DISCOVER THE HISTORY OF KOREAN-AMERICANS
Government & Politics
Korean American involvement in U.S. government and politics has grown significantly over the past several decades. Some of the notable Korean Americans who have served in the U.S. government include:
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Jay Kim, first Korean American elected to Congress (R-CA, 1993-1999).
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Sung Kim, a career diplomat who served both as a Ambassador to South Korea (2011-2014) and a Special Envoy for North Korea (2021-2023).
Currently, several Korean Americans have been elected to political office, marking major milestones in representation. Namely, these individuals include:
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Andy Kim (D-NJ) elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2018.
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Young Kim (R-CA), one of the first Korean American women elected to Congress in 2020 and representing California's 40th district.
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Michelle Steel (R-CA), elected in 2020 as one of the first Republican Korean American women in Congress.
Digital Archive
Below are scanned documents related to Korean-American involvement in US Government & Politics. All documents were donated by members of the Korean American community in the Orange County area. Some documents are in parts because they were all scanned by various volunteers over several years.
*Special thanks to Charles Kim who graciously donated and allowed us to scan the majority of the documents from his personal collection and ones donated and stored at the USC Special Collections.