For the past three to four years, there has been a surge of new immigrants into Flushing, Queens, affecting businesses and the finances in the area, as well as population demographics. This rapid change is due to the massive influx of Korean-Chinese [descendants of Korean soldiers who went to China during the Korean War, 1950-1953]. It is estimated that there are currently around 20,000 Korean-Chinese living in the New York area.

Like the Chinese immigrants who settle and start up small communities, which then blossom, Korean-Chinese immigrants are rapidly building a “Korean-Chinatown” in Flushing. It’s hub is at the intersection of downtown Flushing and Northern Boulevard, which is predominantly Korean.

Korean-Chinese first worked as laborers when they arrived in Queens; however, they expanded rapidly into businesses such construction, nail salons, and bars. There is even a newly established New York-based website for Korean-Chinese to share information. The Korean-Chinese presence is growing rapidly.

The U.S. Korean-Chinese Association was established in New York in the year 2000. Last year, Blossoming Flowers, a second Korean-Chinese organization, was established, headed by a younger generation of Korean-Chinese, which is setting up business scholarship programs for Korean-Chinese youth.

Korean-Chinese leaders are gathering in many areas across the country, from Los Angeles, to Philadelphia, to discuss programs for their growing community. According to Hyen-chol Lee, the current director of the U.S. Korean-Chinese Association, “The Korean-Chinese society is growing so rapidly, that we really need collaboration and information sharing. We hope to see the establishment of local offices across America, like the one already set up in New York.”

U.S. population statistics view Korean-Chinese as neither Korean nor Chinese, thus masking the presence of the Korean-Chinese community here. Yet, there are an estimated 30,000 Korean-Chinese in Los Angeles alone. This indicates there may be as many as 70,000 to 80,000 Korean-Chinese throughout the United States.

In the near future, the Korean-Chinese community will be a bridge between the Korean and the Chinese communities. At the same time, they will contribute to the further development of American-Korean society.

Dong-choon Choi, the founder and first chairman of the Korean-Chinese Association said, “When I visited the offices of the Korean Association in New York in 2000, I gave them a wall plaque with the phrase Hyol Yuk Zi Chung inscribed on it. This means roughly ‘Love and Brotherhood in One Blood.’ At that time, I emphasized that our people that they did not meet in Korea or in China, but in the United States. As compatriots, we must stand together and face the difficulties of life in a foreign land. We must act together as one.”