New York area Korean and Jewish communities are joining hands—in harmony and cooperation—through the newly founded Korean American Jewish American Forum, or KAJA, which means “let’s go” in Korean. KAJA was named and founded on April 2 in the Manhattan offices of the American Jewish Committee. Dr. Jae-tik Kim, a professor at John Jay College, and past chairman of the New York Korean community, and George Berlstein, a New York attorney, were named co-chairmen of the Forum.

KAJA’s outreach will be led on the Korean side by Kang Sung-soo, who is the Flushing branch office manager of Met-Life, and on the Jewish side by Ann Schaffer, who directs the American Jewish Committee's intergroup relations projects.

KAJA decided to solve shared local problems and international issues, as well as issues of civil rights and benefits.

The Forum will hold a concert in May as an opening celebration, featuring Jewish musicians playing with the Korean Sae-jong soloist group.

The Korean Consul General in New York will invite both communities’ leaders to this concert, and sponsor a reception afterwards. The Consulate will also display photographs at the reception, taken by a Korean photographer in Israel.

KAJA also plans cultural exchange programs, civil rights and other workshops, as well as business conferences. They also decided to create an open symposium for Korean and Jewish media and broadcasting journalists. Co-chairman Kim said, “Jewish people have undergone many difficulties in America as a minority group. Koreans also are undergoing a similar—if not the same—experience. Through this Forum, we will learn many things from each other.”

Co-chairman Berlstein said, “There are many various races living together in New York, and the joining of these two groups in cooperation can greatly develop their strength.”