Korean America and US-Korea Relations

This symposium examines the historical and contemporary relationship between Korea and the United States, with particular attention to the Korean diaspora in Los Angeles. Korean migration to the United States began shortly after the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1882, and by the early twentieth century Korean communities had taken root in Hawai’i and California. Korean Americans played a key role in the Korean independence movement during the period of Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), and they contributed as activists and as soldiers to the U.S. military effort during WWII. Today, Korean Americans continue to shape political, economic, and cultural developments to both their ancestral land and their home country.

Bringing together regional as well as national experts, this event seeks to develop a more nuanced understanding of the place of Korean Americans within the interwoven histories of the two nations, in the process also deepening our knowledge of national histories themselves. Along with scholarly panels, the symposium will feature a roundtable of youth activists from Los Angeles’s Korean American community, seeking to identify policy concerns and future directions in light of both history and current conditions. Please see the full program  Link to the program. The abstracts and participant bios are forthcoming.

This symposium is organized by USC’s Korean Studies Institute and is sponsored by the Korea Foundation, UCLA’s Center for Korean Studies, and USC Libraries Korean Heritage Library.