood is willing to do,” said Councilman Viterbi. “They’re out there all the time, making new contacts, renewing old ones. No one else in this city has the patience or the manpower to do that. As long as they keep it up, they’ll be a force to reckon with.”

Comments on the Coalition

Incorporation leader Ron Stone: “West Hollywood is (CES’) oil gusher.”

Rival coalition leader Tony Melia: “CES is run by a very small group of people. They are a mystery to us all.”

Councilman Stephen Schulte: “At least until this election is over, they (CES) have the appearance of the most-organized political entity in town. One doesn’t confront them lightly.”

Councilman Alan Viterbi: “They do the groundwork that no one else in West Hollywood is willing to do.”

Smart, cynical about politicians but not apathetic. That’s how MTV political reporter Tabitha Soren describes her audience . It’s also a good description of Soren herself.

A former reporter and anchor covering state politics for an ABC – TV station in Burlington , Vt . , the 25-year-old Soren has won praise from TV critics for her informed questioning of the presidential candidates about young people’s issues on MTV’ s “Choose or Lose” coverage of the 1992 campaign.

MTV’s coverage has been aimed at getting the MTV generation registered to vote and motivated to go to the polls. In the last presidential election, less than 34% of eligible 18-to-24-year-olds turned out to cast ballots.

Soren, who is under contract to MTV through November, 1993, traveled the country covering the campaigns and in the process became something of a celebrity. Last weekend she interviewed President Bush aboard his campaign train .

Question: Why do you think that President Bush decided to talk to you?

Answer: One reason may be that, independent of MTV, a young voter in Florida recently asked him, “Why won’t you go on MTV?” His answer was that he was not a “mod MTV kind of guy”–which is the last thing young people want to hear. Using a ‘60s word like mod –that’s sort of saying he’s out of touch with young people. Young people have voted Republican in the last three elections. They grew up during a Republican dynasty, and that is how they formed their values. With the presidential race getting so close and seeing the numbers of young people getting registered, maybe (Bush’s strategists) thought this could be an easy constituency to win over.

Q: Do you think President Bush is out of touch with young people?

A: He hasn’t talked about young people’s issues enough for young people to even be able to tell. His big things are the line-item veto, capital-gains taxes, public- or private-school vouchers–all of these are things within issues that young people care about, like the economy and education. But there aren’t a lot of 20-year-olds that have capital gains.

Q: What are the issues that your audience is interested in?

A: They’re interested in the economy, the economy and the economy. When I go to colleges to talk, to encourage them to register to vote and to vote, students will ask their “I’ll ask this in front of an audience” serious, political questions. Then, afterward, they all come up to me and want to know how I got my job. They’re getting ready to graduate, and they don’t have job prospects. It makes me feel a little guilty about having a job.

The economy is No. 1 on their minds. But they’re also concerned about the environment. They want the homeless problem solved, they want to find a cure for AIDS, they want the deficit eliminated. Young people are the ones who are going to be stuck with that deficit. . . . Ross Perot wants to eliminate the deficit, and he says he is running on behalf of young people. Before he withdrew from the race in July, it was hard to find young people who weren’t for him.

Q: How were you regarded when you first started out in the New Hampshire primary?

A: Nobody had ever heard of MTV News; they didn’t know we had a news department. We’d walk up to the candidates, camera rolling, and say, ‘We’re trying to get more young people to vote.’ When you say that, most candidates–hopefully, even without a camera rolling but certainly with one rolling–would look pretty bad if they didn’t talk to you. I think they found it novel.

Each one of the Democratic candidates had their little thing they did to make them look hip for MTV. Jerry Brown had on a suit when we asked to talk to him, but he changed into a turtleneck and flannel shirt for the interview. Gov. Bob Kerry walked up to me and said, ‘I want my MTV.’ ” And Pat Buchanan said, ‘I hope you aren’t going to ask me about any of that hard-rock music because I can tell you right now I don’t like it.’ Buchanan seemed surprised when I kept asking him questions about his ‘America First’ agenda–questions about music were not on my mind.

Q: Why do you think you and MTV News have received so much attention from other news organizations during the election?

A: I think we’ve energized a lot of young people with our coverage, and perhaps we’re forcing the politicians to talk about young issues in ways they weren’t before. Our coverage is fair and unbiased. But the whole point behind ‘Choose or Lose’ is advocacy journalism–getting young people to vote, regardless of which candidate they vote for. There are a lot of voter-registration groups–Rock the Vote, Project Vote and others–that are using celebrities and others to make voting trendy, make it cool. As silly as those words sound, getting young people excited about voting–something so basic to this country–is very important. If we don’t vote, how do we expect politicians to listen to our concerns?

Q: If young voters don’t turn out to vote in greater numbers, will you consider that a referendum on your coverage?

A: I don’t think it will be a referendum on our coverage, but I will be very disappointed. This is what my life has been consumed with for the past 10 months.

Q: How has it been for you to become a celebrity yourself, being interviewed by other TV reporters at the Democratic convention, appearing on “The Tonight Show’ and being parodied on “The Ben Stiller Show”?

A: We were helped a lot in gaining credibility because other news organizations did stories on us early on. But being interviewed at the Democratic convention–I took that as a sign of slow news at the convention! Being on “The Tonight Show”–that made me petrified. I was already sick with the flu and a 102-degree temperature, and I was so nervous before the show I got sick to my stomach. It’s not something you say, “Oh, no big deal.” But I’m not going to get used to it–because after the election, it’s going to be over.

As far as being parodied, I don’t mind that because the people doing it don’t seem to have seen our coverage, so how can I be offended?

Q: Why do you think alternative media–from MTV News to Larry King–have gained prominence during this campaign?

A: I think what we do is supplemental. I tell people all the time to read books and newspapers because you just can’t get all the information you need from television. But I do think that political information has expanded. Movies like “JFK” are forcing the government to reopen files on the Kennedy assassination; rap groups like Public Enemy are addressing the issue of race much more directly than the evening news.

Q: Are young voters today cynical?

A: They’re cynical, but they’re not apathetic. That’s the difference. They haven’t voted, perhaps, because they grew up in an era first of government deregulation and, later, an era when many people feel alienated from Washington. But college freshmen today demonstrate and protest at the grass-roots level about issues like civil rights and abortion. They’re worried about jobs, but they’re also the ones who want to cure homelessness and feed the people in Somalia. They just want to know that someone in Washington is listening to their concerns.

SEOUL, May 20 (UPI) — South Korea’s Mirae Asset Securities said Wednesday it launched the “Sage Beyond” platform geared toward sharing its insights with young business leaders.

The Seoul-based brokerage house said Sage Beyond would pass on its philosophy of innovation-driven growth.

The platform came to light when Mirae Asset Group founding Chairman Park Hyeon-joo delivered a keynote speech to about 140 participants. He is often referred to as South Korea’s Warren Buffett, the legendary U.S. investor.

Park shared insights into the mindset and strategic vision needed for the next generation of leaders, stressing innovation and sustainable long-term growth, according to the company.

It said it plans to strengthen partnerships with young executives through various programs linked to Sage Beyond, including regular forums focused on macroeconomic insights.

The introduction of Sage Beyond is also part of the company’s broader effort to upgrade its premium wealth management service brand, “Sage,” it said.

While Sage Beyond targets young business leaders in their 30s and 40s, “Sage Jr.” is aimed at university-age children from client families as a next-generation leadership development program.

“Sage Beyond is a platform designed to build partnerships with young leaders who value innovation,” Mirae Asset Securities said in a statement. “By continuously providing insights on management and investment, we hope to help them achieve sustainable growth.”

The share price of Mirae Asset Securities dipped 6.63% on the Seoul bourse Wednesday, while the broader KOSPI edged down 0.86%.

May 19 (Asia Today) — More than 60% of young South Koreans and college students do not trust elections or political opinion polls, according to a survey released ahead of the June 3 local elections.

The Korean Law Consumers Federation, a legal advocacy group, released the results Monday after surveying 1,201 young people and college students from 119 universities nationwide. The respondents had an average age of 23.4.

The survey found that 60.37% of respondents said they do not trust elections or political opinion polls, while 38.80% said they do.

Despite the distrust, 59.95% said they would definitely vote in the local elections, and 35.89% said they would try to vote.

Asked whether one vote can have an important effect on election results, 75.27% agreed, while 24.56% disagreed.

On early voting, 53.54% said there is a possibility of election fraud, while 40.30% said such claims are completely false.

The survey also asked about possible constitutional revisions. A total of 62.28% supported including language related to the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in the Constitution, while 35.97% opposed the idea.

However, 91.01% opposed removing the word “freedom” from the Constitution.

The survey included 53 questions and was conducted with the help of student volunteers. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260519010005434

Alex Fitzpatrick hit a sparkling seven-under-par 64 to seize a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.

The 27-year-old younger brother of former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick produced an inspired display, carding eight birdies to move to 14 under par and put himself in pole position for a maiden individual PGA Tour title.

Fitzpatrick leads Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, who also posted a 64, by a single stroke.

It is just a fortnight since the Fitzpatrick brothers won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pairs event, which secured a two-year tour card for Alex, who is ranked 120th in the world.

World number two Rory McIlroy, a four-time winner at this venue, suffered a frustrating Saturday, carding a four-over-par 75 to fall out of contention.

Starting the day two shots off the lead, Fitzpatrick surged forward with five birdies on the front nine.

Despite a stumble with a bogey at the 16th, he responded immediately by sinking an eight-foot putt for birdie at the par-three 17th to regain his narrow advantage.

“The one thing that I kind of did a really good job today was embracing everything that’s going on,” Fitzpatrick said.

“I had so much support out there, which was amazing.

“I would love to win. I would give a lot to win. But also if winning doesn’t happen, I would hope it would happen at some point. As long as I can go out and enjoy it, that’s all I can do.”

In contrast, McIlroy’s bid for another victory – following his triumph at The Masters last month – collapsed on a difficult afternoon in Charlotte for the man from Northern Ireland.

Six bogeys meant he slid down the leaderboard to one under par, leaving him 13 shots adrift of the leader.

American Cameron Young carded the lowest round of the day, a sensational eight-under 63, to sit alone in third at 12 under. Young, who won last week’s Cadillac Championship, had his only dropped shot at 18, where a wayward tee shot proved costly.

South Korea’s Sungjae Im, the halfway leader, sits at 10 under after a 70, alongside Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard whose 67 put him firmly in contention.

England’s Tommy Fleetwood remains in the hunt after a 70, sitting in a tie for sixth at nine under par alongside two-time major winner Justin Thomas.

Britain’s first gay surrogate parent, who co-owns Maldon and Tiptree football club, has “strenuously denied” grooming young men for sexual exploitation, a court heard

Britain’s first gay surrogate parent has “strenuously denied” grooming young men for sexual exploitation, a court heard. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 57, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Friday alongside his 32-year-old partner, Scott Drewitt-Barlow.

The men, both of Danbury, Essex, face multiple charges including rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation. The alleged offences, which are said to have taken place in Essex and Manchester between April 2013 and January this year, relate to four different men, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The defendants are alleged to have “recruited” young men before grooming them and subjecting them to sexual assaults including rape, the court heard.

READ MORE: Barrie Drewitt-Barlow and husband charged with human trafficking and sexual offences

Defence barrister Oliver Snodin said the allegations against Barrie and Scott Drewitt-Barlow are “strenuously denied” by them both. Flanked by custody officers, the defendants, wearing hooded sweatshirts, spoke only to confirm their personal details.

The two men were remanded into custody to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on June 5. Prosecutor Serena Berry said: “Barrie Drewitt-Barlow is in a relationship with Scott Drewitt-Barlow… they are what could be termed to be celebrities, who live multi-million [pound] lifestyles and have featured in many documentaries and reality TV shows.

“They own the Maldon and Tiptree football club, and they have other businesses in the Essex area and also abroad in other countries.

“It is alleged they have both targeted young males, they have recruited them, they have befriended them, they have groomed them. They have invited them to their home and other premises.”

Barrie Drewitt-Barlow became Britain’s first gay surrogate parent in 1999 and made a name for himself in the media. He was due to be in ITV reality show Up The Jammers.

The charges follow co-ordinated searches at premises in Danbury, Maldon and Braintree on Wednesday, Essex Police previously said.

He is charged with three counts of sexual assault on a male, four counts of rape of a man 16 or over, and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Scott Drewitt-Barlow is charged with one count of sexual assault on a male, one count of rape of a man 16 or over, and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.

Essex Police are appealing for information on the case and ask witnesses to contact them using the major incident public portal (MIPP) on their website, or by calling 0800 051 4526, or 0207 126 7612 internationally.

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UPDATES:

9 a.m.: This article was updated with additional details on the Young America’s Foundation conference.

This article was originally published Jan. 17 at 12:05 a.m.

April 30 (Asia Today) — U.S. Rep. Young Kim on Tuesday pledged to work for the swift reauthorization of the North Korea Human Rights Act, which has lapsed for more than six years, vowing to serve as a “voice” for North Korean defectors.

Kim made the remarks while chairing a roundtable at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington attended by 11 North Korean defectors as part of North Korea Freedom Week.

“I will do my best to ensure the North Korea Human Rights Act is reauthorized as soon as possible in this Congress,” Kim said.

Kim stresses urgency of reauthorization, shifts from English to Korean

Kim opened the meeting in English, noting that she has been involved in North Korea human rights issues for more than 30 years, including 21 years as a congressional staffer and later as an elected lawmaker.

After listening to defectors’ testimony, she switched to Korean without an interpreter, appearing to emphasize her commitment more directly.

“The most important thing from what you said is that we must work together to reauthorize the North Korea Human Rights Act,” she said in Korean.

She highlighted that a key component of the legislation is funding for broadcasting into North Korea.

“Broadcast resources are essential,” Kim said, noting that transmissions into North Korea have weakened, including those from outlets such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

“I will be your voice and speak with my colleagues to ensure the act is reauthorized,” she said.

Susan Scholte, head of the North Korea Freedom Coalition and the Defense Forum Foundation, said Sen. Tim Kaine is preparing to introduce a Senate version of the bill corresponding to the House legislation.

Kim says human rights conditions worsening despite greater information access

Kim said North Korea’s human rights situation has not improved over decades and has in some respects worsened.

“Even after decades, nothing has changed,” she said. “If anything has changed, it is that North Korean people now know more about the outside world than ever before, while crackdowns on external media have reached unprecedented levels.”

She argued that any meaningful change in North Korea must come from within, driven by the spread of information.

“If regime change happens, it must come from inside,” Kim said. “It should begin with people like those here who share information through broadcasting.”

Defectors recount hardships, escapes and role of outside information

Defectors at the roundtable shared personal accounts of life in North Korea and their paths to escape.

One defector said he came to understand the reality of the regime after listening to foreign radio broadcasts, which ultimately influenced his decision to flee.

Another described being detained in Russia after drifting into its waters while fishing and later seeking help from human rights groups after exposure to South Korean media via USB devices.

Others recounted losing family members to starvation, enduring forced labor and being trafficked into China before eventually reaching South Korea.

One defector said she had been forcibly repatriated to North Korea eight times and was separated from her young child, whose fate remains unknown.

Survey shows role of broadcasts, concerns over China surveillance

Kim Ji-young, head of Free North Korea Radio, presented survey results of 75 defectors who arrived in South Korea after 2022.

She said 66% reported accessing foreign broadcasts at least once a week, which inspired aspirations for freedom and motivated their escape.

All respondents said North Korea’s so-called “three major repressive laws” reflect fears of regime instability and efforts to maintain authoritarian control.

Kim also raised concerns about defectors in China, including cases in which children born to North Korean women and Chinese fathers are left stateless, as well as reports that Chinese authorities use artificial intelligence-based facial recognition to track and repatriate defectors.

One participant said she has avoided traveling to China due to fears of abduction or poisoning, adding that South Korean authorities have advised her against visiting.

U.S. lawmaker calls for stronger joint efforts

Rep. James Moylan said the United States and South Korea should strengthen cooperation to bring about meaningful change in North Korea without another decades-long delay.

In an interview with Voice of America, Moylan said radio broadcasting is an effective tool for change, adding that increased access to information, combined with support from advocacy groups and the United States, can help drive transformation.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260430010009822

Guardians fan Evelyn Moore got a pretty cool souvenir from Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays — a two-run home run ball hit by Cleveland second baseman Daniel Schneemann.

The 11-year-old softball player from New Philadelphia, Ohio, almost got the ball right after Schneemann hit it in the bottom of the fifth inning.

But, as seen in video footage that quickly went viral on social media, a man appeared to snatch it away as Evelyn was trying to pick it up near the rail in the left-center field stands at Progressive Field.

He eventually gave it to her, however, and now the girl’s mother wants folks on social media to leave him alone.

“This man’s life shouldn’t be ruined over this,” Nikki Moore-DeVore said. “Jokes and memes are one thing, but it’s getting excessive. It’s too much.”

Moore-DeVore said her family — which also includes her husband, Jon DeVore, and her son, Theo Moore, 9 — attend several Guardians games a year. They sit in the outfield stands, where Evelyn — an avid baseball fan and baseball card collector — likes to take her glove down to the rail and try to persuade Cleveland outfielders to toss her a ball.

Video of Schneemann’s home run shows the ball flying over the left-center field wall, where a bearded man wearing a throwback Cleveland Indians hat and T-shirt tried to catch it in the air. Instead, it bounced off his hands toward the rail to his left.

Cleveland Guardians’ Daniel Schneemann, right, is greeted at the plate by teammate David Fry after hitting a two-run home run in the fifth inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday in Cleveland.

(Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

Evelyn ran down from her seat two rows up, dropped to the ground and attempted to secure the ball in front of her. The man ran over and also dropped to the ground next to her, starting a brief struggle for control of the ball.

The man eventually emerged triumphantly.

“I did not really see how the ball came over to us. I just saw it bounce in our direction and my daughter go down to get it,” Moore-DeVore said. “And I saw the scuffle kind of from behind, but I couldn’t see much of the hands or anything like that. I just saw the shoulders shifting around.

“And then she got up empty-handed, and people started booing. The guys sitting in front of me were like, ‘That was her ball!’ My husband was booing. He was not happy, but we didn’t want to ruin the game.”

Evelyn also was upset by the turn of events, her mother said, “but she didn’t cry.”

“She actually took it like a champ,” Moore-DeVore said. “Every inning, she still went up to the rail to try to get one of the players to throw a ball to her. She didn’t give up.”

Meanwhile, Theo approached the man to request he return the ball to his sister. Moore-DeVore said her son told her the man politely refused.

“I was just proud of him for going over there and taking it upon himself to try to help his sister,” Moore-DeVore said.

The Rays broadcast of the game showed the incident involving Evelyn and the man, with the announcers taking the girl’s side. On social media, fans shared the video and shamed the man for his behavior, with some looking to make his identity public.

Later in the game, Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass visited the family at their seats and presented both kids with baseballs.

That’s when Evelyn became emotional.

“She cried happy tears,” her mother said. “I think she just felt seen. The incident made her feel small, and Ryan made her feel seen.”

Bass posted about the moment on X.

“We had to make it right,” Bass wrote, adding in a separate post: “We got the chance to make a sweet little girl’s night. There’s nothing better. Kindness is free. Always remember that.”

Before the bottom of the eighth inning, Evelyn went down to her usual post at the rail to try to persuade an outfielder to toss her a ball. She returned with the home run ball from three innings earlier.

“She came back with the biggest smile on her face: ‘Mom, he gave it back to me!’” Moore-DeVore said. “The guys in front of me were like, ‘yeah, he’s, like, getting a lot of social media flack.’ … I’m sure he realized eventually that it was probably the wrong action to take, just not good etiquette.”

In return, Moore-DeVore said, Theo offered the man — whose name has not been revealed despite the internet’s attempts — one of the balls that Bass had given him and his sister.

“He respectfully declined,” she said, “so my son gave it to another kid.”

Moore-DeVore said both of her kids are “on cloud nine” over how everything turned out — and she wants everyone else to get over it as well.

“I don’t want this one moment to ruin this guy,” she said. “And my kids, they wouldn’t want that. They’re sweet kids. I feel like, if kids their age can forgive and offer him a peace offering, grown adults and other fans can, too.”

Now his playing days are done, Ramsey is aiming to make it as a coach.

He has most of his qualifications and has already had a taste of senior management, having taken charge of his boyhood club Cardiff City for three games at the end of last season as they were relegated from the Championship.

Having since been a part of Wales head coach Craig Bellamy’s staff in an unofficial capacity, Ramsey is being touted for a bright future.

“[I]100% want to go into coaching. That’s something that really excites me,” he says.

“I had that experience with Cardiff and loved it, even though the circumstances were difficult. I felt like I got a really good reaction from the team.

“I’ve been in the Welsh camps now with Bellers and his incredible staff as well, and I’ve worked with Cardiff’s Under-18s.

“We’ll just have to see which opportunities may arise soon and we’ll go from there.”

First, Ramsey has a marathon to run.

Ceri Menai-Davis, who has run the London Marathon before, reckons Ramsey has raised more than £25,000 for his charity – and that is before you count donations for Sunday’s race.

They have been friends for more than a decade and Ramsey’s shows of support for the charity – as well as his fundraising – include the butterfly symbol he used as a goal celebration during his career.

On Sunday, the most powerful reminder of Hugh’s life will be his father’s huge physical effort – and his son’s shoes draped around his shoulders.

“He was the most amazing, brave, courageous young boy,” Ceri says. “The reason I do marathons is, just before Hugh died, I stupidly put myself in for a marathon in 2021.

“I never thought I’d get in but I got in, started training for it and Hugh never got to see me run that marathon because I did it two weeks after he died, and we buried him the next day with my medal.

“Last year I carried a 22-kilo rucksack, which was the weight Hugh was when he passed away. That was to display what grief weighs on you as a parent.

“This year, with Hugh’s shoes, he walked into hospital in these shoes and sadly never came out. I wanted him to cheer me on when I did it in 2021 but sadly he never did.

“I did Paris with his shoes. He never got to see Paris so I showed him the Eiffel Tower and we had a chat all the way round. In London, he’ll be there with me on my shoulders and we’ll cross the finish line together.”