Hundreds of Los Angeles riot victims have begun filing claims against the city, county and state, charging that an inadequate government response was responsible for the injuries and losses they suffered during the violence that swept the city nearly six months ago.

By late Monday, an estimated 1,500 Korean-American and other victims will have filed claims to meet a deadline imposed by California law. Such claims must be lodged before any public entity in the state can be sued.

"If they don't file these claims they'll lose the right to sue," said John Adsit, an attorney who has been working to help the victims as part of a coalition that includes the ACLU Foundation of Southern California and lawyer Gloria Allred. "They feel if the government had done its job, their businesses would not have been destroyed."

The claims are a preliminary step and do not necessarily mean the victims will eventually file lawsuits, said Stewart Kwoh, director of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, also part of the coalition. The attorneys are still investigating whether to pursue that course, he said.

On Friday, dozens of victims sat in a Wilshire Boulevard office staffed with volunteers who helped them fill out forms claiming physical or emotional injuries and property damage; other workers took the forms in boxes to the Civic Center. By late Friday, about 500 had been filed with the Los Angeles city clerk and another 300 had been filed with the executive office of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

"It doesn't worry me," said Senior Assistant City Atty. Thomas Hokinson, who heads the unit that will review the claims. "The city of Los Angeles is immune from any liability."

State law, Hokinson noted, declares that no state or local government entity is responsible for "failure to provide sufficient police protection."

"This whole issue was addressed in 1969, when the Court of Appeal sustained our position on damage claims arising out of the Watts riots," Hokinson said.

City records show that after the Watts riots at least 25 merchants or their insurance companies filed lawsuits against the city, county or state. But after the state appellate court dismissed a suit filed by merchants Israel and Ethel Susman, none prevailed.

"The general immunity afforded to the city . . . precludes recovery of damages," the court ruled.