In October 2023, The Fullerton Observer reported that political donors to Mayor Fred Jung were using the *City Seal of Fullerton on business cards, despite holding no city titles or official positions. When asked, mayor Jung dismissed the matter by saying, “It’s not illegal; just frowned upon.” Mayor Jung also claimed that he had not been alerted to the ordinance prohibiting the use of the City Seal, despite presiding over a *July 5, 2022 Council meeting in which staff explicitly stated that unauthorized use of the Seal was unlawful under existing city law. 

Further investigation revealed something far more troubling: city officials, including the mayor and then-City Manager Eric Levitt, appear to have misrepresented a private, donor-owned entity as a public partnership under the City’s Sister City program.

Following a 2023 agreement between Fullerton and Seongnam, South Korea, to promote cultural exchange, a business showroom was launched in Fullerton: the Korean-Seongnam Business Center (K-SBC). The ribbon-cutting featured Mayor Jung, City Manager Levitt, and several other dignitaries from both South Korea and Orange County, including Seongnam’s Mayor Shin Sang-jin, former Congresswoman Michelle Steel, and local elected officials from Brea, Irvine, and Buena Park.

While the event was presented as part of Fullerton’s Sister City partnership with Seongnam, K-SBC is not a city-run program. It is a private venture, owned and operated by Corus Bridge, LLC and Jennifer Kim. Corus Bridge is owned by Jake Seijin Oh, one of the individuals caught using the City Seal on business cards in 2023. Both Kim and Oh have donated thousands of dollars to Fred Jung’s campaigns.

Despite being a private business, K-SBC has repeatedly used Fullerton’s official branding, including the City Seal and references to the Sister City partnership, in ways that give the appearance of government endorsement. When complaints arose in 2024 about the City Seal being used on exterior signage, Levitt defended the use, stating, “It is our sister city.”

In 2025, the issue resurfaced when K-SBC’s website included Fullerton branding. Levitt again justified it, claiming the City Seal was used because K-SBC was “for Seongnam City purposes.”

But no public agreement or Council vote was ever made to establish K-SBC as an official city program. The promotional benefits, framed as cultural diplomacy, flowed primarily to two of the mayor’s major campaign donors.

In 2023, inquiries were made regarding the potential misuse of the city seal. However, the response was slow and did not materialize until 2024, after a recent approval that lacked explanation and was not accompanied by a city council vote. It was only in 2025 that the city seal was removed from the building and its signage.

According to The Korea Daily on March 31, 2025, Mayor Jung took the relationship a step further by signing a *Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with LinkOne, Inc., another company owned by Jake Seijin Oh. The MOA reportedly committed City administrative assistance to an upcoming cultural festival promoted by the company.

This raises serious legal and governance concerns. As a general law city, Fullerton operates under state law, which does not grant the mayor executive authority. The mayor’s role is largely symbolic, presiding over meetings and serving as the city’s ceremonial representative. Only the City Council, as a whole, has the power to approve agreements involving staff time or city resources.

Yet the MOA was signed unilaterally by Mayor Fred Jung, in council chambers, with no council vote or public discussion. This appears to be a clear overstep of mayoral authority.

This is not an isolated incident. Taken together, the use of the City Seal by political donors, the branding of a private business as a city-affiliated project, and the mayor’s unauthorized agreement with a donor’s company paint a troubling picture of blurred lines between public office and private interests.

At best, these actions reflect poor judgment and a disregard for process. At worst, they suggest the use of public resources to benefit political allies, a potential abuse of office.

Symbols like the City Seal represent the people of Fullerton, not private interests. City resources, staff time, and partnerships should not be used as tools for rewarding donors or consolidating political influence. 

To restore public trust, a comprehensive and independent review is necessary—not only to protect the integrity of Fullerton’s public image but to ensure that no elected official can misuse their position to grant special favors to supporters behind closed doors.

*Click link below to read the Korea Daily article:

https://www.koreadailyus.com/fullerton-chimaek-festival-august-september/

*Click link below ( scroll to Item 15. 22-0815) to hear 2022 council discussion on banning use of city seal on business cards for official members of commissions and committees and Mayor Jung’s comment and vote to ban (despite later allowing city seal use for non-existent positions attached to his position without council OK) .

https://fullerton.granicus.com/player/clip/1510?view_id=2&redirect=true&h=4718ea3b0b5a16517a4f6f08a9266394