Koreatown

Koreatown is a term to describe the Korean ethnic enclave within a city or metropolitan area.

Canada

Toronto, Ontario

Main article: Koreatown, Toronto

Toronto's primary Korea Town is located on Bloor Street, roughly between Bathurst and Christie Streets.

The major Korean shopping enclave is located along North Road, on the border between Burnaby and Coquitlam. Other important Korean commercial areas include Kingsway in Vancouver and Robson Street in the West End.

Japan

During the 1910 to 1945 colonial period, particularly during World War II, Japan forcibly imported approximately 2.4 million Koreans to work as laborers. While most departed after the war, many chose to remain in hopes of better economic prospects. Today, Koreans, or the zainichi chosenjin, are the largest ethnic minority in Japan, concentrated in Kansai. They are a key source of remittances to North Korea.

Kawasaki, Kanagawa

Approximately 3000 ethnic Koreans live in Kawasaki. Although most have assimilated, it remains the largest concentration of Korean-Japanese outside of Osaka.

Kyoto, Kyoto

A small Koreatown has developed in the Gion neighborhood (the Geisha district) of Kyoto. Kyoto prefecture is home to the second largest number of ethnic Koreans, after Osaka.

Osaka, Osaka

Main article: Koreatown, Osaka

The Korean enclave in the city of Osaka, numbering over 90,000, is by far the largest in Japan, concentrated in the Ikuno district.

Shinjuku, Tokyo

Unlike other Japanese Koreatowns, the small Korean-oriented commercial district in Shijuku special ward developed after World War II, and is dominated by immigrants who have retained their ethnic identity. Shin-Okubo Station is a famous area for these immigrants.

United States

Atlanta, Georgia

A small Korean commercial district has developed around Buford Highway. A second center has risen with the ethnic Korean population, in the Duluth district.

Chicago, Illinois

Chicago's Koreatown is located along Lawrence Avenue in the Albany Park neighborhood in the Northwest of the city.

Houston, Texas

A Koreatown can be found in Houston, along Gessner north of Interstate 10.

Los Angeles, California

Main article: Koreatown, Los Angeles, California

The area known as Koreatown in the city of Los Angeles acquired its name from the prevalence of Korean-owned businesses that form the landscape. Much of its resident population is comprised of Asian, Latino, Anglo, African-American and other ethnic groups.

During the civil unrest in 1992, residents burned and looted many businesses in Koreatown, including those owned by white and blacks.

Several satellite Koreatowns have been formed over the years in the Los Angeles suburbs of Buena Park, Cerritos, Garden Grove and Rowland Heights, where middle-class Korean immigrants have settled and where Korean American business owners have relocated.

New York City

Main article: Koreatown, Manhattan

The area around Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas) and 32nd Street in Manhattan has emerged as an enclave of Korean restaurants and businesses. It is this neighborhood, near Herald Square, which is usually named as New York's Koreatown; however, a significant Korean population and commercial center can be found in Queens, especially in neighborhoods such as Elmhurst and Flushing.

Oakland, California

A strip of Korean businesses along Telegraph Avenue near the MacArthur BART station has developed into a genuine cultural center for the 60,000-odd ethnic Koreans in the San Francisco Bay Area. The emergence of this area has coincided with urban renewal and gentrification in downtown Oakland, provoking some conflict with the more established African-American population.

Bergen County, New Jersey

A significant number of Korean immigrants and their descendants now live in Bergen County. They are most prevalent in communities such as Fort Lee, Englewood Cliffs, Palisade Park, Cliffside Park, and Edgewater, communities near the NJ side of the George Washington Bridge.