Katherine Yungmee Kim

Los Angeles's Koreatown (Images of America) Katherine Yungmee Kim

Koreatown, located in the Mid-Wilshire district of Los Angeles,

is the heart and nexus for Koreans in America. In the early

20th century, a small Korean community--many of whom

were active leaders and supporters of the Korean independence

movement--initially settled around Bunker Hill. The community

migrated in the 1930s toward Jefferson Boulevard, near the University

of Southern California, to an area known as Old Koreatown. By

the late 1960s, following the freeway construction boom and the

Hart-Cellar Act of 1965, Korean markets, restaurants, and businesses

began to blossom along Olympic Boulevard. Today, Koreatown is a

thriving urban center where Koreans, Hispanics, and Bangladeshis

coreside in one of the most densely populated and diverse sections

of Los Angeles. Its boundaries were officially designated by the Los

Angeles City Council on August 20, 2010.