For the Korean-American community, 2023 is a major year.<\/p>\n
It is the 70th anniversary of the United States and the Republic of Korea — often referred to as South Korea — signing the Mutual Defense Treaty following the end of the Korean War, which is still strong today.<\/p>\n
“I’m so, so proud that our community has been developed,” said Eun-ji Seo, the Consul-General to the Republic of Korea in Seattle. “Korea came to be transformed into the 10th largest economy and is the [U.S.’s] greatest spread of democracy.”<\/p>\n
2023 is also the 120th anniversary of the first Korean immigrants coming to live in the U.S. It is also the 140th anniversary of the very first incidence of U.S.-Korean relations, when the first American diplomatic envoy arrived in Korea in 1883, paving the way for more than 85,000 Korean-Americans residing in King County, and South Korea becoming Washington state’s fourth largest trading partner.<\/p>\n
For Seo, who became the South Korean Consul-General in Seattle in 2022, these anniversaries are major milestones that she said inspire her to push U.S.-Korean relations even further.<\/p>\n
“Koreans searched for the ‘American Dream,’” Seo said. “There are four [Korean-Americans] in the U.S. House of Representatives. Twenty years ago, when I was in San Francisco, we had one and now we have four.”<\/p>\n
Seo said that before she came to Seattle, she had heard about the rising number of hate crimes against Asian-Americans and that it is a major concern for her. In September 2022, the creation of a new hotline called “Stop Hate Hotline” was approved by the King County Council to combat a rise in reported hate crimes.<\/p>\n
“I am very serious about safety,” Seo said.<\/p>\n
She also wants to emphasize political rights and economics in cities like Federal Way, which has a large Korean community, and to inspire cultural pride and “pride of our nation of Korea.”<\/p>\n
And recently, Korean culture and language is having a major rise in popularity in the U.S.<\/p>\n
BTS is one of the most popular music groups of the last five years, while Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” — a 2019 South Korean film — won an Academy Award for Best Picture. The majority of Netflix’s worldwide viewers watched a Korean movie or TV show in the last year, with “Squid Game” and “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” being among the most-watched shows on the platform.<\/p>\n
“When I see BTS on TV, I’m very surprised,” said Seo.<\/p>\n
As for language, writingtips.org analyzed Google search data and found that the three languages that Washingtonians want to learn the most are Spanish, Korean and Japanese, with Korean coming in second.<\/p>\n
Seo is working hard to make sure that during her tenure as Consul-General, the Korean culture is celebrated.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Consulate General held a special fashion performance that incorporated hanbok — traditional Korean clothing — and hip hop music. On Jan. 6, Korean pianist Sung-jin Cho performed in Seattle for a special anniversary collaboration with the Seattle Symphony. A week later, Governor Jay Inslee proclaimed Jan. 13 as as Washington State Korean Day.<\/p>\n
As for the rest of 2023, Seo promises more events that will not only celebrate South Korea’s alliance with the U.S. and Washington state, but also the Korean culture.<\/p>\n
“There is a gap between younger generation and the older generation — for older people, they think of Korean War and for younger people, they only know BTS and BLACKPINK,” Seo said. “Most people know Kim Jong-un more than BTS. I want to focus on our public image and I want to reduce the gap.”<\/p>\n
The next event will be the Asian Pacific Cultural Center Lunar New Year Celebration on Saturday, Feb. 25 at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall.<\/p>\n
For more information on upcoming events, follow the Korean Consulate Facebook page at facebook.com\/seattle0404 and visit the Consulate website at overseas.mofa.go.kr\/us-seattle-ko\/index.do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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