Tag: 1st generation

In this heartfelt conversation between Suki Park and her daughter Lauren, we’re invited to listen in on how counseling services at Family Touch helped Suki and her children navigate through a particularly difficult time within their family.

Kevin Chang is a community ambassador for KASEC, where he has been involved with Harmonia Ensemble since its founding. He is also a program coordinator for Asians and Pacific Islanders with Disabilities of California.

Rosa Chang, whose Korean name is Jang Kyung-Hye, serves as the Executive Director of Korean American Special Education Center (KASEC).
Born in Seoul, South Korea, Rosa tells us that her work was inspired by values instilled in her by her father: that gender shouldn’t limit one’s aspirations, and that one should never live solely for oneself.

Joy Kim is an academic librarian, curator, and renowned authority on Korean Studies librarianship from Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Brandon Sae-Joon Oh is a doctor of traditional medicine in Los Angeles, California. Born in Seoul, South Korea, in 1965 as the eldest of three children, Dr. Oh tells us that as a child, he was unusually gloomy and depressed, with his nose in books to get his mind off the monotony of life (though today, he describes himself as a free-spirited, fun-loving individual). He recalls how his childhood dream was to become a doctor, and if he was unable to do so, to run a nursing home.

Dr. Junwoo Kim is a doctor of Oriental Medicine who also serves as the OMC Director at Dongguk University Los Angeles. Born in 1985 in Daegu, South Korea, he recalls having a rather peaceful childhood both before and after he immigrated to the United States as a high school student. When asked about his hometown, Dr. Kim tells us that he considers La Mirada home, and Los Angeles his second hometown.

Sion Kim, whose Korean name is Kim Seokhyun, is a retired pastor who calls L.A.’s Koreatown his home. Born as the fifth of six children in 1937, Sion spent most of his childhood in Icheon, Gyeonggi-do, a small mountainous rural community.

Han Jik Kim is an acupuncturist and herbalist who practices traditional Korean medicine in Central Los Angeles. Born in Liberation Village, Seoul, on December 22nd, 1965, Han Jik notes that he was born on Dongji, or the Winter Solstice.

June Lee serves as the Executive Director of the Korean Community Center of the East Bay, where she works to reify the organization’s key tenets of community service, research, and engagement.

Pat Lee, whose Korean name is Lee Kyung Hee, was born in 1951 in Seoul, Korea, the fifth daughter in a family of seven children. She admits that in her youth she was often impulsive, a characteristic which gave her a taste for life and would drive her to immigrate to the United States with her husband in 1971.

Kevin Yoo, whose Korean name is Yoo Kun-bae, was born in a small rural village in South Chungcheong Province, Korea, in 1949. Growing up poor, he tells us that his dream was to escape poverty and live a simple life; in the first grade, he moved from the countryside to Daejeon to begin his primary schooling.

Alex Hahn was born in February 1941 in Seongbuk-dong, Seoul, the fourth of eight children. From his childhood, he remembers that his parents were businesspeople, selling rice and other grains—an entrepreneurial spirit which he inherited.

Yonsuk Dallas was born in Tokyo, Japan, in May of 1940. She and her family resided in Japan until she was six years old; during World War II, she recalls hiding inside the closet of her kindergarten class as air sirens warned of planes flying overhead. In 1946, her family moved to Seoul, which she considered her second hometown.

Yonsuk Dallas was born in Tokyo, Japan, in May of 1940. She and her family resided in Japan until she was six years old; during World War II, she recalls hiding inside the closet of her kindergarten class as air sirens warned of planes flying overhead. In 1946, her family moved to Seoul, which she considered her second hometown.