Koreatown (), shortened to K-Town, is a Korean

enclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is so ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, centered on 32nd Street between

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, New York, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stree ...

and the intersection with

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The avenue is commercial for much of its length, and traffic runs northbound, or uptown. Sixth Avenue begins four blocks b ...

and Broadway, which is known as Greeley Square. The neighborhood in

Midtown South Midtown South is a macro-neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City, generally characterized as constituting the southern portion of Midtown Manhattan. Midtown Manhattan hosts over 700,000 daily employees as a busy hub for worker ...

features over 150 businesses of various types and sizes, ranging from small restaurants and

beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, and Day spa#Medical spa, medical spas. Beauty treatme ...

s to large branches of Korean banking conglomerates. Koreatown, Manhattan, has become described as the "Korean

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

" and has emerged as the international economic outpost for the Korean ''

chaebol A chaebol ( , ; , ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group. Several dozen large South Kore ...

''.

History

Historically, Manhattan's

Koreatown A Koreatown (), 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 only been in existence s ...

has been part of the Garment District. In the 1980s, a Korean

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

and a handful of restaurants were founded in the area. Their success drew other Korean-owned businesses, sustained by increased immigration from

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and the high levels of tourist traffic stemming from nearby Midtown Manhattan landmarks like the

Empire State Building The Empire State Building is a 102-story, Art Deco-style supertall skyscraper in the Midtown South neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The building was designed by Shreve, Lamb & Harmon and built from 1930 to 1931. Its n ...

Macy's Herald Square Macy's Herald Square (originally named the R. H. Macy and Company Store) is a department store building on West 34th Street (Manhattan), 34th Street at Herald Square in New York City, New York (state), New York, United States. It was designed b ...

, the

United Nations Headquarters The headquarters of the United Nations (UN) is on of grounds in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It borders First Avenue (Manhattan), First Avenue to the west, 42nd Street (Manhattan), 42nd ...

, Penn Station,

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, the Garment District, and the Flower District. Today, Koreatown is primarily a Korean business district, but Japanese businesses have also emerged, and the resident Korean and Japanese populations in the area have grown as well. More broadly, Koreatown is attracting new Korean residents to the adjacent Manhattan neighborhoods of Murray Hill, Kips Bay, and Rose Hill. The world's largest international Korean Pride Festival was inaugurated in Koreatown, Manhattan in October 2022 and has been growing on an annual basis.

Demographics

From 2000 to 2010, the Korean population of Manhattan (co-extensive with

New York County Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the smallest county by area in the U.S. state of New York. Located almost entire ...

) nearly doubled, to about 20,000, according to the 2010 United States Census. Along with the Koreatowns in nearby

Bergen County Bergen County is the List of counties in New Jersey, most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

(in Palisades Park and Fort Lee) and

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

(extending eastward from

Flushing, Queens Flushing is a neighborhood in the north-central portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Queens. The neighborhood is the fourth-largest central business district in New York City. Downtown Flushing is a major commercial ...

) in

, Manhattan's Koreatown serves as the cultural nexus for an overall

Korean American Korean Americans () are Americans of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America () may refer to all ethnic Koreans residing in the United States, the specific designation of Korean American impli ...

population of 218,764 people in the

New York City Metropolitan Area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

, the second-largest population of ethnic Koreans outside of Korea.

Korea Way

The heart of Koreatown is the segment of 32nd Street between

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

and

, officially nicknamed Korea Way. Korea Way features stores and restaurants on multiple stories, with independently run establishments reaching up to higher floors, exuding an ambience of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

itself. The New York City Korean Chamber of Commerce estimates there to be more than 100 small businesses on Korea Way. Signage in

Hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...

is ubiquitous. Koreatown's central location and high density of crowded restaurants, bars,

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

clubs, and spas on Korea Way have rendered it a major tourist attraction and a center of

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

in Manhattan. Korea Way features numerous restaurants that serve both traditional and/or regional

Korean cuisine Korean cuisine is the set of foods and culinary styles which are associated with Korean culture. This cuisine has evolved through centuries of social and political change. Originating from ancient Prehistoric Korea, agricultural and nomad ...

and Korean fusion fare (including Korean Chinese cuisine), several

bakeries A bakery is an establishment that produces and sells flour-based baked goods made in an oven such as bread, cookies, cakes, doughnuts, bagels, Pastry, pastries, and pies. Some retail bakeries are also categorized as Coffeehouse, cafés, servi ...

, grocery stores, supermarkets, bookstores,

consumer electronics Consumer electronics, also known as home electronics, are electronic devices intended for everyday household use. Consumer electronics include those used for entertainment, Communication, communications, and recreation. Historically, these prod ...

outlets, video rental shops,

tchotchke A tchotchke ( or ) is a small bric-à-brac or miscellaneous item. The word has long been used by Jewish-Americans and in the New York City English, regional speech of New York City and elsewhere. It is borrowed from Yiddish and is ultimately Sl ...

and stationery shops, hair and nail salons, '' noraebang'' singing bars,

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s, as well as

cell phone A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...

service providers,

internet café An Internet café, also known as a cybercafé, is a Coffeehouse, café (or a convenience store or a fully dedicated Internet access business) that provides the use of computers with high bandwidth Internet access on the payment of a fee. Usage ...

s, doctors' offices, attorney offices, banks, and hotels. Numerous Japanese restaurants have also emerged in Manhattan's Koreatown. Although Korea Way continues to represent the heart of Koreatown, situated between Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and Fifth Avenue, Koreatown itself as of 2015 has been expanding further eastward from Fifth Avenue along East 32nd Street, toward

in Midtown Manhattan, in the direction of Queens and Nassau County.

Development as a Korean dining destination

Some

24/7 In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usually pronounced "twenty- ...

restaurants conduct business on Korea Way. Korean restaurants in the district have had to expand or stay open around the clock to meet rising commercial rents and stay financially viable, given the growing customer volume generated by foot traffic in and greater investment and involvement by the Korean chaebol. Manhattan's Koreatown, historically known as a more tourist-oriented alternative to Flushing and Murray Hill, Queens (part of the Long Island Koreatown), has since developed a reputation as an authentic Korean dining destination.

References

External links