Han Jik Kim is a licensed Acupuncturist with over 25 years of experience in clinical practice and teaching. He specializes in acupuncture, herbal medicine, and oriental medicine classic texts such as Shang Han Lun, Jin Gui Yao Lue, and Wen Bing Xue.

HAN JIK’S STORY →

Lauren Kim is a 26-year-old Korean American urban planner, whose work is deeply influenced by her family's legacy of traditional healing.

LAUREN’S STORY →

Sion Kim (김석연) is a Korean beekeeping expert with extensive knowledge of traditional beekeeping methods and the healing properties of bee venom.

SION’S STORY →

Dr. Sae-Joon Oh, born in Seoul in 1965, is a licensed acupuncturist and healthcare professional based in Koreatown, Los Angeles. From a young age, he aspired to become a doctor or establish a senior care and wellness center to support the elderly.

SAE-JOON’S STORY →

Dr. Junwoo Kim serves as the OMC Director at Dongguk University Los Angeles. He holds a DAcHM and an MSAOM from South Baylo University, and a B.S. in Biological Science-Biochemistry from the University of California Irvine.

JUNWOO’S STORY →

Kim Gwang-hun, a 56-year-old Korean-born acupuncturist, has lived in Koreatown, Los Angeles, since immigrating to the U.S. in 2000. Growing up, he had no particular childhood dream, as the focus was on graduating quickly and securing a stable job.

GWANG-HUN’S STORY →

Edith Rincon is an Intuitive Energy Practitioner with over 20+ years of teaching experience in the public school system.

EDITH’S STORY →

Sydney Rogers, also known as Miss Barbie-Q, is a multi-disciplinary artist, activist, Drag performer, consultant, and Koreatown resident. In this interview, she speaks on her complex feelings about Koreatown, her journey from homelessness to sobriety, her introduction to Drag and how the art form has changed over time.

SYDNEY’S STORY →

Vida Marie Adams grew up in Los Angeles’s Koreatown as an only child to a Korean mother and a Black father. She shares her experience as a Korean American of mixed heritage living in Koreatown, which involved both a struggle to feel accepted as well as a strong, intimate connection to the neighborhood.

VIDA MARIE’S STORY →

Judy Han and Jennifer Chun speak about their individual experiences as queer Korean Americans, how they met, and the fears they faced in expressing their identities, especially in Korean spaces.

JUDY AND JENNIFER’S STORY →

Jamie Issuh describes herself as a queer Korean American Renaissance woman, and is a producer, director, designer, and host. She talks about her experience exploring and reconciling her identities as both a Korean person and a queer person.

JAMIE’S STORY →

Lori Song, a Korean-Japanese American, describes her journey through her childhood and teenage years as she explored cross-dressing, navigated her identity, and began coming out as trans to her friends and family.

LORI’S STORY →

Lana Yu, who grew up amid the Korean War, later immigrated to Los Angeles to start a family, and reflects on how she overcame deep-rooted stigmas to embrace her son—and others in the LGBTQIA+ community—with unconditional love and acceptance after he came out as gay.

LANA’S STORY →

Vicky Tesorito is a trans woman from El Salvador who has lived in Koreatown since her teens. Tesorito shares with us how she has built community at the Guatemalan Resturarant Paseo Chapin , found opportunity, difficulties and love in Koreatown.

VICKY’S STORY →