I AM KOREAN AMERICAN

Own Words

My mother immigrated to the United States in the 70s. She moved here with the whole family because my aunty married an American man. She moved first to the state of Colorado, and moved to Florida on her own. She started working in a restaurant where she soon met the man that was my father.

My father immigrated to the United States in the 70s. He never told me how he ended up in Florida to meet my mom, but I do like to think at times he was a retired Korean hitman.

The two of them moved to Oakland, California and opened up a dry cleaners. Then they had me.

I was born in San Francisco, California. I don’t even know where I was raised anymore. But I do consider the Bay Area my home. Currently I’m living in Seoul, Korea. Directing, writing and producing movies. Thanks to my grandma, I’m fluent in Korean so living in Korea is decent. At times I pretend that I can’t speak English, and there are times when I pretend that I can’t speak any Korean. I guess that’s what makes me Korean American.

Working in the Korean film industry is an exciting life. You meet some people who are crooks, some people are the most amazing people you will meet in a lifetime. But in the end, America or Korea life has two type of people you’re either a crook or…. you’re not.