For further information, see Amy Nash, “Korean Americans,” in Gale Encyclopedia of
Multicultural America, edited by von Dassanowsky and Vecoli.
Korea, known by Koreans as Choson (Land of Morning Calm); also referred to as “The
Hermit Kingdom” until the 19th century.
Among Korean Americans, the Confucian ethics of familial duties can conflict with the
code of American individualism.
Korea
Population: 67 million
South Korea: 43.9 million
North Korea: 23.1 million
Together, racially and linguistically homogeneous.
Over the 5,000 years of its history, Korea has known more than 900 invasions by external
powers
Important cultural influences are Confucianism and Buddhism. About 23-30% of
Koreans are Christian; About 75% of Korean Americans are Christian, and the majority
of these are Protestant.
Japan defeated China in the Sino-Japanese War (1894-95) and Russia in the RussoJapanese War (1904-05) and thus asserted its control of Korea.
Japan made a protectorate of Korea in 1905 and annexed it in 1910. It was a Japanese
colony for 35 years.
“By the 1930s Koreans were forced to worship at Shinto shrines, speak Japanese in
schools, and adopt Japanese names” (Nash 1073).
With the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, Russia occupied Pyongyang and
other cities of the North and the U.S. troops entered and occupied South Korea.
In 1948, Korea divided at the 38th Parallel; a demilitarized 2.5-mile wide zone was
created in 1953.
N. Korea’s economy suffered with the collapse of the Soviet Union.
S. Korea is developing into a post-industrial economy, producing Hyundai cars, GoldStar
televisions, and Samsung computers and VCRs.
N. Korea and Pyongyang in 1994 for refusing full inspection of its nuclear facilities,
leading to a proposed United Nations economic embargo. President Jimmy Carter found
a diplomatic solution for the time being, but recently N. Korea’s continued resistance to
inspections has brought it into the “Axis of Evil” decried by George W. Bush.
Korean immigration to the U.S.
First wave in 1903, Koreans come to work in the Hawaiian sugar plantations
Second wave in 1907, when “picture brides” came despite the U.S.-Japanese
“Gentlemen’s Agreement” denying emigration visas to Japanese subjects
Many Korean women who married American soldiers during the Korean War (1950-53)
More than 100,000 South Korean children have been adopted worldwide, with about twothirds going to American families; about 10,000 adopted by Minnesota families.
The third big wave came after passage of the 1965 Immigration and Naturalization Act,
admitting Korean professionals with skills needed by the American economy. Many high
and middle class families could enter.
In 1990, the U.S. Census showed 836,987 Korean Americans settled in the U.S.
Korean Americans historically worked in copper mines, coal mines, railroads, salmon
canneries. Recently the highest percentage live in California, followed by Hawaii and
then large east coast cities.
Koreatowns have developed such as the one in the Olympic Boulevard neighborhood of
downtown Los Angeles, with over 150,000 Korean Americans.
Amy Nash defines the han as a word “used to describe an anguished feeling of being far
from what you want”; thus, it “accurately conveys the longing that accompanies most
Koreans to America” (Nash 1077).
Korean Culture
The Korean alphabet, hangul (“great writing”), created by King Sejong of the fifteenth
century
The Korean martial art called tae kwon do, exhibited in the 1988 Summer Olympics in
Seoul.
The Korean spicy pickle known as kim chee or kimchi:
“Kimchi is considered the national dish and is served at virtually every meal. Made from
cabbage, turnips, radishes, or cucumber, kimchi can be prepared many ways, from mild to
very spicy” (Nash 1078).
Prejudice and Discrimination
Korean immigrants and their descendants have been subjected to anti-Asian sentiments
and violence
In 1913, the Webb-Heney Land Law (one of the Alien Land Acts) forbid Asians from
owning property.
The Oriental Exclusion Act of 1924 forbid entry of Asian for nearly 30 years.
The view of Korean Americans as “superimmigrants” has bred resentment. Perceived
competition and rudeness of Korean American shopkeepers has led to boycotts in
Brooklyn, Chicago and Los Angeles. Outrage at the decision in the Rodney King
beatings trial led to upheavals in which Korean American businesses were targeted.
There have been attempts to build understanding between ethnic communities, as
represented in the Black-Korean Alliance of Los Angeles and the Korea Society in New
York.
The language barrier limits opportunities for many Korean Americans; many end up
employed in occupations that do not make use of professional skills acquired in Korea.
Korean doctors and nurses, for example, sometimes end up working as orderlies and
assistants.
Famous Korean Americans
Nam June Paik (1932-- )
Claims to Fame
Collaboration with avant-garde composer John Cage
Collaboration with fame cellist Charlotte Moorman: TV Cello and TV Bra for Living
Sculpture
Also: TV Buddha, Video Fish, and Good Morning, Mr. Orwell
Video: Sa-I-Gu: From Korean Women’s Perspectives (1993)
Producers: Christine Choy, Elaine Kim, & Dai Sil Kim-Gibson
National PBS Broadcast, September 1993
Kim’s Cover Note
“The April 29, 1992, Los Angeles crisis underscored the voicelessness and invisibility of
Korean Americans in U.S. society. If represented at all, they have been viewed as aliens
to American culture, all alike and caring only about themselves. Over half of the material
losses were sustained by Korean Americans . . . Sa-I-Gu brings these faces back,
exploring the perspectives of the immigrant women who comprise more than half of
Korean American shopkeepers.”
Film notes
K. Am son, Edward Jasohn Lee, shot by Korean who mistook him for a looter
Only Korean of the 53 who died
200,000 Koreans live in LA County
Female liquor store owner angry at everyone
“After the riots, I feel there’s a big hole in America”
Suffered fpr the resentment and hostility of the poor
 “The riot happened because of the gap between the rich and the poor”
Koreans as sacrificial lambs; “where is police?”
Came to America for her children
Children helped in the business even when they were small
He worked as nurse, he ran a liquor store
Korean Community Center in Koreatown, LA
 “Everything we worked for is now in flames”
The Hangju San Sung story; women fought during Japanese invasion. Hangju means
“apron”
Store burned down to the ground in the unrest; had two full-time black employees
Lootig and demolishing; first by only blacks, then Hispanics
 “Nothing is left but ashes”
Korean people brainwashed by white people, in Korea already; accumulated problems
and frustrations against white people redirected against Koreans. “Feelings of contempt
led to a wrong judgment.”
 “All my childhood dreams about America have been turned upside down”
Sign in demonstration: “We want justice for people of color”; demands for government
compensation
Remember to turn in reading journal notes on Tuesday
Not required to write response to the Warren I. Cohen text
Come prepared for me to call on you to cite or quote at least one thing about Chapter 2,
The Americanization of Asia
Chapter 1 of Cohen’s book, not required reading
Mary Paik Lee (1900-- )
Excerpt from Quiet Odyssey: A Pioneer Korean Woman in America (GUAA 161-73)
Author “describes the struggles of her Korean American family during the early 1910s in
Northern California” (Chan intro. 161)
Too few to form own communities
Suffered isolation and discrimination
Memoirs that start out from birth in Pyongyang, N. Korea; to Hawaii, Riverside, CA;
works as a maid; farming; apartment management; retired to San Francisco