# Roof Koreans > Roof Koreans is an early-2010s image-macro and slang meme based on 1992 photographs of Korean American business owners who armed themselves on rooftops during the Los Angeles riots, adopted as a symbol of armed self-defense. "Roof Koreans" is a slang term and image macro meme built around news photographs and video of Korean American business owners who armed themselves on store rooftops during the 1992 Los Angeles riots after police abandoned Koreatown. The term became an internet meme in the early 2010s, adopted by Second Amendment advocates and gun rights communities as a symbol of armed self-defense. The meme is one of the most politically contested images from American civil unrest, celebrated by some as a display of community self-reliance and criticized by many Korean Americans for stripping a traumatic event of its painful context[1]. ## Origin The events behind the meme took place during the 1992 Los Angeles riots, which erupted on April 29 after a jury acquitted four LAPD officers in the videotaped beating of Black motorist Rodney King[7]. Tensions between Korean and Black communities in South Central LA had already been running high for years. In March 1991, Korean American store clerk Soon Ja Du fatally shot 15-year-old Latasha Harlins during a dispute over a bottle of orange juice. Despite being convicted of voluntary manslaughter, Du received only probation and community service, a sentence that outraged the Black community and made Korean-owned businesses a primary target when the riots began[1]. When violence spread north into Koreatown, the LAPD pulled back. Police established defensive perimeters around wealthier, predominantly white areas like Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, effectively cutting off Koreatown[1]. Emergency calls from Korean residents went unanswered[2]. "The police were not responsive. They were using Koreatown as a bumper," Yongsik Lee, a furniture store owner who grabbed a shotgun and climbed to his roof, told the New York Post[3]. Left without protection, Korean business owners organized their own defense. Many had completed South Korea's mandatory military service and knew how to handle firearms[10]. Local Korean-language station Radio Korea dropped all regular programming during the crisis, broadcasting calls for help from besieged business owners and enabling informal coordination among volunteers across the neighborhood[10]. Armed defenders showed up with weapons ranging from hunting shotguns to assault rifles. The most photographed scene played out at the California Market (known as Gaju or Kaju) on 5th Street and Western Avenue, where roughly 20 armed employees and volunteers defended the store, some wearing white headbands[9]. Photojournalist Hyungwon Kang shot what would become one of the most widely circulated images while reporting on the ground[6]. - **Platform:** News media (1992 source imagery), YouTube / Reddit (internet meme) - **Creator:** Unknown (community-created from 1992 news footage), Hyungwon Kang (photographer of iconic rooftop image) - **Date:** 1992 (source event), 2011 (internet meme) ## Overview "Roof Koreans" refers to Korean American store owners who stood on rooftops with rifles, shotguns, and handguns during the 1992 LA riots, defending their businesses from looters and arsonists. The images, originally broadcast on live television and published in newspapers, show men in casual clothes, sometimes wearing white headbands, wielding everything from hunting shotguns to semiautomatic rifles while perched atop markets, electronics shops, and liquor stores in LA's Koreatown[2]. In meme form, these photographs are used as image macros with captions about self-defense, civil unrest, and gun ownership. Pro-gun communities adopted the imagery to argue for private firearm ownership, while many Korean Americans view the meme as a painful oversimplification of a community crisis[1]. The meme spikes in use whenever riots, protests, or looting make the news in the United States. ## How It Spread The internet meme emerged slowly over the decade following the riots. On January 18, 2011, the Los Angeles Times published a retrospective column about the LAPD's failures, prominently featuring the image of Korean merchants "taking to their rooftops in the opening hours of the riots, arming themselves because they were convinced that they were alone"[12]. This brought the photographs back into public view. Later that year, a YouTube channel called ArmBritain uploaded a news segment about the Korean business owners that accumulated over 510,000 views[5]. On April 28, 2012, YouTuber MadMaxTrac posted similar news footage, feeding growing online interest[5]. The meme crossed into participatory territory on August 11, 2014, during the Ferguson unrest following the police shooting of Michael Brown. A Craigslist ad appeared in St. Louis titled "Roof Koreans for hire (Ferguson)," offering armed protection and boasting "Much success during L.A. Riots, no looters at our stores"[13]. A screenshot landed on Reddit's r/funny two days later, pulling 3,700 upvotes and 330 comments[5]. Urban Dictionary got its first "Roof Koreans" entry on April 29, 2015. That July, a Redditor posted a photo of himself with a large firearm under the title "Roof Korean for hire" on r/guns, collecting 7,400 upvotes[5]. By mid-2015, the meme had a firm foothold in gun enthusiast communities, with stickers and merchandise appearing on sites like Etsy[1]. The meme surged during the George Floyd protests in late May 2020. On May 31, a photograph of a man smoking on a rooftop while holding an M1 carbine was posted to r/MURICA[5]. Pro-gun outlets and social media accounts widely shared Roof Koreans imagery alongside calls for armed self-defense, drawing sharp criticism from Korean American scholars and community leaders[1]. The biggest single viral moment came on June 8, 2025, when Donald Trump Jr. posted an image macro to Instagram and X showing a rooftop Korean with the caption "Everybody rioting until the roof starts speaking Korean," adding "Make Rooftop Koreans Great Again!" in the description[4]. The post was a response to protests against ICE operations in Los Angeles and pulled 151,000 likes on Instagram and 73,000 likes with 9,000 reposts on X within two days[5]. ## How to Use The Roof Koreans meme typically takes one of several forms: 1. **Image macro:** A 1992 photograph of armed Korean Americans on rooftops, paired with a caption about self-defense or civil unrest. Common captions include variations of "Everybody [X] until the roof starts speaking Korean." 2. **Reaction image:** The photographs are posted without captions in response to news about riots, protests, or looting, implying armed self-defense as the answer. 3. **Satirical classified ad:** Posts offering "Roof Korean services for hire" during periods of civil unrest, following the template set by the 2014 Craigslist ad[13]. 4. **Political commentary:** The images are shared alongside pro-Second Amendment arguments, often framed around the idea that communities cannot rely on police during crises. ## Cultural Impact Within the Korean American community, the 1992 events are remembered as Sa-i-gu and treated as a collective turning point. Prof. Chang called the riots an "absolute wake-up call" to Korean Americans about their lack of political power in the city[1]. The LAPD's Olympic Division, which covers Koreatown, later made an explicit institutional promise that the abandonment would not happen again[12]. The meme's adoption by gun rights groups created lasting tension. Korean American voices are split on the question. Kyung Hee Lee, whose tire shop was ransacked in 1992, called the media's framing of Roof Koreans as allies of law enforcement "insulting." "We did what we did because we had no choice," she said. "The police abandoned the Korean community so the protesters would have something to destroy"[3]. When Trump Jr. posted his "Make Rooftop Koreans Great Again" meme in June 2025, photographer Hyungwon Kang said Trump Jr. was "using the photo out of context" and consulted a lawyer after receiving no response to takedown requests[6]. The Korean American Federation of Los Angeles condemned the post, stating that "the past trauma of the Korean people be never, ever exploited for any purpose"[3]. The Korean American Freedom Federation separately called the meme a display of "poor judgment by mocking the current situation and invoking painful memories"[3]. ## Fun Facts - Many of the Korean men on the rooftops had completed South Korea's mandatory military service, while some younger Korean Americans had weapons experience from involvement in street gangs. "We were mostly ex-military," Kim Duk said. "But during the riots, they helped defend the community"[9]. - Radio Korea functioned as an emergency coordination hub, shutting down all programming and entering a two-month "recovery period" after the riots ended, during which accountants at the station helped community members file insurance claims[10]. - Prof. Edward T. Chang stated that not a single person was shot and killed by the Korean shop owners. They fired warning shots only[1]. - Yongsik Lee's first stop before climbing to his roof was not a gun store. He went to Home Depot to buy fire extinguishers[3]. - The California Market (Gaju) on 5th and Western was one of the most heavily photographed locations, with the Los Angeles Times describing defenders wielding "shotguns and automatic weapons" on the roof[2]. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Roof Koreans? "Roof Koreans" is a slang term and internet meme referring to Korean American business owners who armed themselves and stood on store rooftops during the 1992 Los Angeles riots to protect their property after the LAPD withdrew from Koreatown[1]. ### Where did Roof Koreans come from? The images originated from news coverage of the 1992 LA riots. The internet meme started around 2011 when the LA Times published a retrospective and YouTube channels re-uploaded news footage from the event[12]. ### What does Roof Koreans mean? The term refers to the act of Korean American shopkeepers standing armed on their rooftops during civil unrest. In meme culture, it is used more broadly to represent armed self-defense when police protection fails[1]. ### How do you use Roof Koreans? The meme is typically shared as an image macro with captions about self-defense or posted as a reaction image during news about civil unrest. It is popular in gun rights communities[5]. ### Is Roof Koreans still popular? Yes. The meme saw a major resurgence in June 2025 when Donald Trump Jr. posted a Roof Koreans image macro that received over 151,000 likes on Instagram and 73,000 likes on X[4]. ### Why did the LAPD abandon Koreatown in 1992? Police set up defensive perimeters around wealthier, predominantly white neighborhoods like Beverly Hills and West Hollywood, leaving Koreatown and other minority communities without protection. Emergency calls from residents were largely ignored[1]. ### Who was Latasha Harlins? Latasha Harlins was a 15-year-old Black girl shot and killed by Korean American store clerk Soon Ja Du in 1991 during a dispute over orange juice. Du's light sentence of probation intensified tensions and made Korean-owned businesses targets during the 1992 riots[1]. ### What is Sa-i-gu? Sa-i-gu literally means "April 29" in Korean, the date the 1992 riots began. It is how the Korean American community refers to the event, treating it as a marker of collective trauma[1]. ### Did Roof Koreans kill anyone? According to Prof. Edward T. Chang, the Korean shop owners fired only warning shots and did not kill any looters[1]. However, Edward Song Lee, a Korean American defending shops, was accidentally killed by friendly fire near 3rd Street[6]. ### Why is the Roof Koreans meme controversial? Many Korean Americans view the meme as a trivialization of a traumatic event. Prof. Chang warned that some groups co-opt the imagery to push their own agendas, calling it a "divide and control strategy." The actual participants describe being abandoned and desperate, not heroic gun enthusiasts[1]. ### What did Donald Trump Jr. post about Roof Koreans? On June 8, 2025, Trump Jr. posted an image macro to Instagram and X captioned "Everybody rioting until the roof starts speaking Korean" with the description "Make Rooftop Koreans Great Again!" in response to anti-ICE protests in LA[4]. The Korean American Federation of Los Angeles condemned the post[3]. ### How did Korean Americans coordinate during the 1992 riots? Radio Korea shut down regular programming and broadcast calls for help from business owners, allowing volunteers to organize informally across the neighborhood. Many defenders also had military training from South Korea's mandatory service[10]. ### Who is Tony Moon? Tony Moon was 19 when he joined his father on a rooftop during the 1992 riots. He has since embraced the "OG Roof Korean" identity and became a right-wing Second Amendment advocate on social media[3]. ### What damage did Korean businesses suffer in the 1992 riots? Over 2,000 Korean-owned businesses were looted or destroyed, accounting for roughly 40 percent of all property damage during the riots. The estimated total damage exceeded $1 billion[2][3]. ### What role did Radio Korea play? Radio Korea dropped all regular broadcasts and aired continuous calls from business owners requesting help. After the riots ended on May 4, the station entered a two-month recovery period, providing accountants to help with insurance claims and setting up a food bank at a local church[10]. ## References 1. [Donald Trump Jr weighs in to LA crisis by suggesting protesters should be shot by ‘rooftop Koreans’ | The Independent]() 2. [The Real, Tragic Story Behind That ‘Roof Korean’ Meme You May Have Seen | HuffPost Voices]() 3. [Meet The Real 'Roof Koreans' From The L.A. Riots]() 4. [Roof Koreans - Know Your Meme]() 5. [Rooftop Koreans]() 6. [Roof Koreans - Urban Dictionary]() 7. [1992 Los Angeles riots]() 8. [General 1 — Koreatown Storytelling Program]() 9. [A 'Rooftop Korean' reveals what it was really like during the '92 riots]() 10. [The Roof Koreans and THAT meme - Eastern Angle]() 11. [Who were the Roof Koreans/Rooftop Koreans? The Crazy meme from 1992]() 12. [Who Were the Rooftop Koreans? - Korean Girl Explains]() 13. [Not your 1992 LAPD - Los Angeles Times]() 14. [Roof Koreans for hire]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/roof-koreans Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library