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BYLAWS
OF
THE FEDERATION OF KOREAN ASSOCIATISONS
THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
As Adopted on June 30, 2001, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

PREAMBLE

The Federation of Korean Associations, the United States of America, upholds its ideal to assist the Korean immigrants to settle in the United States of America; to advance their legal, economic, and social stance; to preserve their unique cultural heritage; to advocate their assimilation into the mainstream of the United States of America; to encourage their realization of everlasting prosperity; to promote the meaningful relationship among Koreans of all nations on earth; to solidify the commonality of Koreans; to protect the collective rights; and to contribute to the advancement of Korea and the World.

CHAPTER I GENERAL RULES
Article 1.Name The name of this organization is The Federation of Korean Associations, the United States of America. It is hereinafter called the "Federation."
Article 2.Purpose The purpose of this organization is to assist the Immigrants to readily settle in this new country through collective efforts by interacting among local Korean Associations, and to develop stable relationships with Koreans residing in every part of the world in pursue of rights and dignities of Koreans.
Article 3.Nature and Organization The Federation is made up of existing Korean associations nationwide and shall govern all Korean Associations of each locale in USA. It represents Koreans in this country.
Article 4.Place of Business The main office of the Federation shall be in the Metropolitan area of Washington, D. C. The Federation may have additional offices in other areas as needed for the operations of the organization.
CHAPTER 2 MEMBERSHIP
Article 5Qualification of Membership The qualification of membership shall be all current or former presidents of local Korean Associations in USA that are in full operation. For now-defunct Korean Associations or newly organized Korean Associations, the membership applicant shall submit document(s) describing the charter general meeting of the organization and a list of all officers to the Federation.
Article 6Class of Members The members are classified into regular, general and honorary members. Regular Member: Regular Members are present and former presidents of local Korean Associations who paid the membership due as described in Chapter 2, Article 7.

General Member: General Members are present and former presidents of local Korean Associations who did not did not pay the membership due as described in Chapter 2, Article 7.

Honorary Member: Honorary Members are members who support the goals of the Federation, whether of Korean nationality or not, and do not claim the rights nor perform the duties of members.
Article 7Rights and Duties: Members have the following rights and duties. Rights: Regular members shall have a right to call for special meeting, a right to nominate presidential candidate, a right to be officers, a right to vote on issues, a right to elect president, a right to run for presidency, and a right to make motions. General members have a right to be officers and a right to make motions.

Duties: Members have a duty to maintain integrity, a duty to pay the membership fee, a duty to comply with articles of incorporation, by-laws and operational policies of the Federation and its sub-organizations and committees, and a duty to report the Federation of the transition of presidents of local Associations.
Article 8Admission & Withdrawal: Admission and withdrawal of members shall follow the procedures below. Admission: New members shall submit the new member application to the Federation office, and the Board of Executive Directors shall review and approve the application.

Withdrawal: Withdrawal of members is upon member's free will and shall report it to the Federation, or membership may be taken away by the Grievance Committee.
CHAPTER 3 ORGANIZATION AND OFFICES
Article 9Jurisdiction Jurisdiction of Federation shall be within the 50 states of United States and its territory.
Article 10Organization
  • Executive Office (President, Vice President & General Secretary)
    1. President: A president of the Federation shall be elected at General meeting, and such president shall represent the Federation, exercise authority given in the Bylaws and specific delegated items by the general assembly at the general meeting. President shall appoint Vice President, General Secretary, and officers, and direct overall operations of the Federation. When the President appoints or recommends for appointment officers, he shall investigate whether or not the candidate has prior criminal conviction.
    2. Vice President: President shall appoint ten (10) Vice Presidents to assist President. First Vice President shall succeed duties of the president when the President dies. In the event that the First Vice President becomes unable to perform his/her duties, the eldest Vice President shall act as acting-First Vice President.
    3. General Secretary: General Secretary shall assist President, direct organization of Federation, execute the policy, supervise over administrative operations. President shall appoint General Secretary. Incoming General Secretary shall maintain the office of the outgoing General Secretary for the continuity of operations.

  • Honorary President: President shall designate an honorary president among former presidents of Federation based on his or her merits. Honorary President may represent the Federation on special occasions assigned by President.

  • Advisors: President shall appoint advisors for the interest of Federation. Advisors may not be the members of Federation. Advisors shall advise President for the interest of Federation.

  • Consultants: President shall appoint consultants to receive professional advises. Consultants may not be the members of Federation.

  • Auditors: Board of Executive Directors shall appoint two auditors to perform financial and administrative audits. Auditors shall perform the annual audit and personally report the findings to the Board of Directors at the General Meeting. Auditors must observe and audit the process of the transition of presidency from one to the next. Auditors must sign the audit report. If necessary, auditors may perform special audits.

  • Planning Board: Planning Board shall be under President's direct control and President shall appoint Planning Board members. Duties of the Planning Board shall be to develop policy for future direction for the benefit of Federation and to promote the efficient relationship among the committees and offices.

  • Board of Directors: Board of Directors shall review and ratify policies, fiscal budget and other important matters of the Federation.

  • Committees: Committees shall execute business plans ratified by the Board of Directors, and President appoints the Committee Chairperson. Committee chairperson shall appoint the Committee members. There shall be Committees for Unification, Politics, Education, Racial issues, Human rights, Cultural preservation, Koreans of the World, Religion, Social Welfare, Senior Benefits, Women's issues, Sports, Youth leadership, Korean-American Economic development, Juvenile issues, Immigration research, Development of Human Resources, Small businesses, and others.

  • Special Committees: The Federation shall create special committees to execute urgent or special missions, and shall dissolve upon the completion of such mission. President shall appoint the Committee Chairperson, and the Chairperson shall appoint the committee members. However, the composition and operation of Election Committee shall be governed by Bylaws Chapter 5, Article 37, Section 2 (Chapter 5, Article 36, Section 2 in these instant amended Bylaws) and the Operational Policies of Election Committee.

  • Offices: The Federation shall have the following offices for execution of operations:
    1. Office of General Secretary: This office shall direct the administrative operations of Federation.
    2. Office of Finance: This office shall prepare the budget and direct financial activities.
    3. Office of Public Relations: This office shall oversee the Federation activities in the community.
    4. Office of Organization: This office shall supervise the communications among local Korean associations and their activities.
    5. Office of Public Information: This office shall review business plans, advertise such plans to public, and assume the role of spokesperson for the Federation.
    6. Office of Women: This office shall oversee women's issues to promote women's stance.
    7. Office of Sports: This office shall oversee sports events and programs.
    8. Others: General Secretary may install offices as needed basis.
    • Article 11Mediation Panel: President shall immediately install a permanent Mediation Panel to be able to respond immediately to members' request for mediation for the reasons of dispute of election result, embezzlement, misappropriation, or other important issues of Federation fund.
    1. Composition: Mediation Panel shall be composed of nine (9) panel members, and Chairperson and panel members shall be appointed internally by the Mediation Panel.
    2. Qualification: The following shall have the qualification to become a Mediation Panel member: incumbent Bylaws Revision Committee Chairperson, Attorney-in-law or former presidents of the Federation.
    3. Offices: There shall be a chairperson, a vice chairperson, and an executive officer. Chairperson appoints vice chairperson and executive officer.
    4. Roles: The Mediation Panel shall be subject to the following or perform following roles:
      1. In the event that the President or Chairperson of the Board of Directors is involved directly or indirectly with a dispute, the President or Chairperson's authority and power as President or Chairperson shall be suspended until the dispute is resolved.
      2. The Mediation Panel shall be given the authority and power of the President and Chairperson of Board of Directors until a dispute is resolved, and, if needed, it shall have the full power to perform the executive matters in the place of President and the Chairperson of Board of Directors until the affairs of the Federation is normalized.
      3. When the dispute is resolved, the Chairperson of the Mediation Panel shall make a written report of its work and findings to the Federation members. In the event that Mediation Panel determines that punishment must be imposed on a party, the Mediation Panel shall provide the reasons for such a determination and refer the case to the Punishment Committee for further deliberation.
    5. Restrictions: Mediation panel shall not participate in election and shall remain strictly neutral.
    6. Nature of Mediation Panel: The Mediation Panel is an independent suborganization and may observe only its own rules. The Mediation panel member who receives a request for mediation from Federation's member shall immediately take measures to allow the Mediation Panel to commence mediation in accordance with Bylaws and the mediation procedure.
    Article 12Building Committee There shall be a permanent committee for the Federation building to base its operations and activities. President nominates the chairperson to be ratified by the Board of Executive Directors, and the chairperson appoints the committee members. The Building Committee shall operate its business under the Rules of the Committee.
    Article 13Bylaws Revision Committee The Bylaws Revision Committee shall be established as a permanent committee to revise, amend and interpret the meanings of the Bylaws. President nominates Chairperson to be ratified by the Board of Executive Directors; and the Chairperson shall appoint committee members. The Chairperson shall serve for an indefinite term, which is to continue indefinitely until the Chairperson commits an act that is prohibited by Bylaws, Chapter 3, Article 17. In the event that a party pressures the Mediation Panel such that it is unable to perform as an independent and neutral Bylaws Revision Committee in discharging its given duties, the Bylaws Revision Committee may refer the party applying such pressure to the Punishment Committee.
    Article 14Election Committee There shall be a special committee, Election Committee, to oversee the election. President nominates Chairperson and the committee members, all to be ratified by the Board of Executive Directors. Election Committee shall operate its business under the Rules of the Board.
    Article 15Transition Committee There shall be Transition Committee to preserve the continuity and consistency of the Federation operations and the succession of the incoming president from the outgoing president. Transition Committee shall operate its business under the Rules of the Committee.
    Article 16Terms of Officers Terms of the president is two (2) years and the officers shall have the same term with the president. Term of the offices of the permanent committee shall be four (4) years.
    Article 17Restriction of Officers No members shall serve the officer if he or she declared bankruptcy, was convicted for a crime and was given a sentence thereof (including the adjudication of suspended sentence), and who was disciplined by the Punishment Committee. However, this restriction shall be lifted automatically after three (3) years has passed since the date of the last conviction or Punishment Committee's punishment that gave rise to the restriction.
    Article 18Term Limit The term of the presidency is two (2) years and may serve one more two (2) year term.
    Article 19Succession The chairperson of Mediation Panel shall succeed the presidency or chairpersonship (of Board of Directors) during the suspension of the executive operations, until a special resolution is passed to restore the operations.
    CHAPTER 4 MEETING
    Article 20Meetings There shall be General meetings and Special meetings.
    1. General Meeting: President shall convene a general meeting in June bi-annually.
    2. Notice for general meeting shall be sent to each member 30 days prior to the meeting, and the notice shall include agenda and schedule in writing.
    3. President shall preside the general meeting from opening to the closing. The President may designate a person to serve as the master of ceremony.
    4. President shall convene Special Meeting upon President's request, upon request by Board of Directors, or upon fifty (50) or more members' notarized request. It shall be the obligation of the President to convene a Special Meeting, upon the said request by Board of Directors or upon fifty (50) or more members' notarized request, within 15 days of the request in accordance with the Bylaws, Chapter 4, Article 20, Section 2. In the event that the President intentionally delays or avoids the convening of requested Special Meeting, all matters relating to convening of special meeting shall be automatically referred to the Mediation Panel and the Mediation Panel shall have the sole jurisdiction over matters related to the convening of special meeting.
    Article 21Functions of Meetings: General Meeting and Special Meeting are the supreme decisionmaking body of the Federation and it shall perform following functions/roles.
    1. Election of President of Federation and Ratification of appointment of Chairperson of Board of Directors;
    2. Revision of Bylaws, policies and other laws of the Federation;
    3. Taking reports of Federation Operations and Works; Fiscal Report; Auditing Report and other reports;
    4. Impeachment of President or Chairperson of Board of Directors;
    5. Other important matters.
    In the event that a presidential candidate is unopposed, the presidential candidate must receive the ratification of the general membership to be elected.
    Article 22Quorum: A quorum of the General Meeting is one-half of all regular members duly registered, and a simple majority shall carry the resolutions of said meeting. A quorum of Special meetings is one hundred (100) regular members, and a simple majority shall carry resolutions of said meetings.
    Article 23Resolutions: A quorum and resolution of General Meeting, Board of Directors, Committee, Permanent Committee and all other meetings shall be one half of the duly registered regular members and a simple majority respectively. (However, revision of Bylaws shall require two thirds (2/3) majority of those present at each meeting.)
    Article 24Procedure for General Meeting Procedure of meeting shall include quorum report, opening of the meeting, pledge of allegiance, national anthems of Korea and USA, President's remark, welcoming speeches, congratulatory speeches, reading of last minutes, business reports, audit report, citations and awards, resolution of pending issues and election procedure, election result report, inauguration of in-coming president, transfer of Federation Flag, hail to long-live Koreans, and closing of meeting.
    Article 25Proxy No proxy shall be effective for General meeting. Proxy for all meetings other than general meeting shall take effect. Proxy shall be in writing and signed by the originator.
    Article 26Board of Directors: The Federation shall institute a Board of Directors pursuant to Chapter 3, Article 10, item 7.
    1. Composition: The Board of Directors shall be consisted of not more than 80 directors, and the Chairperson of the Board shall be ratified at the General Meeting upon a nomination by the President. President and the Chairperson shall jointly appoint directors.
    2. Classes: There shall be General Directors and Executive Directors.
    3. Board of Executive Directors: There shall be no particular composition of the Board of Executive Directors. President, its officers, Chairperson of Board of Directors and his vice-chairpersons and executive secretary shall comprise the Board of Executive Directors.
    4. Board of General Directors: Board of General Directors shall be consisted of not more than 60 directors.
    Article 27Ex-Officio President, Vice President, and General Secretary shall be ex-officio directors and may attend the board meeting notwithstanding the maximum number of the directors.
    Article 28Duties of General Board of Directors: The Board of Directors shall perform the following duties:
    1. Deliberation and resolution on business plans and budget.
    2. Assessing fees of members and of directors; Hearing motions on general issues and revisions of bylaws.
    3. Enacting or/and revising rules and regulations of Permanent Committee or Special Committee.
    4. Member Evaluation: In the event that a member comes into scrutiny for appreciation or admonition, Board of Directors shall establish a Committee for Appreciation or a Committee for Admonition to carry out the purpose.
    5. Reviewing the financial audit report.
    6. Selecting issues for the agenda to present at the General Meeting.
    7. Other duties as necessary.
    Article 29Duties of Board of Executive Directors Board of Executive Directors shall perform the following duties:
    1. Selection of auditors and ratification of selection of chairperson of permanent committees.
    2. Mediation and problem solution of disputes among local Korean associations.
    3. Evaluation of new member's qualification.
    4. Solution of emergent issues and issues brought by permanent committee.
    5. Assessment of registration fee for the candidates.
    6. Ratification of chairperson and members of Election Board.
    7. Approval of purchase/building of the Federation-owned corporate building or land; or approval of purchase of land or building
    8. Processing of matters referred from permanent sub-organizations or committees;
    9. Other issues of importance.
    Article 30Organization of the Board of Directors: For the operations of the business, the Federation shall retain not more than 10 vice-chairpersons.
    Article 31Duties of Chairperson of the Board of Directors: The Chairperson shall preside the meetings of the Board of General Directors and the Board of Executive Directors; shall supervise the overall operations of the Board of Directors; and shall appoint First Vice-Chairperson, and other Vice Chairpersons.
    Article 32Duties of Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Directors: Vice Chairperson shall assist the Chairperson, and the First Vice chairperson shall act as the acting-Chair when the Chairperson is unable to carry his or her duties. In time of inability to carry out the duties of first vice chairperson, the other vice chairpersons shall succeed to chair in order of age seniority.
    Article 33Duties of Executive Officer Executive Officer of the Board of Directors shall be in charge of preparing meeting, minutes, and maintaining all related documents; and shall assist the Board.
    Article 34Meeting. Chairperson shall call a meeting upon request by president, or by chairperson, or by one-third (1/3) of directors. Chairperson shall forward the notice of meeting in writing stating the cause, to each director 15 days prior to the meeting date.
    Article 35Deciding a Deadlock In the case of deadlock at the General or Special Meeting, the President shall have the deciding vote, including the election result deadlock; in the case of deadlock within the Board of Directors, the Chairperson of the Board of Director shall have the deciding vote at the board's meeting; in the case of deadlock within the sub-organizations, committees (special or permanent), the Chairperson of each committee shall have the deciding vote. (Votes by facsimile shall be effective in all meetings, except at the general meeting)
    CHAPTER 5 ELECTION
    Article 36Manner of Voting The elections of the Federation shall be done in a (newly manner that is either direct, secret, equal (one-vote per any type of voter), inserted) or regular, and it shall employ direct voting.
    Article 37Election Board There shall be an Election Board pursuant to Chapter 3, Article 14 of the Bylaws.
    1. Commencement of Board Operation: Election Board shall begin its operations 60 days prior to the election.
    2. Composition: Election Board shall be composed of one (1) Chairperson, one (1) Vice-Chairperson, one (1) executive secretary, four (4) committee members and one (1) stand-by committee member.
    Article 38Duties of Election Board Election Board, having the sole jurisdiction over the administration of election of President of the Federation, shall perform the following duties.
    1. Administration of election-related matters in accordance with Chapter 5 of Bylaws, and Election Board's operating rules.
    2. Administration of candidates' registration.
    3. Administration of voting site.
    4. Administration of voters roster.
    5. Evaluation of qualification of candidates and voters.
    6. Report of election result to the general membership at the General Meeting and pronouncement of the elected.
    7. Supervision of ballots and safekeeping election related documents.
    8. Overseeing other matters related to the election.
    Article 39Qualification of Candidate: A person shall be qualified to run as a candidate for Presidency of Federation if the person is over 35 years of age; is a permanent resident or a citizen of United States and is of Korean blood; must be a regular member having paid the membership dues in accordance with the provisions of the Bylaws Chapter 2, Section 7; and must not be prohibited from becoming an officer of the Federation as provided under the Bylaws Chapter 3, Section 17.
    Article 40Suspension of Rights: If a President or other officers or any person holding an office in the Federation registers as a presidential candidate, his or her rights or powers as a President, other officer, or as the holder of that particular office in the Federation shall be suspended starting from the date of registration as a presidential candidate until the presidential election is completed. The vacancy created by such registration to run as a presidential candidate shall be filled in accordance with the Bylaws provisions governing priority of succession of office.
    Article 41Registration Date Due dates shall be regular business day or the first regular business day after the national holiday, holiday, or week-end days. If postmarked by midnight, postmarked date shall be within the due date.
    Article 42Registration Fee Board of Executive Directors shall assess the registration fee not less than $10,000 but not more than $20,000, 60 days prior to the election.
    Article 43Registration of Voters and Candidates: The right to vote in an election shall lie only with voters, who are both regular members and who duly registers thirty (30) days prior to the expiration of the term of the office of the Federation's President. The right to run as a candidate shall lie only with a regular member who registers as a candidate by submitting all required documents to the Election Board forty (40) days prior to the expiration of the term of the office of the Federation's President. The office of the General Secretary, upon running of the deadline for registration of voters, shall compile a list of all registered voters and provide the list to the candidates, Election Board, and other offices of the Federation deemed necessary to be notified, and must provide the list for viewing by the regular members when requested.
    Article 44Method of Voting When No Candidate Receives Majority Votes: (newly In the event that there are multiple presidential candidates and none inserted) of the candidates can muster the majority needed to be elected, a voting shall be conducted in which the candidate with the most votes, even if less than the majority needed to win, shall be elected as the President.
    Article 45Complaints and Remedies
    1. Complaints: For complaints regarding election results, alleging that the election process violated any provisions of Bylaws or Rules of committees, candidates shall file the complaint anytime before 15 days of the election day, and others shall file the complaint related to abuse of authorities or error by officers at any time, to a mediation panel member, who is a qualified mediation panel member in accordance with the Bylaws, Chapter 3, Article 11, Section 2. If a member brings an action to the court of law of USA before resorting the disputes to the Mediation pursuant to Chapter 3, Article 11, then, the member shall be barred from the membership for four (4) to ten (10) years upon the resolution of the Mediation Panel.
    2. Penalty: Election Board has authority to annul the candidacy, void the registration, nullify the election result if it finds and verifies irregularities in election rules and regulations. This is to promote the members voluntary participation and to become a model member.
    Article 46Finance
    1 The source of Federation's finance shall be regular membership fees, directors' fees, donations and net profit from the operations of business. Each local Korean association shall pay a fee in proportion to the population of its constituents according to the following fee schedule::
    1. For the association with members of 100,000 or more, the fee is $1,000 for two (2) years.
    2. For the association with members of 50,000 or more, the fee is $ 750 for two (2) years.
    3. For the association with members of 10,000 or more, the fee is $500 for two (2) years.
    4. For the association with members of less than 10,000, the fee is $300 for two (2) years.
    Article 47Applicable Period of Membership Dues: When a member pays his (newly membership dues, the dues shall be deemed to apply to the two (2) year inserted) period of January 1 of the previous year up to December 31 of the year in which the dues was paid.
    Article 48Fiscal Year The fiscal year of Federation shall be a calendar year, starting on January 1 and ending on December 31 each year.
    CHAPTER 6 ADDENDUM
    Article 1Effective Date The effective date of these Bylaws is July 1, 2001.
    Article 2General Rules Matters not provided for in these Bylaws shall be decided according to common customs and practices.
    Article 48Transitional Period All resolutions passed by the 16th executives shall be deemed to be effectively passed according to this Bylaws. [Deleted]
    History of Bylaws:
      - Original Bylaws adopted on October 13, 1984 at the 7th General Meeting.

    - First Revision adopted on July 30, 1989 at the 12th General Meeting

    - Second Revision adopted on June 27, 1994 at the 15th Special Meeting, Dallas, Texas (Bylaws Revision Committee members: Jae Duck Sohn, Sung Hoon Lee, Oh Young Lee, Sekwon Chung, Ok Sung Hwang)

    - Third Revision adopted on October 19, 1996 at the 16th General Meeting, (Houston, Texas) (Committee Chairperson, Chang Beom Kim and 10 Committee members)

    - Fourth Revision adopted on June 30, 2001 at the 19th General Meeting held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Bylaws Revision Committee Members, Ok Sung Hwang, Tae Kwon Lee, Jae Duck Sohn, Sung Rae Kim, Yoon Taek Shim, Dae Ho Lee, and Han Bong Lee)



    		 

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