ID :
41838
Wed, 01/21/2009 - 05:39
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/41838
The shortlink copeid
Korean-Americans eye their version of Obama
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- The inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama
means a lot to nonwhite people seeking an American dream in which anything is
possible.
The ethnic Korean community is not an exception, as it has grown to the
fifth-biggest immigrant group in the U.S., with more than 1.5 million people
arriving since the first group of Koreans arrived at sugar cane farms in Hawaii
in 1903.
"President Obama's inauguration has inspired the Korean community with the hope
that a Korean-American U.S. president can be elected in a few decades, just like
Obama, who materialized the dream the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had four
decades ago," said Sukhee Kang, mayor of Irvine City, Orange County in
California.
The 55-year-old Kang is himself an American dream, as he was elected to his
current post late last year, more than 30 years after he landed in the U.S. soon
after his graduation from a Korean university.
"My election also encouraged many Korean-Americans seeking elected jobs in the
U.S.," said Kang, one of two ethnic Korean mayors in the U.S. along with Jun
Choi, mayor of Edison City, New Jersey.
Korean-Americans have for decades have shied away from entering local politics
due to their strong affiliations with Korea and focus on building their own
businesses.
"The situation, however, changed in 1992 during the Rodney King incident in Los
Angeles," Kang said. "I was shocked to witness many Korean stores and businesses
being demolished in the riot without being properly protected by police."
Many Koreans have since then realized they need to enter local and federal
politics to make their voices heard and get proper protection from the local and
federal governments, he said.
"At that time, I myself decided to quit my successful 20-year career as a sales
manager since I came to the U.S. in the early 1970s and entered local politics,"
he said.
Kang was elected to councilor and vice mayor of the city of Irvine in 2004 and
2005, respectively, before becoming mayor of the city of about 210,000 people,
which is in the center of the Orange County lying between Los Angeles and San
Diego.
Kang's political mentor is Jay Kim, a former three-term federal Congressman from
California's Diamond Bar City, who helped the political novice at the initial
stages of preparing for elections and serving local constituents.
Kim became the first Korean-American congressman in 1993, soon after the riot in
Los Angeles, and served two more terms until 1999. Since his retirement, the
Korean community has not yet produced a federal congressman.
"I hope more first-generation Korean-Americans will encourage their
second-generation offspring to join politics, not only to serve the U.S.
government, but also to protect the interests of the Korean community," Kim said.
He was apparently referring to Korean parents in America who tend to urge their
children to pursue jobs as lawyers, doctors or business consultants rather than
elected positions and government jobs.
"Koreans here need to get united to help each other," said the retired politician
who had received little backing from ethnic Koreans in his constituency more than
a decade ago, when Korean-Americans would not get involved in local politics.
"Whatever I do, I am a Korean. Even though I was a congressman with U.S.
citizenship, I was repeatedly blocked by security officers in front of
congressional buildings," Kim said. "I am very much accustomed to the question
'Where are you from?' for the past 50 years of my stay in the U.S."
The 70-year-old said what he envied the most in recent years is those who have
ethnic Korean daughters-in-law, adding Korean-Americans can maintain their ethnic
identity which can contribute to the rich ethnic diversity in the U.S.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently forecast that the population of Asian minorities
will nearly double by the year 2050 from the current 5 percent.
According to the bureau, the proportion of white Americans will decline to 46
percent from the current 66 percent due to a gradual rise in the number of ethnic
minorities, according to the bureau.
Mayor Kang stressed the need for Korean-American parents to encourage their
second-generation offspring to join politics so one of them can become another
Obama.
He said he is pleased to see that a growing number of Korean-Americans are
entering politics, but added that like himself, most are not qualified for the
U.S. presidency because they were not born in the U.S.
Some successful Korean-American politicians still give inspiration to the Korean
community, he said. Among them are Sam Yoon and Jun Choi.
A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of
Government, Yoon was elected as a Boston city councilor at-large in 2005 as the
first nonwhite elected official in Boston with the help of the Chinese community
in the city. Yoon had worked for several years in community development and
affordable housing.
The 37-year-old naturalized American, who arrived in the U.S. with his parents at
the age of 10 months, is said to be planning to run for mayor in Boston in the
near future.
Jun Choi is another American dream for Koreans. The 38-year-old was elected to
mayor of Edison City in New Jersey in 2005, five years after he joined the
Democratic presidential campaign for Senator Bill Bradley in 2000.
Choi came to the U.S. at the age of three with his parents and studied
aeronautics engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and public
administration at Columbia University.
"I think they have all the political potentials as they are young and smart,"
Kang said. "What is important is electability in any elections that are like
popularity contests."
"Also in terms of appearances, stylish conversations and charisma," he said.
"Those are the prerequisites for politicians."
Among other Korean Americans with political potentials are Bessy Kim, Eugene Kang
and Lyan Kim.
Bessy Kim is deputy head of the Obama camp in charge of Asian American voters,
and Kang is well-known for his exposure to the media on several occasions for
golf outings with Obama in Hawaii last month. Lyan Kim worked for the Obama camp
in New York, soliciting support from Asian Americans in New York, the
metropolitan Washington D.C. area and other major eastern coastal cities.
The Irvine mayor said the success of the Vietnamese community in American
politics gives Koreans a lesson, noting that several Vietnamese candidates were
recently elected in Orange County as supervisors in charge of managing several
cities.
Koreans use one ear to listen to news from their fatherland while using the other
for American news, he said, stressing the need for more Korean-Americans to get
citizenship, register for elections, go to the polls and field their own
candidates to protect their interests.
"All the Vietnamese apply for citizenship and show a strong unity to protect
their interests due partly to the fact that they think they do not have their
homeland to come back," a Korean-American businessman said, adding the
Vietnamese, formerly boat refugees who fled Saigon from invading communists, do
not think of the Hanoi government as theirs.
By far the most prominent Vietnamese politician is Anh Joseph Cao, the newly
elected Republican congressman from a Louisiana electoral district.
The first Vietnamese American elected to Congress, 41-year-old Cao made a
stunning victory against a nine-term Democratic congressman involved in an
alleged wrongdoing in November, making him a typical rags-to-riches story 33
years since his arrival here as an eight-year-old Vietnamese refugee.
Another high-profile minority leader is Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal,
an Indian American who also served as an assistant secretary in the Department of
Health and Human Services from 2001-2003.
The 37-year-old Jindal is seen by media as the Republican Party's version of
Barack Obama in 2012 for the next presidential election, although Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin is also a strong possible candidate for the Republican ticket for the
next presidential election according to public surveys.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 20 (Yonhap) -- The inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama
means a lot to nonwhite people seeking an American dream in which anything is
possible.
The ethnic Korean community is not an exception, as it has grown to the
fifth-biggest immigrant group in the U.S., with more than 1.5 million people
arriving since the first group of Koreans arrived at sugar cane farms in Hawaii
in 1903.
"President Obama's inauguration has inspired the Korean community with the hope
that a Korean-American U.S. president can be elected in a few decades, just like
Obama, who materialized the dream the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. had four
decades ago," said Sukhee Kang, mayor of Irvine City, Orange County in
California.
The 55-year-old Kang is himself an American dream, as he was elected to his
current post late last year, more than 30 years after he landed in the U.S. soon
after his graduation from a Korean university.
"My election also encouraged many Korean-Americans seeking elected jobs in the
U.S.," said Kang, one of two ethnic Korean mayors in the U.S. along with Jun
Choi, mayor of Edison City, New Jersey.
Korean-Americans have for decades have shied away from entering local politics
due to their strong affiliations with Korea and focus on building their own
businesses.
"The situation, however, changed in 1992 during the Rodney King incident in Los
Angeles," Kang said. "I was shocked to witness many Korean stores and businesses
being demolished in the riot without being properly protected by police."
Many Koreans have since then realized they need to enter local and federal
politics to make their voices heard and get proper protection from the local and
federal governments, he said.
"At that time, I myself decided to quit my successful 20-year career as a sales
manager since I came to the U.S. in the early 1970s and entered local politics,"
he said.
Kang was elected to councilor and vice mayor of the city of Irvine in 2004 and
2005, respectively, before becoming mayor of the city of about 210,000 people,
which is in the center of the Orange County lying between Los Angeles and San
Diego.
Kang's political mentor is Jay Kim, a former three-term federal Congressman from
California's Diamond Bar City, who helped the political novice at the initial
stages of preparing for elections and serving local constituents.
Kim became the first Korean-American congressman in 1993, soon after the riot in
Los Angeles, and served two more terms until 1999. Since his retirement, the
Korean community has not yet produced a federal congressman.
"I hope more first-generation Korean-Americans will encourage their
second-generation offspring to join politics, not only to serve the U.S.
government, but also to protect the interests of the Korean community," Kim said.
He was apparently referring to Korean parents in America who tend to urge their
children to pursue jobs as lawyers, doctors or business consultants rather than
elected positions and government jobs.
"Koreans here need to get united to help each other," said the retired politician
who had received little backing from ethnic Koreans in his constituency more than
a decade ago, when Korean-Americans would not get involved in local politics.
"Whatever I do, I am a Korean. Even though I was a congressman with U.S.
citizenship, I was repeatedly blocked by security officers in front of
congressional buildings," Kim said. "I am very much accustomed to the question
'Where are you from?' for the past 50 years of my stay in the U.S."
The 70-year-old said what he envied the most in recent years is those who have
ethnic Korean daughters-in-law, adding Korean-Americans can maintain their ethnic
identity which can contribute to the rich ethnic diversity in the U.S.
The U.S. Census Bureau recently forecast that the population of Asian minorities
will nearly double by the year 2050 from the current 5 percent.
According to the bureau, the proportion of white Americans will decline to 46
percent from the current 66 percent due to a gradual rise in the number of ethnic
minorities, according to the bureau.
Mayor Kang stressed the need for Korean-American parents to encourage their
second-generation offspring to join politics so one of them can become another
Obama.
He said he is pleased to see that a growing number of Korean-Americans are
entering politics, but added that like himself, most are not qualified for the
U.S. presidency because they were not born in the U.S.
Some successful Korean-American politicians still give inspiration to the Korean
community, he said. Among them are Sam Yoon and Jun Choi.
A graduate of Princeton University and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of
Government, Yoon was elected as a Boston city councilor at-large in 2005 as the
first nonwhite elected official in Boston with the help of the Chinese community
in the city. Yoon had worked for several years in community development and
affordable housing.
The 37-year-old naturalized American, who arrived in the U.S. with his parents at
the age of 10 months, is said to be planning to run for mayor in Boston in the
near future.
Jun Choi is another American dream for Koreans. The 38-year-old was elected to
mayor of Edison City in New Jersey in 2005, five years after he joined the
Democratic presidential campaign for Senator Bill Bradley in 2000.
Choi came to the U.S. at the age of three with his parents and studied
aeronautics engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and public
administration at Columbia University.
"I think they have all the political potentials as they are young and smart,"
Kang said. "What is important is electability in any elections that are like
popularity contests."
"Also in terms of appearances, stylish conversations and charisma," he said.
"Those are the prerequisites for politicians."
Among other Korean Americans with political potentials are Bessy Kim, Eugene Kang
and Lyan Kim.
Bessy Kim is deputy head of the Obama camp in charge of Asian American voters,
and Kang is well-known for his exposure to the media on several occasions for
golf outings with Obama in Hawaii last month. Lyan Kim worked for the Obama camp
in New York, soliciting support from Asian Americans in New York, the
metropolitan Washington D.C. area and other major eastern coastal cities.
The Irvine mayor said the success of the Vietnamese community in American
politics gives Koreans a lesson, noting that several Vietnamese candidates were
recently elected in Orange County as supervisors in charge of managing several
cities.
Koreans use one ear to listen to news from their fatherland while using the other
for American news, he said, stressing the need for more Korean-Americans to get
citizenship, register for elections, go to the polls and field their own
candidates to protect their interests.
"All the Vietnamese apply for citizenship and show a strong unity to protect
their interests due partly to the fact that they think they do not have their
homeland to come back," a Korean-American businessman said, adding the
Vietnamese, formerly boat refugees who fled Saigon from invading communists, do
not think of the Hanoi government as theirs.
By far the most prominent Vietnamese politician is Anh Joseph Cao, the newly
elected Republican congressman from a Louisiana electoral district.
The first Vietnamese American elected to Congress, 41-year-old Cao made a
stunning victory against a nine-term Democratic congressman involved in an
alleged wrongdoing in November, making him a typical rags-to-riches story 33
years since his arrival here as an eight-year-old Vietnamese refugee.
Another high-profile minority leader is Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal,
an Indian American who also served as an assistant secretary in the Department of
Health and Human Services from 2001-2003.
The 37-year-old Jindal is seen by media as the Republican Party's version of
Barack Obama in 2012 for the next presidential election, although Alaska Gov.
Sarah Palin is also a strong possible candidate for the Republican ticket for the
next presidential election according to public surveys.
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)
