Tag: los angeles

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.

Sue Park-Hur is the co-founder of ReconciliAsian, a non-profit peace center in Los Angeles which equips Korean diaspora and Asian American communities and churches with rehabilitative and transformative tools to be courageous peacemakers. 

Gwang-hun Kim is a doctor of Korean Medicine from Koreatown, Los Angeles, a community he has called home for the past 25 years of his life.

Lauren Kim is an urban planner from Orange County, California, who strives to bring joy to community and cultural centers. Born in Long Beach, she considers Irvine her hometown, though she reflects on how growing up among manicured, material landscapes left her searching for a deeper sense of place and connection.

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.

Nancy Cho was born in North Pyongan Province in what is today North Korea, spending her early childhood there. At the age of six, she and her family moved to Seoul, and only two years later had to flee to Busan to escape the violence of the Korean War. She completed middle school in Busan before moving back to Seoul with her family to attend high school, after which she began college at Ewha. After graduation, she met her husband and had their first child, later moving to Houston where her husband had been attending business school. Restless, Ms. Cho studied to become a keypunch operator, passing her licensing examination at the top of her class. In December of 1968 she had their second child, and her husband began working at Houston Natural Gas, though as their family continued to grow, she couldn’t help but notice how barren of Koreans Houston was at the time. Four years after having their third child, the family decided to move to Los Angeles after hearing of its Korean community from a church elder. Living in Koreatown, she remembers thinking that “LA felt like Korea,” from hearing Korean being spoken on the streets to how she could get her hair done at a Korean salon. She worked with her husband at his CPA practice for forty-five years while taking care of their family, and today finds much joy in cooking at home following Korean recipes on YouTube.