Korean celebration under way
| • | Review: 'Tripitaka' universal in its appeal |
By Vicki Viotti
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i is the epicenter of an international celebration marking the centennial of the Korean immigration to the United States, an observance that will peak in 2003 but is already beginning to rumble.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
Last night, Korea's leading musical company performed the musical "Tripitaka Koreana" at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall. It was part of the lead-up to the year-long series of official events that will start Jan. 13, 2003 — 100 years after 86 immigrants first set foot on U.S. soil., seeking in Hawai'i a better life than their war-torn country could offer.
Dancers perform in "Tripitaka Koreana," a Korean theatre production held at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall. Last night's performance by the Hyundae Theatre Company from Seoul was a preview of the year-long series of official events that will start Jan. 13, 2003 — 100 years after 86 immigrants from Korea first arrived on U.S. soil.
In fact, planning for this centennial actually began more than 10 years ago, when a committee organized a 90th anniversary series of observances.
"That was a practice run for all of us," said Donald Kim, who chaired that precursor and the Centennial Committee of Korean Immigration to the United States.
Kim, chief executive officer of R.M. Towill Corp. and former chairman of the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents, is the son of one of those original immigrants.
The result of all that practice is an ambitious calendar of events and projects aimed at paying tribute to the contributions of those earliest settlers, fostering a broader appreciation of Korean arts and culture and furthering good relations between Korea and the United States, Kim said.
Specifically, he said, the committee is working on a $900,000 documentary on the Korean American experience, scheduling dozens of conferences and exhibitions, planning the restoration of a historic Korean village site on the Big Island, and raising money for not only these events but an ongoing exchange program involving scholars and young professionals in Korea and the United States.
Similar planning committees have been established in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Minneapolis and other cities where large numbers of Koreans have settled.
But Hawai'i is the center of Korean immigration, so its committee has taken the lead, Kim said.
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On the Web: www.koreancentennial.org
Hawai'i was for a time the home of Syngman Rhee, who was the first democratically elected president of the Republic of Korea in 1948, but who already had served as president of a provisional government in exile here during Japan's occupation of Korea. This is why Hawai'i also was caught up in early Korean independence political movements, Kim said.
The committee has embarked on a fund-raising campaign to garner $6 million in contributions in roughly equal measure from Hawai'i, the remainder the Mainland and Korea.
Cory Lum • The Honolulu Advertiser
About $3.4 million would finance the centennial expenses; the remainder would be used for a new Korean Centennial Foundation to underwrite the cultural exchange programs.
Dancers perform in "Tripitaka Koreana."
The grand kick-off 16 months from now is expected to draw about 10,000 to Honolulu, he said. The payoff will come in increased awareness of Korean contributions to American society, he said.
"The Korean people themselves are warm people, very hard-working people," he said. "The centennial is really to showcase what Koreans are all about."
