Reprinted from Proceedings, Hawaiian Academy of Science
Bernice P. Bishop Museum, Special Publication 21, 1933
THE KOREANS IN HAWAII
By
John Wesley Coulter and Bernice B. H. Kim
The Koreans in Hawaii, although small numerically, 6461 in 1930, only
1.8 per cent of the total population of the islands, are a people about whom
one hears peculiar reports concerning their political and national movements
and the relatively high proportion of youthful and adult delinquents.   Their
economic and cultural status in the islands is largely the result of their
natural environment and social background.   Korean civilization approximates that of the Chinese, yet the two peoples are as different as the French
and the English.  The four main aspects of the cultural background of the
Koreans are: a great respect for learning; filial piety and ancestor worship;
the  yangban   (gentleman  class)   philosophy;   the  subservient  position   of
women and their seclusion.  Between 1903 and 1905 more than 7000 Korean
immigrants, mainly common laborers and ex-soldiers from port cities, came to
Hawaii to work on sugar cane plantations. Over 6000 were young bachelors
between the ages of 20 and 30, the remainder being married people, some
with families.  The general reaction to plantation work and life was one of
disappointment, and resulted in the return of about 2000 to Korea and the
moving on of 1000 more to the mainland United States.   With the loss of
Korea's independence in 1910, the remaining Koreans divided into two factions, and the cleavage has remained.   Two factors caused the Koreans to
migrate from the country to the city: the bringing in of picture brides from
1910 to  1923 and subsequent settling about Honolulu, and the Japanese
strike on Oahu in  1919, dunng which a large number came as  strikebreakers from the other islands.  Many settled in the Liliha district of Honolulu because of its proximity to the pineapple cannery and the water front,
where they found employment. Within a generation the change from Korean
to American ideas and practices has taken place, a change too rapid and
unselective, resulting in an appreciable personal and social disintegration.   In
educational advancement the Korean students in Hawaii compare favorably
with the two older and more numerous Oriental groups, both in achievement and in proportional representation. A special problem that will arise in
the near future for the Korean community will be the guidance of the children of the picture brides, who compose the large majority of the young
Koreans.