Koreatown in the

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle A ...

of Palisades Park (, shortened to Pal Park ), Bergen County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, United States, is centered around the business district on Broad Avenue, which has been called a "Korean food walk of fame".

Background

The municipalities with the highest

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

of ethnic

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply re ...

in the

Western Hemisphere The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the te ...

and the home of both the highest Korean-American density and percentage are in Bergen County. The per capita Korean American population of Bergen County, 6.3% by the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, (increasing to 6.9% by the 2011 American Community Survey), is the highest of any county in the United States, with an absolute total of 56,773 Korean Americans (increasing to 63,247 by the 2011 American Community Survey). Along with Palisades Park, where Korean-Americans constitute the majority of the population, abutting towns also have high percentages:

Leonia Leonia is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 8,937,Ridgefield (%), Fort Lee (%). Chusok Korean Thanksgiving

harvest festival A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. ...

has become an annual tradition in Bergen County, attended by several tens of thousands. In the 1990s, a continuous stream of

Korean immigrants The Korean diaspora (South Korea: or , North Korea: or ) consists of around 7.3 million people, both descendants of early emigrants from the Korean Peninsula, as well as more recent emigres from Korea. Around 84.5% of overseas Koreans live in ...

moved into Palisades Park and purchased most businesses; It became one of the largest and fastest growing ethnic

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

enclaves An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

outside of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

(and has been called ''Koreatown on the Hudson'' and ''Little Korea''). Broad Avenue is the biggest and densest Korean commercial district in Bergen, the heart of the Korean American community.

Cuisine and culture

Broad Avenue in Koreatown has been referred to as a "Korean food walk of fame", with diverse offerings. Palisades Park's Koreatown now incorporates the highest concentration of Korean restaurants within a one-mile radius in the United States, and Broad Avenue has evolved into a

Korean dessert This is a list of Korean desserts. Korean cuisine known today has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient agricultural and nomadic traditions in southern Manchuria and the Korean peninsula, Korean cui ...

destination as well.

Korean Chinese cuisine Korean–Chinese cuisine (), also known as Sino–Korean cuisine, is a hybrid cuisine developed by the ethnic Chinese in Korea. Despite originally being derived from Chinese cuisine, Korean-Chinese cuisine consists of unique dishes with Korea ...

is now also available in Koreatown, as is misugaru.

Bulgogi ''Bulgogi'' (불고기; ; from Korean ''bul-gogi'' ), literally "fire meat", is a ''gui'' (구이; Korean-style grilled or roasted dish) made of thin, marinated slices of meat, most commonly beef, grilled on a barbecue or on a stove-top grid ...

and

galbi ''Galbi'' * (), ''galbi-gui'' (), or grilled ribs, is a type of ''gui'' (grilled dish) in Korean cuisine. "''Galbi''" is the Korean word for "rib", and the dish is usually made with beef short ribs. When pork spare ribs or another meat is us ...

are staples on Broad Avenue in the Palisades Park Koreatown. Korean

café A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non ...

s have become a major cultural element within Palisades Park's Koreatown, not only for the coffee, ''

bingsu ''Bingsu'' (), sometimes written as ''bingsoo'', is a Korean shaved ice dessert with sweet toppings that may include chopped fruit, condensed milk, fruit syrup, and red beans. The most common variety is ''pat-bingsu'' (), the red bean shaved ...

'' (shaved ice), and

pastries Pastry is baked food made with a dough of flour, water and shortening (solid fats, including butter or lard) that may be savoury or sweetened. Sweetened pastries are often described as '' bakers' confectionery''. The word "pastries" suggests ...

, but also as communal gathering places. Koreatown in Palisades Park has emerged as a dominant nexus of Korean American culture. The Palisades Park Senior Citizens Center provides a popular gathering place where even Korean grandmothers were noted to follow the dance trend of the worldwide viral hit '' Gangnam Style'' by South Korean " K-pop" rapper

Psy Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...

in 2012. Palisades Park High School has hosted national

Kumdo Kumdo is a modern Korean martial art derived from Japanese Kendo. Though romanized in a number of ways when written, Kǒmdo or Geomdo, the meaning remains "the way of the sword" and is cognate with the Japanese term. As a martial art, Kumdo has ...

martial arts tournaments. A

jjimjilbang A jjimjilbang (; ) is a large, sex-segregated public bathhouse in South Korea, furnished with hot tubs, showers, Korean traditional kiln saunas and massage tables. ''Jjimjil'' is derived from the words meaning ''heating''. In other areas of ...

offers

sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...

s and

bibimbap Bibimbap * ( , from Korean , literally "mixed rice"), sometimes romanized as bi bim bap or bi bim bop, is a Korean rice dish. The term "bibim" means "mixing" and " bap" refers to cooked rice. ''Bibimbap'' is served as a bowl of warm white ri ...

in Palisades Park's Koreatown. Approximately 120 Korean stores were counted in Palisades Park in 2000, a number which has risen significantly since then, featuring restaurants and

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music i ...

(''

noraebang Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

'') bars, grocery markets, education centers, book stores, financial institutions (such as

Shinhan Bank Shinhan Bank Co., Ltd. () is a bank headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Historically it was the first bank in Korea, established under the name Hanseong Bank in 1897. The bank was reestablished in 1982. It is part of the Shinhan Financial Gro ...

and

Woori Bank Woori Bank (Hangul: 우리은행 ''Uri Eunhaeng'') is a Korean multinational bank headquartered in Seoul. It is one of the four largest domestic banks in South Korea and is showing a strong presence not only for commercial banking but also for co ...

), offices, electronics vendors, apparel boutiques, and other commercial enterprises.

Signage & dual-naming Broad Avenue

In 1996, an ordinance was passed that storefront signage be same size in English as in Korean. It was one of seven towns in Bergen County to do so. In mid-2015, a proposal was submitted by the Korean-American Association of Palisades Park to the mayor and council of Palisades Park to add a second name to Broad Avenue, such as "Korean Market Street" () or " Korea Way". The mayor's response was to request a public vote on implementing this addition. As of 2018, it remained controversial.

Monuments and memorials

In 2010, in a public park near the public library a

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other wit ...

plaque on a block of stone, was dedicated to the memory of comfort women, tens of thousands of women and girls, many Korean, who were forced into sexual slavery by Japanese soldiers during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. In May 2012, borough officials in Palisades Park rejected requests by two diplomatic delegations from Japan to remove a small

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

from the park. Days later, a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

n delegation endorsed the borough's decision. The first Japanese delegation cited apologies offered by their country's government for its involvement as justifying the removal of the monument, while officials from the second delegation controversially claimed that "comfort women were a lie". In 2017 the monument, the first of its kind in the United States, was relocated to more prominent location. A similar memorial in nearby Hackensack was raised behind the Bergen County Courthouse, alongside memorials to the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, the Great Famine of Ireland, and the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

, and unveiled in March 2013. An annual cross-country bicycle ride dedicated to the honor of the comfort women ends at the Palisades Park memorial, following a penultimate stop at the memorial in Hackensack. A memorial dedicated to the victims of the tragic sinking of the ''Sewol'' ferry off the South Korean coast on April 16, 2014, was unveiled at the public library in May 2014.

Korean language in civic affairs

Ballots are printed with the Korean language since 2012. Jason Kim was serving as deputy mayor of the borough of Palisades Park in May 2012. As of May 2014, Korean Americans had garnered at least four borough council seats in Bergen County. In July 2015, Shawn M. Lee was sworn in as Palisades Park's first Korean-American police sergeant and Gina S. Kim was sworn in as the borough's first municipal clerk, reflecting the growing political influence of the Korean American population in Palisades Park. In November 2015, Palisades Park hired two more Korean-speaking police officers, bringing the total to four. In January 2019, Christopher Chung was sworn in as the first Korean-American mayor of Palisades Park. Korean Americans have attended town meetings in large numbers, requested

Korean language Korean ( South Korean: , ''hangugeo''; North Korean: , ''chosŏnmal'') is the native language for about 80 million people, mostly of Korean descent. It is the official and national language of both North Korea and South Korea (geographic ...

interpreters to be present at these meetings as of August 2016. In 2019 the town created a Korean language version of its website.

References