Koreatown () is a neighborhood in central Los Angeles, California, centered near Eighth Street and Irolo Street.
Koreans began immigrating in larger numbers in the 1960s and found housing in the Mid-Wilshire area. Many opened businesses as they found rent and tolerance toward the growing Korean population. Many of the historic Art deco buildings with terra cotta façades have been preserved because the buildings remained economically viable for the new businesses.
Despite the name evoking a traditional ethnic enclave, the community is complex and has an impact on areas outside the traditional boundaries. While the neighborhood culture was historically oriented to the Korean immigrant population, Korean business owners are creating stronger ties to the Latino community in Koreatown. The community is highly diverse ethnically, with half the residents being Latino and a third being Asian. Two-thirds of the residents were born outside of the United States, a high figure compared to the rest of the city.
History
1900s–1980s
In 1882, the United States and Korea established the United States-Korea Treaty of 1882, which ended Korea's self-imposed isolation. The establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Korea paved the way for Korean immigration to Hawaii in the late 1880s. In the early 1900s, Korean immigrants began making their way to Los Angeles, where they created communities based around ethnic churches. As the number of Koreans increased to the hundreds, their residential and commercial activities spread to the southwestern corner of the Los Angeles business district, putting them within walking distance of Little Tokyo and Chinatown.
By the 1930s, approximately 650 Koreans resided in Los Angeles. They established churches, restaurants, and community organizations, as well as businesses that primarily focused on vegetable and fruit distribution. In 1936, the Korean National Association, one of the largest Korean immigrant political organizations, moved its central headquarters from San Francisco to Los Angeles to continue promoting political, cultural, educational, and religious activities. However, racial covenant laws and economic constraints limited Korean residents to an area bounded by Adams Boulevard to the north, Slauson Avenue to the south, Western Avenue to the west, and Vermont Avenue to the east. The 1930s also saw the height of the area's association with Hollywood. The Ambassador Hotel hosted the Academy Awards ceremony in 1930, 1931, 1932, and 1934. As the entertainment industry grew in the surrounding Koreatown area, Koreans remained segregated into low-income districts because of discriminatory housing policies. After the 1948 Shelley v. Kraemer Supreme Court case prohibited racially restrictive housing policies, Koreans began to move north of Olympic Boulevard to establish new homes and businesses.
In the late 1960s, the surrounding neighborhood began to enter a steep economic decline. The once-glamorous mid-Wilshire area became filled with vacant commercial and office space that attracted wealthier South Korean immigrants. They found inexpensive housing and many opened businesses in Koreatown. Many of the area's Art Deco buildings with terracotta facades were preserved because they remained economically viable with the new commercial activity that occupied them. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 removed restrictions on Asian migration and helped further the growth of the immigrant community in Koreatown.
By the late 1970s, most businesses in the Olympic Boulevard and 8th Street areas were owned by Koreans. This economic boom led to the creation of Korean media outlets and community organizations, which played a key role in developing a sense of communal identity in the neighborhood. The ethnic enclave was able to establish itself as the primary hub of the Korean community in Southern California, and the residents successfully lobbied for the installation of the first Koreatown sign in 1982.
1992 Los Angeles riots
During the time of the riots, there was racial strife between Black and Korean Americans. In many predominantly Black neighborhoods, Korean citizens owned the majority of businesses. When White residents left the area, Koreans purchased their businesses from them for little money. Rapper Ice Cube spoke of this, along with Asian suspicion of Black residents in his 1991 album Death Certificate during the song "Black Korea".