One of the first Korean Americans was Seo Jae-Pil, or Philip Jaisohn, who came to America shortly after participating in an abortive coup with other progressives to institute political reform in 1884. The first Korean immigrants to arrive in Honolulu, Hawaii arrived on the SS Gaelic in December of 1902. Korean immigration began with these families, resulting in over 7,500 immigrants in the next two years. Approximately 1.7 million people of Korean descent live in the United States, making it the country with the second-largest Korean population outside of Korea, according to the 2010 Census    

Korean American Day commemorates the arrival of the first Korean immigrants to the United States on January 13th, 1903.

President George W. Bush proclaimed a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Korean immigrants in 2003.