Korean Americans
Korean Americans (Korean: 한국계 미국인) are Americans who are of full or partial Korean ethnic descent. The majority of Korean Americans trace their ancestry to South Korea.
The term Korean Americans (also rendered as Korean-Americans) usually encompasses citizens of the United States of full or partial Korean descent. While the broader term Overseas Korean in America (미주한인/재미교포/재미한인) may refer to ethnic Koreans residing in the U.S., the specific designation of Korean American implies that an individual holds American citizenship.[8] Korean Americans may, however, possess dual-citizenship with the Republic of Korea. Known as "dual citizens by birth" (or 선천적 복수국적자), these individuals are the children of parents with South Korean citizenship born in the US. As of 2021, it is estimated that there are 20,000 2nd generation Korean Americans who are dual-citizens by birth.[9]
In contrast to Northeast Asia, which is grappling with a significant low birth rate issue, the number of Korean Americans with both parents from Korea is growing by 5.9%. Moreover, the population of those with mixed heritage is increasing at a rate of 16.5%. Prominent scholars and Korean associations have reported that the Korean American population surpassed 2.5–3 million in the 2020s.[10] However, the number of Korean Americans residing in the United States is fewer than that, according to some statistics. For example, The Korea Times USA, analyzing the results of the U.S. census since 2020, reported that the population of Korean Americans in the U.S. was 1,989,519 as of February 2022.[1][11]
As the largest group within the Overseas Korean community, Korean Americans often trace their lineage to South Korea, which accounts for the majority of their ancestral origins.[12]
Background[edit]
As of 2023, Korean Americans made up about 0.6% of the U.S. population, numbering approximately 2 million people. They are the fifth-largest subgroup within the Asian American community, following Chinese Americans, Filipino Americans, Indian Americans, and Vietnamese Americans.[13][14]
The United States is the residence of the world's most extensive Korean diasporas, largely from South Korea. As of 2006, due to historical diplomatic challenges stemming from the Korean War in the 1950s, the number of immigrants from North Korea to the United States has remained below 220, constituting a negligible 0.008352 percent of the total Korean American demographic. Thus, it is evident that an overwhelming majority, approximately 99.991648 percent, of the Korean American population traces its roots to South Korea. The Republic of Korea is acknowledged as a principal ally of the United States, fostering a relationship built on mutual values, intertwined economic interests, and strategic security cooperation.[15]
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Korea, as of 2021, the population of Overseas Koreans residing in the United States was 2,633,777. This figure includes both U.S. citizens of Korean descent and South Korean nationals living in the U.S. Specifically, there were 1,529,855 U.S. citizens of Korean descent and 1,103,922 South Korean nationals.[2] By 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported the number of Korean Americans as 1,469,854, considering only those who identified with a single race. Notably, about 1,011,589 of these individuals were born in Korea. The population has remained relatively stable into 2023, with the Overseas Koreans Foundation reporting a figure of 2,615,419.[2]
As of 2023, the United States, which is home to the largest population of overseas Koreans, has the following distribution of Korean Americans.
In 2023, the proportion of Korean Americans in the population varies significantly across the United States. The highest proportion is in Hawaii, accounting for 3.87% of the state's total population. California follows with 1.43%, hosting a large Korean American community; this is notably high considering the overall Korean ethnicity ratio of 0.59% in the U.S. Washington State (1.28%), New Jersey (1.19%), and Virginia (1.09%) also have relatively large Korean American communities. Maryland's proportion is 0.97%, and Alaska's is 0.95%. Nevada has 0.72%, New York 0.71%, and Georgia 0.69%.[21]
The two metropolitan areas with the highest Korean American populations as per the 2010 census were the Greater Los Angeles area Combined Statistical Area (334,329)[22] and the Greater New York Combined Statistical Area (218,764).[23] The Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area ranks third, with approximately 93,000 Korean Americans clustered in Howard and Montgomery Counties in Maryland and Fairfax County in Virginia.[24] Southern California and the New York City metropolitan area[25] have the largest populations of Koreans outside of the Korean Peninsula.[26] Among Korean Americans born in Korea, the Los Angeles metropolitan area had 226,000 as of 2012; New York (including Northern New Jersey) had 153,000 Korean-born Korean Americans; and Washington had 60,000.[27]
The percentage of Korean Americans in Bergen County, New Jersey, in the New York City Metropolitan Area, 6.3% by the 2010 United States census[28][29] (increased to 6.9% by the 2011 American Community Survey),[30] is the highest of any county in the United States.[29] All of the nation's top ten municipalities by percentage of Korean population as per the 2010 census are located within Bergen County,[31] while the concentration of Korean Americans in Palisades Park, New Jersey, in Bergen County, is the highest of any municipality in the United States,[32] at 52% of the population.[28] Between 1990 and 2000, Georgia was home to the fastest-growing Korean community in the U.S., growing at a rate of 88.2% over that decade.[33] There is a significant Korean American population in the Atlanta metropolitan area, mainly in Gwinnett County (2.7% Korean) and Fulton County (1.0% Korean).[22]
According to the statistics of the Overseas Korean Foundation and the Republic of Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, 107,145 South Korean children were adopted into the United States between 1953 and 2007.[34]
In a 2005 United States Census Bureau survey, an estimated 432,907 ethnic Koreans in the U.S. were native-born Americans, and 973,780 were foreign-born. Korean Americans that were naturalized citizens numbered at 530,100, while 443,680 Koreans in the U.S. were not American citizens.[35]
While people living in North Korea cannot—except under rare circumstances—leave their country, there are many people of North Korean origin living in the U.S., a substantial portion who fled to the south during the Korean War and later emigrated to the United States. Since the North Korean Human Rights Act of 2004 allowed North Korean defectors to be admitted as refugees, about 130 have settled in the U.S. under that status after 2004.[36][37]
The counties with largest Korean population are Los Angeles County and Orange County in California, Bergen County in New Jersey, and Queens County in New York.[38]
Memorials and celebrities[edit]
Korean American Day, celebrated on January 13, commemorates the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States on January 13, 1903. This day was first proclaimed by President George W. Bush in 2003 and officially recognized by the U.S. Congress in 2005. It honors the significant contributions of Korean Americans in various fields such as small business, the military, faith leadership, medicine, the arts, and politics, reflecting over a century of their impact on American society.[110]
Celebrities are named at List of Korean Americans.
Socio-economic status[edit]
According to a 2019 analysis of 2017-2019 American Community Survey by the Pew Research Center, the median annual household income of all Koreans in the U.S. was $72,200 (less than the $85,800 for all Asians in the U.S.). The median household income of US-born Koreans, however, was $88,100 exceeding the median household income for all Asians in the U.S.
In terms of employment (of civilians aged 16 or older), 62% of all Koreans in the U.S. were employed as compared to 62% for all Asians in the U.S. At an employment rate of 68%, U.S. born Koreans were slightly more likely to be employed than foreign born Koreans who have an employment rate of 59%.[130]