Interview by Crystal Yoon

Where is your hometown?

My hometown is Seoul, South Korea. To be more specific, I was born in Yeongdeungpo-gu, which is located in the southwest part of Seoul. When I was in South Korea, the situation wasn’t great. Korea was very poor and suffered from the aftereffects of constant fighting. I remember going outside with rain boots when it rained, and unlike children today who play on asphalt streets, I used to play on dirt and sand roads. There was a mountain in my neighborhood, so my friends and I would run around. We would also grow vegetables, such as radishes. I spent my entire childhood in Korea and worked as a city official in Seoul. I worked in a total of four ward offices: Seodaemun-gu Office, Gangnam-gu Office, Gangdong-gu Office, and Gangseo-gu Office. My work as a Seoul city official focused on public affairs, and I would usually register families and document tax reports.

A few years after I quit my job as a Seoul city official, my husband and I came to America. My husband’s brother and his parents had already settled in America. They invited us to come live here. That’s how I came.

Do you live or work in Koreatown?

When we first came to America, we had to start everything all over again. In Korea, we had a path that included attending school and applying for jobs. There was a basic foundation that we followed in Korea. Life was natural. However, when we arrived here, the first barrier we faced was language. I couldn’t speak English, so I was unable to do the work I did back home. In Korea, I worked in an office setting and consulted with others, but it was almost impossible to do that kind of job in America. Although it was difficult to communicate, Korean immigrants who came before [paved the way] for people like us, so I think it was less challenging for us to get a job.

I had several jobs, such as working for a business and as a restaurant helper. I didn’t have the ability to be a chef, so I was an assistant. My last job was as a caregiver for seniors. I assisted them by taking them to the hospital and the market, and if needed, I would even make meals for them. The ultimate goal was to assist and help the seniors before they had to be admitted to hospitals. Because hospital fees are so expensive, by helping them out beforehand, we would be able to reduce their stay in the hospital.

Of all the jobs I did, this one had the highest pay. When I retired, it was $13 per hour, but it wasn’t always that high. It was lower when I first started, but then it gradually increased. I retired last year [in 2019], and I’m not sure if the pay increased or not [since then]. When I retired, I felt very proud of what I had accomplished. In the end, I noticed that this job was very similar to the job I had in Korea as a city official because I was helping others.

Our family didn’t always live in Koreatown. At first, we were raising our child in Koreatown, but because [we lived there] and mostly met Korean people, I thought it would be difficult for our children to learn English and really explore American culture and life. So we decided to move to the suburbs and lived in Long Beach for a long time. Our children studied there, and after they went on to college, we thought it would be better for us to go back and live in Koreatown. Living in Koreatown is very nice and convenient. Although the area might be a little dirty, living here has made it easier for me to communicate with others since I can speak Korean to almost everyone here. Also, I love how everything can be solved very easily and how everything is very accessible. There are many government facilities we can use, and KYCC is right next to us, so we’ve been getting a lot of help.

What are your thoughts on Koreatown?

Koreatown is a very convenient and comfortable place to live. We can access a lot of information. When we’re curious about something, we can get answers or at least information very quickly. There are Korean associations and information centers in Koreatown that we can easily access.