3-04-05 Early Korean Immigrants in Hawaii: Their Social Backgrounds and Politics, 1903-1915

The UCLA Asian American Studies Center

and

Center for Korean Studies

present....


Early Korean Immigrants in Hawaii: Their Social Backgrounds and Politics, 1903-1915

With

Yong Ho Choe, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, History

University of Hawaii, Manoa
Wednesday, March 9, 2005

3:00 - 5:00 p.m.

Room 3232, Campbell Hall

Arrivals of 7,200 Koreans in Hawaii to work on sugar plantations in1903-1905 marked a great historical significance as it opened a way forcontacts of Korean people at a grass-root level with the Western world,in which Christian church acted as an important intermediary. Contraryto earlier contentions, newly discovered data indicate rural andagrarian origins of the early Korean immigrants to the United States.With the tragic news of Korea being reduced to a colony in 1910 whenKorea was annexed by Japan, the Korean immigrants in Hawaii played a keyrole in the independence movement to regain Korean sovereignty.Claiming to be the representative organization of all oversea Koreans,the Korean National Association (KNA) was the main instrument of Koreannationalist activities in the United States. In 1915, there was a bigclash over the control of the KNA in Hawaii between two giantleaders-Syngman Rhee and Pak Yong-man. Going beyond the issue of theKNA domination, the 1915 conflict entailed disagreements over thestrategies of Korean nationalist movement abroad.

This program is funded in part by a grant from the Henry LuceFoundation.

For more information contact the AASC at (310) 825-2974.