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{{expand section|date=February 2014}}
{{expand section|date=February 2014}}
The [[Hankook School]] is located in [[Koreatown, Los Angeles|Koreatown]] with two campuses. The school opened in 1972.<ref name=ParkKoreanschool>Park, Andrew. "The ABCs of Asian schools." ''[[Transpacific]]'', Transpacific Media, Inc. 9.4 (June 1994): p46+. Available on General OneFile, [[Gale Group]], Document ID: GALE|A15239827</ref>
The [[Hankook School]] is located in [[Koreatown, Los Angeles|Koreatown]] with two campuses. The school opened in 1972.<ref name=ParkKoreanschool>Park, Andrew. "The ABCs of Asian schools." ''[[Transpacific]]'', Transpacific Media, Inc. 9.4 (June 1994): p46+. Available on General OneFile, [[Gale Group]], Document ID: GALE|A15239827</ref>

The Korean School Association of America (KSAA) and the Korean Institute of Southern California] (남가주한국학원) operate weekend Korean language schools, with a combined total of 16,059 students. The KSAA operates 244 schools, employing 1,820 teachers and enrolling 13,659 students. The KISC operates 12 schools, employing 147 teachers and enrolling 5,048 students.<ref>Kim, Michael Namkil (Director, Korean Studies Institute, [[University of Southern California]]). "[http://www.iic.edu/IICArchive/MinSok2003/MinSok2003NamKilKim.htm Some Problems of Korean Language Education in Southern California]" ([http://www.webcitation.org/6Nuekhaqb Archive]). [[University of Southern California]]. Retrieved on March 8, 2014.</ref>


Schools serving the children of the first wave of Korean immigrants included [[Los Angeles High School]], [[Manual Arts High School]], and the [[James A. Foshay Learning Center]].<ref name=KimYungmeep9/>
Schools serving the children of the first wave of Korean immigrants included [[Los Angeles High School]], [[Manual Arts High School]], and the [[James A. Foshay Learning Center]].<ref name=KimYungmeep9/>
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* [http://krcla.org/blog/c/l/english/ Korean Resource Center] (민족학교)
* [http://krcla.org/blog/c/l/english/ Korean Resource Center] (민족학교)
* [http://en.kecla.org/ Korean Education Center in Los Angeles] (로스앤젤레스한국교육원)
* [http://en.kecla.org/ Korean Education Center in Los Angeles] (로스앤젤레스한국교육원)
* [http://www.kiscla.org/ Korean Institute of Southern California] (남가주한국학원)
* [http://www.kiscla.org/ Korean Institute of Southern California]
{{Korean Americans by location}}
{{Korean Americans by location}}
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Los Angeles, California]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Los Angeles, California]]

Revision as of 05:24, 8 March 2014

Part of a series on
Ethnicity in Los Angeles
Koreatown

There is a significant Korean American population in Los Angeles.

As of 2008 Greater Los Angeles has the largest Korean community in the United States with about 60,000 ethnic Koreans. It, along with Greater New York City, is one of the two principal areas of Korean settlement, and the number of ethnic Koreans in Greater Los Angeles is 15% of the United States's Korean American population.[1]

History

The Korean community was centered in the Bunker Hill area, a community designated as a place where non-Whites were allowed to live, from 1900 to the 1920s.[2] This first wave of immigrants worked as truck farmers, domestic workers, waiters, and domestic help.[3] The Korean United Presbyterian Church was established on West Jefferson Boulevard in 1905. A Korean community developed around this church.[4]

The Bunker Hill community housed the Chang Ho Ahn residence, which served as a community center and a guidance, lodging, and community support center for new Korean immigrants. The community housed grocery stores and the offices of the Korean National Association Los Angeles Branch and the Young Korean Academy.[2] 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. By then the first generation of Korean immigrants had children, who lived around the Old Koreatown.[3]

In the 1950s Los Angeles received a second wave of Korean immigrants resulting from the Korean War and the children of the first generation of immigrants gave birth to the next generation. After the passage of the Hart-Cellar Act 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 is located.[3]

The Korean community was effected by the 1992 Los Angeles riots. One Korean American, Eddy Lee, died in the rioting.[5] Over $400 million worth of damages occurred, including the destruction of over 2,000 businesses owned by ethnic Koreans.[6] 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.[5] After the event, many Koreans moved to suburbs in Orange County and the two Inland Empire counties: Riverside and San Bernardino. Since then, investment occurring in Koreatown caused the community to rebuild.[6]

In 2014 a Japanese group requested the removal of a memorial statue of the Korean comfort women in World War II from an area in Glendale, California, sparking controversy.[7]

Geography

As of 2008, about 350,000 ethnic Koreans live in Los Angeles County.[8] As of 2008 the largest Korean ethnic enclave in Los Angeles is Koreatown and the majority of the Koreans have been concentrated around that area.[1]

By 2008 many ethnic Korean communities had appeared in the northwestern San Fernando Valley, including Chatsworth, Granada Hills, Northridge, and Porter Ranch. 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 Los Angeles Times stated that area Korean community leaders estimated that 50,000 to 60,000 Koreans lived in the San Fernando Valley in 2008.[8]

In addition, by 2008 Korean communities had appeared in Cerritos and Hacienda Heights in Los Angeles County, and Buena Park and Fullerton in Orange County.[8]

Demographics

As of 2008, 257,975 Korean Americans lived in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties, making up 25% of all of the Korean Americans. As of that year, over 46,000 Koreans lived in Koreatown, making up 20.1% of the residents there. Koreatown, in addition to Koreans, houses other ethnic groups.[6]

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.[9] By that time many Korean garment manufacturers acted as middlemen by employing Hispanic workers and selling product to White-owned manufacturers of clothing.[10]

Education

The Hankook School is located in Koreatown with two campuses. The school opened in 1972.[11]

The Korean School Association of America (KSAA) and the Korean Institute of Southern California] (남가주한국학원) operate weekend Korean language schools, with a combined total of 16,059 students. The KSAA operates 244 schools, employing 1,820 teachers and enrolling 13,659 students. The KISC operates 12 schools, employing 147 teachers and enrolling 5,048 students.[12]

Schools serving the children of the first wave of Korean immigrants included Los Angeles High School, Manual Arts High School, and the James A. Foshay Learning Center.[3]

Diplomatic missions

South Korean Consulate-General

The South Korean Consulate-General is located in Los Angeles.

References

  • Abelmann, Nancy and John Lie. Blue Dreams: Korean Americans and the Los Angeles Riots. Harvard University Press, June 30, 2009. ISBN 0674020030, 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, 2008. ISBN 0549566058, 9780549566052. UMI Number 3307607.
  • Kim, Katherine Yungmee. Los Angeles's Koreatown. Arcadia Publishing, 2011. ISBN 0738575526, 9780738575520.
  • Light, Ivan Hubert and Edna Bonacich. Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Koreans in Los Angeles, 1965–1982. University of California Press, 1988. ISBN 0520076567, 9780520076563.

Notes

  1. ^ a b Kim, Jongyun, p. 75.
  2. ^ a b Kim, Katherine Yungmee, p. 8.
  3. ^ a b c d Kim, Katherine Yungmee, p. 9.
  4. ^ Holley, David. "Koreatown Suffering Growing Pains." Los Angeles Times. December 8, 1985. p. 2. Retrieved on March 7, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Abelmann and Lie, p. ix (Preface).
  6. ^ a b c Kim, Katherine Yungmee, p. 10.
  7. ^ Hamilton, Valerie. "A California statue stirs passions in South Korea and ire in Japan." PRI. January 29, 2014. Retrieved on February 1, 2014.
  8. ^ a b c Covarrubias, Amanda. "Koreatown finds suburban home." Los Angeles Times. February 23, 2008. Retrieved on February 25, 2014.
  9. ^ Light and Bonacich, p. xii.
  10. ^ Light and Bonacich, p. xiii.
  11. ^ Park, Andrew. "The ABCs of Asian schools." Transpacific, Transpacific Media, Inc. 9.4 (June 1994): p46+. Available on General OneFile, Gale Group, Document ID: GALE|A15239827
  12. ^ Kim, Michael Namkil (Director, Korean Studies Institute, University of Southern California). "Some Problems of Korean Language Education in Southern California" (Archive). University of Southern California. Retrieved on March 8, 2014.

Further reading


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