Introduction

Koreans are the fifth largest group of Asians in the USA, after Chinese, Filipino, Indian (South Asian), and Vietnamese (US Census Bureau 2000a). As shown in Table 1.1, the number of Korean speakers in the USA grew by 43 percent from 1990 to 2000, and by another 19 percent from 2000 to 2007, mainly due to new immigration from Korea. With the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965, which abolished discrimination based on national origin, particularly Asian exclusion, Asian immigration to the USA dramatically increased, and today Korea is one of the major Asian source countries of immigrants (Min 2006). The flow of immigrants reached a peak in the 1970s and 1980s due to political turmoil and rapid industrialization under military rule in South Korea. Similarly to other immigrants to the USA, many Koreans sought better economic opportunities, social and political stability, and accessible college education for their children (Yoon 1997; Min 2006).

Located on a peninsula between China and Japan, contemporary Korea has been divided into the communist North and the capitalist South since the end of World War II which ended the decades-long Japanese colonial rule. North Korea and South Korea, however, share the same language, traditions, and history of successive dynasties over two thousand years. There are 23 million people living in the North, and 49 million living in the South (US Census Bureau 2007b).