Board of Directors

Irene Lee joined the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor in April of 2008. One of her most notable cases includes a triple-jury conspiracy to commit murder trial involving an intricate plot by 3 defendants to kill one of the co-defendant’s mother for her money. Currently, she is assigned to the Family Violence Division, where she handles serious domestic violence and child abuse cases. She is currently teaching a fifth grade class in downtown Los Angeles with Project L.E.A.D., a program at the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office that informs the youth about various aspects of the criminal justice system and the importance of education. She is a past Treasurer for the Korean Prosecutors Association.

Samantha Routh is a Managing Assistant District Attorney in the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s Office. She manages a trial team comprised of herself, 2 assistant district attorneys, 2 investigators, a victim witness advocate, and a legal assistant. She has handled over 1300 cases during the course of her career ranging from violent sexual offenses, homicide, child molestation, armed robbery, elder abuse, and white collar crimes. On top of her trial responsibilities, she participates in presentations regarding criminal procedure, criminal law, and court room demeanor with academy recruits for the local county police department. Samantha is a graduate of the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law.

Sophia Choi is a Deputy District Attorney for the Riverside County District Attorney‘s Office. Previously, she was with the Riverside County Counsel Office for about 13 years. She is currently the Chair of KPA’s Continuing Legal Education. She has served on the KPA board for several years, having served her most recent term as Vice President-International. She is the current President of the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court. She is also the President-Elect of the Riverside County Bar Association. She also served as the Inaugural President of APALIE (Asian Pacific American Lawyers of the Inland Empire). She is a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Southwestern University School of Law.

Jerry Baik is currently an Assistant City Attorney and joined the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office in 1994 as a Deputy City Attorney assigned to Criminal Division. In July 2012, he voluntarily transferred in-house to the Civil Litigation Section with the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. Previously, he founded and supervised the first-ever Identity Theft and Fraud Unit for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. His Unit’s cases were featured on Good Morning America, NY Times, USA Today, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, local TV news stations, other national news circulations, and People magazine. For his work, he received awards from the U.S. Homeland Security-Office of the Inspector General (OIG), U.S. Social Security Administration-OIG, U.S. Food Drug Administration, and International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. He was a national speaker on identity theft and white-collar fraud. Mr. Baik was previously an Assistant Supervising Deputy City Attorney for Central Trials Section, largest criminal branch for the Office. He supervised 45 prosecutors and 30 support staff members. In 2005, he won the City of Los Angeles Quality and Productivity Award. He was the past President of the Asian Pacific City Attorney’s Association, Regional Vice-President (SOCAL) for the National Asian Pacific Islander Prosecutors Association, board member of the Korean American Bar Association (SOCAL), and board member of the Asian Pacific Women’s Center (domestic violence organization). He was the founder and first President for the Korean Prosecutors Association, and founder and first Chair of the KPA Justice Foundation. In addition, he was a board member of Little Tokyo Towers (Senior low-income housing in Little Tokyo).

Sunkyun Roh is a Consul at the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles, California where he handles inmate transfer, extradition, mutual legal assistance and Korean law counseling for Koreans living in the U.S. He has been a prosecutor in Korea since 2006, focusing on labor-related and election-related crimes. He also has a unique experience in dealing with the Somali Pirates case in Busan District (2011).

Additionally, he was involved in amending the Foreign Legal Consultants Act for opening Korean legal markets, when he was in the Ministry of Justice (2016). He was educated at Korea University Law school (B.A. 2004) and a visiting scholar at the Santa Clara University Law school (2013).

Jeanaha Kim was called to the bar in 2003 and has spent the entirety of her legal career as an Assistant Crown Attorney, in York region, for the Ministry of the Attorney General in Ontario. She has experience in prosecuting various Criminal Code offences at the both the Ontario Court of Justice and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. For the last 7 several years, Jeanaha has focused her prosecutorial duties in the area of intimate partner violence. In addition to trial work, she sits on the region’s High Risk Committee, and provides training to the police, and members of the bar. She has also been part of a pilot project to create a community treatment court for intimate partner violence – this involves working with community partners to implement programming for accused individuals who are also struggling with mental health diagnoses, and /or substance abuse issues and there is a nexus to the alleged offences.

Additionally, Jeanaha has co-organized an annual fun run/walk for several years to raise funds for a community organization/group that whose works benefits individuals who become involved in the criminal justice system, as accused persons, victims or witnesses. This annual event brings together justice partners from various sectors – members of the judiciary, prosecutors and defence counsel, court house staff, police. The event has raised funds for various area shelters, the Canadian Mental Health Association, and Addiction Services of York Region.

Daniel H. Ahn is a Senior Litigation Counsel at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, where he has served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Criminal Division since 2012, and as Deputy Chief and Acting Chief of the Orange County office. Before joining the United States Attorney’s Office, Mr. Ahn was an associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice, entering through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. Upon graduation from law school, Mr. Ahn served as a law clerk to Judge Gary L. Taylor of the United States District Court for the Central District of California and Judge Johnnie B. Rawlinson of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Mr. Ahn earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Biola University, his M.A. from Johns Hopkins University, and his J.D. from the University of Southern California, where he was editor in chief of the Southern California Law Review.

Daniel Bahk is currently a San Diego Deputy District Attorney and assigned as a readiness supervisor in the South Bay Branch. He has tried numerous misdemeanor and felony jury trials, bench trials, and dispositive motions. The cases range from petty/grand theft, drug sales, driving under the influence, and identity theft to attempted murders, criminal threats, armed robbery, assaults, home invasion robberies, and carjacking cases throughout his prosecutorial career. Mr. Bahk graduated from University of Arizona and Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey.

John Chang is a Deputy District Attorney for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. He prosecutes complex litigation gang cases. He volunteers weekly through the Project L.E.A.D. program working with 5th graders and talking to them about the justice system. He graduated from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles and the University of California at Riverside with a BA in political science. He has been a former KPA board member and was active in the mentorship committee.

Richard Kim is a Deputy City Attorney for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. He is in the Safe Neighborhoods and Gangs Division, Code Enforcement Unit. He vertically prosecutes property owners in violation of housing code, fire code, building and safety code, and county health code. Additionally, he prosecutes unlicensed contractors and other consumer protection cases. Mr. Kim graduated from Southwestern School of Law and University of California, Los Angeles, earning a degree in Philosophy. Outside of the Office, he was the former President of Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council and board member of the Korean Youth & Youth Center.

Julius J. Nam is an Assistant United States Attorney and Deputy Chief of the Riverside Branch Office of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. Since 2015, he has prosecuted a variety of crimes, including civil rights, fraud, firearms, and terrorism offenses, and represented the United States before the Ninth Circuit. Notably, he has prosecuted cases related to the 2015 San Bernardino terrorist attack. Mr. Nam has clerked for the Honorable Arthur L. Alarcón of the United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, and the Honorable Virginia A. Phillips and the Honorable Sheri Pym of the United States District Court, Central District of California. He has also worked as an associate at Morrison and Foerster LLP. He holds a JD degree from UCLA School of Law and BA, MA, and PhD degrees in religion from Andrews University.

Jung Park is a Deputy Bureau Chief of a Trial Division at the New York County District Attorney’s Office. Since joining the Office in September 2001, Ms. Park has handled misdemeanor and felony cases, and in 2005, when she was transferred to the Office’s Appeals Bureau, she wrote and argued cases before the New York State appellate courts. In 2008, Ms. Park returned to the Trial Division where she continued to prosecute felony cases, eventually joining the Sex Crimes Unit, the Human Trafficking Response Unit and the Homicide Panel. In October 2017, Ms. Park was promoted to the position of Deputy Bureau Chief. Ms. Park is on the permanent hiring board where she interviews, screens and recommends prospective candidates for Assistant District Attorney positions.

Maria Park is a Deputy Bureau Chief of the Gun Violence Suppression Bureau at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office and supervises all felony gun cases in Brooklyn, N.Y. Since joining the office in 1995, A.D.A. Park has been involved in all aspects of prosecution -- trials, appeals, and investigations -- and appeared in both state and federal courts. As a prosecutor, she has argued in the Appellate Division and the New York State Court of Appeals. A.D.A. Park received her J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York, and her B.A. in Economics from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.

Robert has been a deputy district attorney for Los Angeles County for 13 years and is assigned to the Hardcore Gang Division. Before working for LA County, he was a deputy city prosecutor for the city of Long Beach. He presently serves as a vice chair for the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section and is the Southern California chapter vice president for the National Asian Pacific American Prosecutors Association (NAPIPA). He received his BA from UC Irvine and his law degree from the University of San Diego.

Chris Danbi Choi is an Assistant Director of Commercial, Financial and Corruption; and Revenue and Benefits Fraud at the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and also serves on the NSW Sentencing Council, following appointment in 2016. Chris became the first Korean-Australian Accredited Specialist in Criminal Law and is passionate about developing lawyers in criminal law practice. Besides managing prosecutions, Chris has been the co-Principal of the pro bono Korean Community Legal Service which she co-founded in 2011.

Chris is committed to public service in the administration of justice and hopes to continue serving the community throughout the remainder of her career.

Martin Park is a board representative for the Ontario, Canada. He is Federal Crown for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada and primarily prosecutes drug offenders. Outside of court, Martin is involved in providing training for law enforcement agencies as well as giving guest lectures at local law schools.

Nicole Kim is currently a Deputy Chief in the Financial Crimes Section and oversees all criminal health care fraud matters at the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago, Illinois. Nicole has been with the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago since 2010. Prior to that, she was an Assistant United States Attorney in San Francisco, California and Newark, New Jersey. Prior to being an AUSA, Nicole clerked for a federal district court judge and practiced corporate law in San Francisco for several years. She graduated from Wesleyan University with a Bachelor of Arts in government and obtained her JD from the University of Washington School of Law (Seattle).

Andrew Lee is a recent retired Special Agent for the Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division. He was with CID for over 22 years. Prior to joining the Department of Treasury, He was with the California Board of Equalization. Mr. Lee is highly sought out expert in the area of financial fraud and tax codes. He has trained Korean government officials and presented seminars to various organizations throughout the world. Recently, he was elected as a board member and Chief Financial Officer for the KPA Justice Foundation.

Daniel Chung is a Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County in California. He is currently assigned to the Violent Felonies Unit and prosecutes attempted murders, robberies, assaults, and similar crimes. Previously, he specialized in crimes involving domestic violence and narcotics. Prior to working as a prosecutor in Silicon Valley, Daniel was an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County in New York, where he specialized in felony gun crimes and secured dozens of grand jury indictments. Daniel has completed dozens of jury and bench trials in California and New York. He received his J.D. from Columbia Law School and his A.B. from Harvard College.