The untold stories of Korean immigrants in Hawaiʻi from the plantation era through the 1970s were highlighted at an international conference, hosted by the University of Hawaiʻi.
Led by UH Mānoa Department of History Associate Professor Cheehyung Harrison Kim, the research team uncovered documents revealing Korean immigrants’ involvement in key historical events, including Korea’s independence movement, the World War IIHonouliuli Internment Camp in Waipahu and the Kalama Valley protests in the 1970s. Along with Kim, the project team consisted of four UH Mānoa doctoral candidates (Wonkeun Lee, Sulim Kim, Eun Bin Ladner-Seok and Chiyeon Hwang) specializing in history, performance studies and Korean literature.
The joint conference from October 30 to 31 between the UH Mānoa Center for Korean Studies and South Korea’s National Institute of Korean History (South Korea’s top archival agency) marked the culmination of a six-month research project examining collections across multiple Hawaiʻi institutions, including UH Mānoa’s Hamilton Library, Center for Korean Studies and the Center for Oral History, as well as the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaiʻi and the Hawaiʻi State Archives.
“The history of the Korean diaspora in Hawaiʻi and elsewhere in the world is at a crucial and necessary point of going beyond the topic of identity and cultural preservation to the domain of solidarity and integration—how the Korean people all over the world forged solidarity with local peoples,” Kim said. “For example, in Hawaiʻi, our archival project shows that the Koreans actively participated in the Kalama Valley protests of the early 1970s, standing alongside other groups to fight for the rights and justice of Hawaiians and local residents.”
The conference featured findings from various collections, including the Hawaiian sugar planters’ archives, Hawaiʻi war records and multiple personal collections donated by Korean American families. Researchers and organizers highlighted how the conference addressed the critical role of archives in our globalized world.
“These archives tell us not just about preserving Korean identity, but reveal how early Korean immigrants in Hawaiʻi built meaningful connections across ethnic and cultural lines,” Kim said. “By digitizing and sharing these collections globally, we’re ensuring these powerful stories of cross-cultural solidarity and integration reach audiences far beyond our islands.”
The research initiative positions UH as a leading institution in preserving and studying Korean diaspora history, particularly focusing on themes of solidarity and integration with other communities in Hawaiʻi.
