To raise awareness of its activities, Council of Korean-Americans (CKA) are now actively promoting themselves in the Korean communities across the country.
Founded in 2010, CKA is a nonprofit organization designed for Korean-Americans.
“CKA has grown rapidly,” said the organization’s executive director Sam Yoon. “It only had one full-time employee in 2012, but now we’re up to four with 150 members. Our budget is now at $1.2 million.”
The mission of CKA is to raise Korean-Americans’ political voice and to build a stronger connection between Korean-Americans and Korea. Based in Washington D.C., CKA considers AIPAC as its role model.
In 2015 and 2016, CKA hosted a dinner with former United Nations Secretary-General Ki-moon Ban and the World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.
Recently, CKA stopped the government from implementing a ban on traveling to North Korea. The tension has reached new heights since Otto Warmbier’s death, but CKA stepped up to bridge the gap. Its selling point was that banning trips to North Korea could negatively affect the prospects of the hermit country enabling its citizens to meet with their divided families.
U.S. Congressman Adam Schiff, who was spearheading the implementation of the ban, admitted its problems and agreed to discuss the matter with CKA.
CKA even appointed former CNN journalist May Lee as its public relations director.
“We’re going to do even more to protect the rights of Korean-Americans,” Yoon added.
By Wonhee Cho
