The Korean American Immigrant Experience

The Korean American Immigrant Experience

This article relates to American Han

Korean immigration to the US occurred in three waves: first from 1903-1949, second from 1950-1964, and third from 1965 on. The first wave was mostly comprised of laborers who were brought in from Korea to Hawaii to work on pineapple and sugar plantations. The second wave began after Korea's liberation from Japanese rule in 1945 and accelerated during and after the Korean War (1950–1953). The division of the peninsula into US-occupied South Korea and Soviet‑occupied North Korea set the stage for the conflict, and the war's devastation and displacement led to many Koreans—particularly "war brides," adoptees, and students—migrating to the United States.

It's the third wave of immigration that concerns Lisa Lee in her debut novel American Han, which focuses on the diaspora struggles of the daughter of Korean immigrant parents, who would have arrived in the US around the time of the Immigration Act of 1965. The Act abolished discrimination based on national origin, enabling an easier naturalization process, and resulted in an influx of immigrants from Asian countries, particularly Korea. As a result, the Korean population in the US grew from 11,000 in 1960 to 290,000 in 1980. A 2022 census report showed that that number has since grown to over two million.

Uprooting oneself and one's family from their homeland is always going to be a complex and painful experience, which is a sentiment echoed by many Korean American scholars and individuals. Korean Americans (and many other Asian Americans) are faced with the additional burden of contending with the "model minority myth"—a narrative that gained traction in the 1960s arguing that Asian Americans, with their traditionally high academic performance and strong work ethic, embodied values that all immigrants to the US should share. In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, the majority of Asian American respondents reported that the model minority myth contributed to a heightened sense of social pressure and burnout, though some respondents reported that the stereotype has worked in their favor, allowing them to advance socially and professionally. The model minority myth is frequently used as a means of pitting different racially marginalized groups against one another; it is commonly used as evidence that racism doesn't exist, and often to perpetuate negative stereotypes about Black people.

A Seattle-based study showed that among an Asian American mental health survey, Korean Americans reported the highest rates of depression, and a California-based study showed that suicide rates among Korean Americans are significantly higher than those in other Asian American communities, but mental health services in Korean American communities are underutilized. Former president of the Korean American Psychological Association Justin Choi remarks that "The suicide rate among Korean immigrants has been closely following the statistics in Korea for a long time. There is a unique cultural and psychological connection maintained even across the Pacific."

Some would refer to this unique cultural phenomenon as han, which can be explained as a feeling of sorrow, resentment, and anger, born from a collective history of suffering and displacement, or, as the LA Times describes, "the ineffable sadness of being Korean." But han is not solely a negative emotion—it can also represent a feeling of hope and resilience. Though the word itself is older, the concept of han largely gained traction in the twentieth century, in response to Japan's occupation of Korea and the subsequent invasion of the US and the Soviet Union.

Not all Koreans and Korean Americans share the same view of han. In an essay titled "The Problem with Han," Minsoo Kang argues that the concept is dated, and that it positions South Koreans as "perennially condemned as the passive victims of history," downplaying their achievements. But some Korean Americans in particular find solace in the concept. In a poem that is likewise titled "American Han," E.J. Koh writes, "Han is not just trauma, vague in western circles for colonization and war, historical defeat and inhumanity. Han, not as an illness, but a way of thinking about our lives. Han specific to Korea but not limited to Korea. Han as exile by native Koreans. Han as crossing the Pacific. The word brings me closer to the truth of living as a perpetual outsider and against the definition of han as nationhood."

This concept is further explored in Lisa Lee's American Han, which uses the lens of han to explore the dysfunction of a single Korean American family.

Koreatown in New York City in 2013, photo by Ingfbruno, courtesy of Wikipedia CC BY-SA 3.0

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This article relates to American Han. It will run in the June 10, 2026 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.