Korean Immigrants and the Challenge of Adjustment

With the steady increase in the number of Asian immigrants, our interest in Asian-American communities has intensified in recent years. While much has been written on the experiences of established immigrant communities such as the Chinese and the Japanese, little is yet known about the Korean Americans, one of today’s fastest growing Asian-American minorities. This volume provides an overview of the history of Korean immigration to this country-from the first immigrants who arrived in Hawaii at the beginning of the century to the most recent waves of the 1980s and 1990s-and a detailed analysis of the main problems Korean Americans face in adjusting to life in their adopted country. The author collected most of his data through a questionnaire survey and case-study interviews, which provide lively, first-person accounts of the immigrant experience, focusing in particular on problems such as the language barrier, social isolation, family tension, and the challenge of earning a livelihood.