Korean Immigration to the US can be divided into four phases: • Small-scale immigration around 1884 • Early immigration from 1903 to 1950 • Immigration following the Korean war (1950–1964) • Immigration following the 1965 Immigration Act
Small-scale immigration around 1884 Around 1884, following the establishment of diplomatic relations between the US and Korea (then referred to as Chosen) through the
Treaty of Peace, Anmity, Commerce, and Navigation, a small number of diplomats entered the US as part of the
1883 Korean special mission to the United States. Included among the members of this mission were and
Yu Kil-chun, the latter of whom stayed in the US for several years to study, making him the first Korean exchange student in the US. Another prominent figure among the Korean immigrant community is
Ahn Chang Ho,
art name Dosan, a Protestant social activist. He came to the United States in 1902 for education. He founded the Friendship Society in 1903 and the Mutual Assistance Society. He was also a political activist during the
Japanese occupation of Korea. According to historian Takaki, following the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910, Korean migrants in the United States increasingly emphasized education as a means of national survival and resistance. This emphasis was reflected in community institutions such as Hung Sa Dahn, founded in 1913 by Ahn Chang Ho, which promoted both educational development and nationalist ideals among Korean Americans. Korean immigrant communities also established Korean-language schools in cities including Sacramento, San Francisco, Riverside, and Los Angeles, viewing language education as essential to preserving cultural identity. Second-generation Korean Americans often attended these schools in addition to American public schools. Another prominent figure among the Korean immigrant community was
Syngman Rhee, a Methodist. He came to the United States in 1904 and earned a bachelor's degree at George Washington University in 1907, a master's degree at
Harvard University, and a PhD from
Princeton University in 1910. In 1910, he returned to Korea and became a political activist. He later became the first
president of the Republic of Korea. In 1903, the first group of Korean laborers came to Hawaii on January 13, now known annually as
Korean American Day. The migration of Koreans to Hawaii can be explained by conditions in both the US and Korea. Koreans suffered from a series of natural disasters and heavy taxation. In Hawaii, plantation owners who had relied upon Chinese and Japanese labor faced a labor shortage after the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. Koreans were brought in as an alternative labor source. King Kojong promoted Korean immigration by establishing a Korean Department of Emigration and granting American businessmen permission to recruit Koreans for immigration to Korea. Many Koreans dispersed along the
Pacific Coast as farm workers or as wage laborers in mining companies and as section hands on the railroads.
Picture brides became a common practice for marriage to Korean men. Other than those seeking better economic opportunities in the US, there were also Koreans who left for the US as refugees of the Japanese empire. Between 1910 and 1918, 541 students escaped Japan and arrived in the US through a third country. Individuals such as Whang Sa Sun, who were deeply involved in the Korean independence movement also came to the US to escape Japanese persecution. Between 1905 and 1910, political activities in Korean American communities surged in opposition towards Japanese aggression towards Korea. Korean Americans formed organizations throughout the US, with a concentration in Hawaii and California. In 1903, the same year that the first Korean laborers arrived in Hawai, Koreans formed the
Sinminhoe (New People's Association). After the annexation of
Korea by Japan in 1910, Korean migration to the United States came to a virtual halt. The Japanese colonial government had initially allowed Koreans to immigrate to the US starting in 1902, but later banned Korean emigration to secure manpower on the Korean peninsula and to protect Japanese Americans from Korean competition in the US. The Japanese government did, however, allow Korean women to immigrate to the US (many of whom arrived as picture brides) to pacify nationalist sentiment in Korean American communities. The
Immigration Act of 1924 (also referred to as the
Oriental Exclusion Act) also worked to systematically exclude Korean immigrants from coming to the US.
Immigration following the Korean War (1950–1964) Due to the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, opportunities were more open to Asian Americans, enabling Korean Americans to move out of enclaves into middle-class neighborhoods. When the
Korean War ended in 1953, small numbers of students and professionals entered the United States. A larger group of immigrants included women married with
U.S. servicemen commonly referred to as "war brides". These women faced discrimination in the US as well as in South Korea, where many were labelled as whores or traitors. Following in 1953, South Korea had allowed international adoption. This had stemmed from the result of the Korean war as it left many children displaced. As a result of allowing
external adoption in South Korea, a majority of the children have been adopted from families across the United States. With the passage of the
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, Koreans became one of the fastest growing Asian groups in the United States, surpassed only by
Filipinos.
Immigration following the 1965 Immigration Act The
Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 abolished the quota system that had restricted the numbers of Asians allowed to enter the United States. Over 560,000 Koreans have immigrated to the US from 1970 to 1990. Large numbers of Koreans, including some from North Korea who had come via South Korea, have immigrated ever since, placing Korea in the top six countries of origin of immigrants to the United States since 1975. The reasons for immigration vary and include the desire for
freedom and to seek better economic opportunities. The 1965 Immigration Act also generated a shift in the demographics of the Korean American community, with "new immigrants" making up the majority of the Korean American population.
The Korean American Experience after the 1980s In the 1980s and 1990s, Koreans became noted not only for starting small businesses such as dry cleaners or convenience stores, but also for diligently planting churches. They would venture into abandoned cities and start up businesses which happened to be predominantly African American in demographics. This would sometimes lead to publicized tensions with customers as dramatized in movies such as Spike Lee's
Do the Right Thing. Their children, along with those of other Asian Americans, would also be noted in headlines and magazine covers in the 1980s for their numbers in
prestigious universities and highly skilled
white collar professions. Favorable
socioeconomic status and
education have led to the painting of Asian Americans, including Korean Americans, as a "
model minority". However, this label is a controversial one: many individuals claim that the "model minority" label derides other communities
of color and dismisses the challenges that the Korean Americans, and other Asian American ethnic groups, face. For instance, 12.8% of all Korean Americans live at or below the poverty line. is a Korean American
television journalist for
ABC News, and currently serves as an anchor of
Nightline. A large number of Korean Americans do not have health insurance due to language access barriers. Furthermore, older Korean Americans, who are at significant risk of developing mental health conditions, are less likely to access mental health services even when exhibiting symptoms. This is due to stigma and cultural misconceptions regarding mental health conditions. Los Angeles has emerged as a major center of the Korean American community. The city has undergone a rapid transition in the 1990s marked by an influx of Koreans and investment by Korean banks and corporations. Many entrepreneurs opened small businesses, and were hard hit by the
1992 Los Angeles riots More recently, L.A.'s Koreatown has been perceived to have experienced declining political power secondary to re-districting, and an increased crime rate, prompting an exodus of Koreans from the area. Furthermore, the aftermath of the 1992 riots witnessed a large number of Koreans from Southern California moving to the
San Francisco Bay Area and opening businesses and buying property near downtown
Oakland, furthering the growth of that city's
Koreatown until the early 2000s. According to Park (1998), the violence against Korean Americans in 1992 stimulated a new wave of political activism among Korean Americans, but it also split them into two main camps. The "liberals" sought to unite with other minorities in Los Angeles to fight against racial oppression and scapegoating. The "conservatives," emphasized
law and order and generally favored the economic and social policies of the Republican Party. The conservatives tended to emphasize the political differences between Koreans and other minorities, specifically blacks and Hispanics. Abelmann and Lie, (1997) report that the most profound result was the politicization of Korean Americans, all across the U.S. The younger generation especially realized they had been too uninvolved in American politics, and the riot shifted their political attention from South Korea to conditions in the United States. Also accelerated by the 1992 riots,
Orange County's Korean population grew from its starting point in
Koreatown, Garden Grove. As of 2020, Orange County had the second largest number of Korean Americans of any county in America, neighboring Los Angeles County has the most, numbering over 229,593. Koreans originally moved into
Garden Grove after Olympic gold medalist
Sammy Lee bought a home in the 1950s signaling to other ethnic minorities that they could move into Orange County. Since then, Koreans have spread throughout northern Orange County, mainly concentrating in
Buena Park,
Fullerton,
Cerritos,
La Palma,
Cypress, and
Irvine. Garden Grove is now home to more than 1,500 Korean businesses, and has held a Korean festival, night market, and parade every year since 1983. Mostly older and more traditional Korean businesses and food are found in Garden Grove, while newer and trendier Seoul based chains often locate in Buena Park and Irvine.
The Source OC is a multi-level Korean themed mall in Buena Park that houses over 100 restaurants, as well as Korean themed bars, a school, K-pop stores, and a PC gaming café. , who since 2015 portrayed
Eddie Huang's father, Taiwanese-American restaurateur Louis Huang, in
ABC's television show
Fresh Off the Boat. A substantial number of affluent Korean American professionals have settled in
Bergen County, New Jersey since the early 2000s (decade) and have founded various academically and communally supportive organizations, including the Korean Parent Partnership Organization at the
Bergen County Academies magnet high school and The Korean-American Association of New Jersey.
Holy Name Medical Center in
Teaneck, New Jersey, within Bergen County, has undertaken an effort to provide comprehensive health care services to
underinsured and uninsured Korean patients from a wide area with its
Korean Medical Program, drawing over 1,500 Korean American patients to its annual health festival. Bergen County's Broad Avenue
Koreatown in Palisades Park has emerged as a dominant nexus of Korean American culture, and its 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 in September 2012; while the nearby
Fort Lee Koreatown is also emerging as such. The
Chusok Korean Thanksgiving
harvest festival has become an annual tradition in Bergen County, attended by several tens of thousands. Bergen County's growing Korean community was cited by county executive Kathleen Donovan in the context of
Hackensack, New Jersey attorney Jae Y. Kim's appointment to Central Municipal Court judgeship in January 2011. although this nomination was rejected by the state's Senate Judiciary Committee, and in July 2012, Kwon was appointed instead as deputy general counsel of the
Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. According to
The Record of Bergen County, the U.S. Census Bureau has determined the county's Korean American population—2010 census figures put it at 56,773 (increasing to 63,247 by the 2011
American Community Survey)—grew enough to warrant language assistance during elections, and Bergen County's Koreans have become a significant voice in local politics. As of May 2014, Korean Americans had garnered at least four borough council seats in Bergen County.
Flatbush boycott In 1990, Korean American owned shops were boycotted in the
Flatbush section of the
borough of
Brooklyn in New York City. The boycott started by
Black Nationalist,
Sonny Carson, lasted for six months and became known as the
Flatbush boycott.
Comfort women In May 2012, officials in Bergen County's
borough of Palisades Park, New Jersey rejected requests by two
diplomatic delegations from Japan to remove a small monument from a public park, a
brass plaque on a block of stone, dedicated in 2010 to the memory of
comfort women, thousands of women, many Koreans, who were forced into sexual slavery by
Japanese soldiers during
World War II. Days later, a South Korean delegation endorsed the borough's decision. However, in neighboring Fort Lee, various Korean American groups could not reach consensus on the design and wording for such a monument as of early April 2013. In October 2012, a similar memorial was announced in nearby Hackensack, to be raised behind the
Bergen County Courthouse, alongside memorials to the
Holocaust, the
Great Irish Famine, the
Armenian genocide, and
Slavery in the United States An apology and monetary compensation of roughly $8,000,000 by Japan to South Korea in December 2015 for these crimes largely fell flat in Bergen County, where the first U.S. monument to pay respects to comfort women was erected.
East Sea controversy According to
The Record, the Korean American Association of New Jersey petitioned Bergen County school officials in 2013 to use textbooks that refer to the
Sea of Japan as the
East Sea as well. In February 2014, Bergen County lawmakers announced legislative efforts to include the name East Sea in future New Jersey school textbooks. In April 2014, a bill to recognize references to the Sea of Japan also as the East Sea in
Virginia textbooks was signed into law.
Sewol ferry tragedy memorial in the United States In May 2014, the
Palisades Park Public Library in New Jersey created a memorial dedicated to the victims of the tragic
sinking of the Sewol ferry off the South Korean coast on April 16, 2014.
Nail salon abuse According to a 2015 investigation by
The New York Times, abuse by Korean
nail salon owners in
New York City and
Long Island was rampant, with 70 to 80% of nail salon owners in New York being Korean, per the Korean American Nail Salon Association; with the growth and concentration in the number of salons in New York City far outstripping the remainder of the United States since 2000, according to the
U.S. Census Bureau. Abuses routinely included underpayment and non-payment to employees for services rendered, exacting poor working conditions, and stratifying pay scales and working conditions for Korean employees above non-Koreans.
Recent statistics It is hard to determine the accuracy of this reporting due to the figures being sourced from the Korean Consulate in Korea, and the channels of various Korean-affiliated organizations. For example, tens of thousands of immigrant women who have been married to USFK since the 1950s and who have been adopted since the liberation of the United States have not been identified in the Korean consulate statistics. ==Languages==