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Korea Times Project, part 2: Growing Korean American community in Alaska

August 11, 2015
From left: Locals Kim Min-ho, Baek Pil-hyun, Baek Hye-soon, daughter Baek Seung-ri stand in front of an arch made of whale bones.

From left: Locals Kim Min-ho, Baek Pil-hyun, Baek Hye-soon, daughter Baek Seung-ri stand in front of an arch made of whale bones.

2 a.m. at Barrow, Alaska. In Barrow, the state’s northernmost community, the sun does not set for more than two and a half months—from May 10 until August 2.

2 a.m. at Barrow, Alaska. In Barrow, the state’s northernmost community, the sun does not set for more than two and a half months—from May 10 until August 2. Six Korean families — amounting to about 50 people — live here.

By Kim Hyung-jae

BARROW, ALASKA – Alaska — the Great Land, the Last Frontier — is the unlikely home to a growing Korean American community.

The Korean population here started in the 1950s and ’60s with Korean war brides who immigrated to America.

From 1975 to 1979, oil pipeline construction in the state drew droves of Korean immigrants in search of the American Dream.

According to Korean Community of Anchorage, there are about 10,000 Koreans living in Alaska, with about 6,700 of them being U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Barrow, alaska

Of the seven restaurants in Barrow, five are owned by Koreans, including this one.

Barrow, the northernmost city in the United States, is home to 4,429 people as of 2015. Six Korean families — amounting to about 50 people — live here.

Of the seven restaurants in town, five are owned by Koreans, who also operate a cab company and an auto repair shop in the community.

“Alaska is a place where infinite potential and lies alongside its rich underground resources,” a local couple, Baek Pil-hyun, 59, and Baek Hye-soon, 53, said.