As of 2008, the sixty thousand ethnic Koreans in

Greater Los Angeles Greater Los Angeles is the second-largest metropolitan region in the United States with a population of 18.5 million in 2021, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino Coun ...

constituted the largest Korean community in the United States. Their number made up 15 percent of the country's Korean American population.Kim, Jongyun, p
75

History

A first wave of Korean immigrants settled at the foot of Bunker Hill and worked as truck farmers, domestic workers, waiters, and domestic help.Kim, Katherine Yungmee, p
9
The Korean United Presbyterian Church was established on West Jefferson Boulevard in 1905. A Korean community developed around this church. The Ahn Chang Ho residence, which served as a community center and a guidance, lodging, and community support center for new Korean immigrants, housed grocery stores and the offices of the

Korean National Association The Korean National Association (; Hanja: 大韓人國民會), also known as All Korea Korean National Association, was a political organization established on February 1, 1909, to fight Japan's colonial policies and occupation in Korea. It w ...

Los Angeles Branch and the Young Korean Academy.Kim, Katherine Yungmee, p
8
In the 1930s the Korean population shifted to an area between Normandie and Vermont Streets in the Jefferson Boulevard area. This Korean area, which became known as the "Old Koreatown," was in proximity to the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. By then the first generation of Korean immigrants had children, who lived around the Old Koreatown. In the 1950s, Los Angeles received a second wave of Korean immigrants resulting from the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and the children of the first generation of immigrants gave birth to the next generation. After the passage of the

Hart-Cellar Act The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, also known as the Hart–Celler Act and more recently as the 1965 Immigration Act, is a federal law passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The l ...

in 1965, Korean immigration increased. After the Watts Riots in 1965, many Koreans began moving to suburban communities. In 1970, the Koreans in Los Angeles and Orange Counties made up 63% of the total number of Koreans in the United States. Around this period, the Korean community area moved to Olympic Boulevard, where the modern

Koreatown A Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운), also known as a Little Korea or Little Seoul, is a Korean-dominated ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area outside the Korean Peninsula. History Koreatowns as an East Asian ethnic enclave have ...

is located. The Korean community was severely affected by the

1992 Los Angeles riots The 1992 Los Angeles riots, sometimes called the 1992 Los Angeles uprising and the Los Angeles Race Riots, were a series of riots and civil disturbances that occurred in Los Angeles County, California, in April and May 1992. Unrest began in S ...

. One Korean American

civilian Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and they are not "combatants if they carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, b ...

, Edward Song Lee, died in the rioting.Abelmann and Lie, p
ix
(Preface). Over $400 million worth of damages occurred, including the destruction of over 2,000 businesses owned by ethnic Koreans.Kim, Katherine Yungmee, p
10
Most of the members of the Korean community refer to them in Korean as the 4-2-9 riot (''Sa-i-gu p'oktong''). This naming follows the integer naming schemes of political events in Korean history. After the event, many Koreans moved to suburbs in

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

and the two

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County to the west. It includes the cities o ...

counties:

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

and

San Bernardino San Bernardino (; Spanish language, Spanish for Bernardino of Siena, "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a ...

. Since then, investment occurring in Koreatown caused the community to rebuild. In 2014 a delegation of minor Japanese right-wing politicians requested the removal of a memorial statue of the Korean comfort women in

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 opposin ...

from an area in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...

, sparking controversy. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit for the statue's removal and was met with support from the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...

, Korea-Glendale Sister City Association, and the Korean American Forum of California as part of a "large-scale effort to raise international awareness of the

comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...

's plight." The

Japanese American Citizens League The is an Asian American civil rights charity, headquartered in San Francisco, with regional chapters across the United States. The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) describes itself as the oldest and largest Asian American civil right ...

and other Japanese-American organizations supported the statue and deplored the Japanese delegation's claim that it had led to racially motivated bullying of Japanese-Americans as propaganda.

Geography

As of 2008, about 350,000 ethnic Koreans live in

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...

.Covarrubias, Amanda.
Koreatown finds suburban home
" ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. February 23, 2008. Retrieved on February 25, 2014. As of 2008 the largest Korean

ethnic enclave In sociology, an ethnic enclave is a geographic area with high ethnic concentration, characteristic cultural identity, and economic activity. The term is usually used to refer to either a residential area or a workspace with a high concentration ...

in Los Angeles is

and the majority of the Koreans have been concentrated around that area. By 2008 many ethnic Korean communities had appeared in the northwestern

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

, including Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Northridge, and

Porter Ranch Porter Ranch is a suburban neighborhood in the northwest San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. History New home construction that was completed in the Porter Ranch area in the 1990s–2000s, including the Renaissan ...

. That year, the San Fernando Valley Korean Business Directory had a list of almost 1,500 Korean-owned businesses in the San Fernando Valley. Amanda Covarrubias of the ''

'' stated that area Korean community leaders estimated that 50,000 to 60,000 Koreans lived in the San Fernando Valley in 2008. In addition, by 2008 Korean communities had appeared in Cerritos and

Hacienda Heights Hacienda Heights () is an unincorporated suburban community in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, the community had a total population of 54,038, up from 53,122 at the 2000 census. For statistical purposes, the ...

in Los Angeles County, and

Buena Park Buena Park (''Buena'', Spanish for "Good") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census its population was 84,034. It is the location of several tourist attractions, namely Knott's Berry Farm. It is about 12 m ...

and Fullerton in Orange County. Also, a long standing community, known as

or Little Seoul has been in Garden Grove since the 1970s. This formed the center of the Korean Community of

which later spead out to

, Fullerton,

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the ...

, and

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier *Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia *Irvine Island *Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada *Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...

Demographics

As of 2008, 257,975 Korean Americans lived in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, Ventura,

, and

counties, making up 25% of all of the Korean Americans. As of that year, over 46,000 Koreans lived in

, making up 20.1% of the residents there. Koreatown, in addition to Koreans, houses other ethnic groups.

Economics

By 1988, in Los Angeles, many Korean stores had opened in African-American neighborhoods, and by then several boycotts by African-Americans of Korean businesses had occurred. By that time many Korean garment manufacturers acted as middlemen by employing Hispanic workers and selling product to White-owned manufacturers of clothing. In 2014 the federal government ran a raid against business operations that it accused of being money laundering. By 2015 some Korean business owners stated that they may take their operations out of Los Angeles due to a reduction in Latin American customers, an increasing minimum wage, and stricter governmental enforcement of labor laws, all occurring after the 2014 raid.

Culture

The

Korean Bell of Friendship The Korean Bell of Friendship (more commonly called Korean Friendship Bell) is a massive bronze bell housed in a stone pavilion in Angel's Gate Park, in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Located at the corner of Gaffey and ...

is located in San Pedro.

Education

Day schools

The

Wilshire Private School Wilshire Private School, previously called the Wilshire School,

(formerly Hankook School, Wilshire Elementary School, and Wilshire School), a private day school, is located in

.Park, Andrew. "The ABCs of Asian schools." '' Transpacific'', Transpacific Media, Inc. 9.4 (June 1994): p46+. Available on General OneFile,

Gale Group Gale is a global provider of research and digital learning resources. The company is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, west of Detroit. It has been a division of Cengage since 2007. The company, formerly known as Gale Research and the Gale Gro ...

, Document ID: GALE, A15239827 The

Korean Institute of Southern California 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 ** ...

(KISC, 남가주한국학원/南加州韓國學院) operates this school.Boghossian, Naush.
SCATTERED PEOPLE STRIVE TO PRESERVE TRADITION.
''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado-based Digital First Media. The offices of the ''Dai ...

''. October 5, 2005. Retrieved from

The Free Library ''The Free Dictionary'' is an American online dictionary and encyclopedia that aggregates information from various sources. Content The site cross-references the contents of ''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'', the '' ...

on March 8, 2014. "Charles Kim, who serves on the board of directors of the Korean Institute of Southern California, which operates the Korean Wilshire Elementary School and 13 Saturday schools, said losing the language is to be expected as new generations grow up in America. " Schools which served the children of the first wave of Korean immigrants included

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest Public education#United States, public high school in the Southern California, Southern California Region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are ...

Manual Arts High School Manual Arts High School is a secondary public school in Los Angeles, California, United States. History Manual Arts High School was founded in 1910 in the middle of bean fields, one-half mile from the nearest bus stop. It was the third high scho ...

, and the

James A. Foshay Learning Center __NOTOC__ James A. Foshay Learning Center (often referred to as Foshay L.C. or Foshay High School or Foshay) is a K-12 Los Angeles Unified School District public school in Los Angeles, California, in the Exposition Park District. It follows a t ...

Weekend schools

The KISC and the

Korean School Association of America 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 ** ...

(KSAA, 미주한국학교연합회/美洲韓國學校聯合會) operate weekend Korean language schools, with a combined total of 16,059 students. As of 2003 the KISC operated 12 schools, employing 147 teachers and enrolling 5,048 students.Kim, Michael Namkil (Director, Korean Studies Institute,

).
Some Problems of Korean Language Education in Southern California

.

. 2003. Retrieved on March 8, 2014. In 1992 there were 152 schools in Greater Los Angeles registered with the KSAA.Zhou, Min, & Kim, Susan S. (

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

).
Community forces, social capital, and educational achievement: The case of supplementary education in the Chinese and Korean immigrant communities

Archive
. ''

Harvard Educational Review The ''Harvard Educational Review'' is an academic journal of opinion and research dealing with education, associated with the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and published by the Harvard Education Publishing Group. The journal was establishe ...

'', 2006. 76 (1), 1-29. -- Cited: p. 12 In 2003 the KSAA had 244 schools, employing 1,820 teachers and enrolling 13,659 students. The number of KSAA-registered schools increased to 254 in 2005. As of 1988 one of the KISC campuses was in

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, t ...

.Lingre, Michele. "Early Linguists : Private Foreign-Language Schools Give Bilingual Education a New Twist." ''

''. April 28, 1988. p
3
Retrieved on June 29, 2015.

Notable people

Philip Ahn Philip Ahn (born Pillip Ahn (), March 29, 1905 – February 28, 1978) was an American actor and activist of Korean descent. With over 180 film and television credits between 1935 and 1978, he was one of the most recognizable and prolific Asi ...

- Actor *

Steven Choi Steven Seokho Choi (; born January 15, 1944) is an American politician who served as a member of the California State Assembly representing the 68th Assembly District from 2016 to 2022. A Republican from Orange County, California, he previously ...

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

man from Orange County * Joshua Hong - Singer and member of group

Seventeen Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

Young Kim Young Oak Kim (; born October 18, 1962) is an American politician and businesswoman serving as the U.S. representative for California's 39th congressional district. Her district includes northern parts of Orange County. In the 2020 United Stat ...

- Politician resident in Orange County, local congresswoman *

Grace Lee Grace Lee (; ; Lee Kyung-hee) is a South Korean-born Filipino film distributor, businesswoman, former television host and former radio disc jockey. She is one of a few Korean expatriates to appear prominently in Philippine television, other no ...

- Film director *

Hee Sook Lee Hee Sook Lee (June 24, 1959 – July 18, 2020), born Hee Sook Hong, was a South Korean-born American businesswoman and founder of the BCD Tofu House chain of restaurants. Early life Hee Sook Hong was born in Seoul, the daughter of Young Pyo H ...

- businesswoman, founder of BCD Tofu House chain *

Lena Park Park Jung-hyun (; born March 23, 1976), also known as Lena Park (), is an American-born South Korean singer who debuted in 1998 with the album, ''Piece.'' She is also widely known in South Korea as her nickname "National fairy" due to her peti ...

- Singer *

Jessica Jung Jessica Jung (born Jessica Sooyoun Jung; April 18, 1989), also known by the mononym Jessica, is a South Korean-American singer, songwriter, actress, author, fashion designer and businesswoman known for her work as a former member of South Kor ...

- Singer and former member of

Girls' Generation Girls' Generation (), also known as SNSD, is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment. The group is composed of eight members: Taeyeon, Sunny, Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, Yoona, and Seohyun. Originally a nine-piece ensembl ...

Krystal Jung Chrystal Soo Jung (born October 24, 1994), professionally known as Krystal, Krystal Jung or Jung Soo-jung (), is a Korean-American singer and actress based in South Korea. She debuted in 2009 as a member of the South Korean girl group f(x) and ...

- Singer

F(x) (band) f(x) (; ) is a South Korean girl group formed by SM Entertainment in 2009. The group is composed of Victoria, Amber, Luna, Krystal and previously Sulli until her departure from the group in August 2015. f(x) officially debuted in September 20 ...

Michelle Steel Michelle Eunjoo Steel ( Park, born June 21, 1955) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 45th congressional district since 2023, previously representing the 48th congressional district from 2021 to 2023. A ...

, local congresswoman *

Dumbfoundead Jonathan Edgar Park (born February 18, 1986), known by his stage name Dumbfoundead (), is an Argentinian-born American rapper and actor. He began his career in the 2000s as a battle rapper in Los Angeles and has since become one of the most pro ...

- Rapper *

Song Oh-kyun Song Oh-kyun (Hangul: 송오균; Hanja: 宋五均; February 28, 1892 – June 20, 1970) was a rice farmer and Korean independence activist who was deeply involved in the Korean Independence Movement in the US. Between 1926 and 1945, he took leadin ...

- Korean Independence Activist *

Tiffany Young Stephanie Young Hwang (born August 1, 1989), known professionally as Tiffany or Tiffany Young, is an American singer-songwriter. Born and raised in California, she was discovered by South Korean entertainment agency SM Entertainment at the age ...

- Actress and member of

Cathy Park Hong Cathy Park Hong (born August 7, 1976) is an American poet, writer, and professor who has published three volumes of poetry. Much of her work includes mixed language and serialized narrative. She was named on the 2021 Time 100 list for her writing ...

- poet, writer, author of '' Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning'' *

Roy Choi Roy Choi (born February 24, 1970) is a Korean-American chef who gained prominence as the creator of the gourmet Korean-Mexican taco truck Kogi. Choi is a chef who is celebrated for "food that isn't fancy" and is known as one of the founders of ...

- Chef, personality, founder of Kogi *

Mark Tuan Mark Tuan (born Mark Yien Tuan (; ko, 마크투안), on September 4, 1993), known mononymously as Mark, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and model. He is a member of the South Korean boy group Got7. Biography Born as Mark Yien Tu ...

- Singer Got7 *

Joon Park Joon Park (Korean name: Park Joon-hyung, ; born July 20, 1969) is a South Korean-born American singer, actor and entertainer based in South Korea. As a singer, he is best known as the leader and rapper of the Korean pop group g.o.d. Early ...

- Singer

G.O.D Groove Over Dose, known by the acronym g.o.d (), is a South Korean boy band formed by SidusHQ. Debuting in 1999, the group became one of the most popular boy bands of the early 2000s in South Korea. The members had gone on to solo careers in t ...

References

* Abelmann, Nancy and John Lie. ''Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots''.

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

, June 30, 2009. , 9780674020030. * Kim, Jongyun. ''Adjustment Problems Among Korean Elderly Immigrants in New York and Los Angeles and Effects of Resources on Psychological Distress and Status in the Family'' (dissertation).

ProQuest ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene B. Power. ProQuest is known for its applications and information services for libraries, provid ...

, 2008. , 9780549566052. UMI Number 3307607. * Kim, Katherine Yungmee. ''Los Angeles's Koreatown''.

Arcadia Publishing Arcadia Publishing is an American publisher of neighborhood, local, and regional history of the United States in pictorial form.(analysis of the successful ''Images of America'' series). Arcadia Publishing also runs the History Press, which publi ...

, 2011. , 9780738575520. * Light, Ivan Hubert and Edna Bonacich. ''Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965–1982''.

University of California Press The University of California Press, otherwise known as UC Press, is a publishing house associated with the University of California that engages in academic publishing. It was founded in 1893 to publish scholarly and scientific works by faculty ...

, 1988. , 9780520076563.

Notes

External links

Korean Resource Center
(민족학교)
Korean Education Center in Los Angeles
(로스앤젤레스한국교육원)
Korean School Association of America

Korean School Association of America

Korean Institute of Southern CaliforniaKorean Americans in Los Angeles
interview series, Center for Oral History Research, UCLA Library Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles. {{Portal bar, California, Greater Los Angeles, Korea, United States

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 refe ...

History of Los Angeles Korean-American history Asian-American culture in Los Angeles