many korean americans in los angeles refer to the event as "sa-i-gu", meaning "four-two-nine" in the korean language (4.29혁명), in reference to april 29, 1992, which was the day the riots started. the week of riots following the acquittal of the lapd officers in the beating of rodney king has been considered a major turning point in the development of a distinct korean american identity and community. over 2,300 mom-and-pop shops run by korean business owners were damaged through ransacking and looting during the riots, sustaining close to $400 million in damages.