About this project
Why the project exists and how to take part.
About Us
Our mission is to preserve the stories of the Korean women who married American servicemen during and after the Korean War. We record interviews with the women themselves and their relatives, and we collect their photographs, letters and documents into one digital archive. Most of these stories have only ever been told inside families, and we want them on the public record. We also want to make this an easy way for people to find resources about Korean War Brides and other Korean women. If you or someone in your family has a story to share, we would love to hear from you.
Why Korean War Brides Matter
From the early 1950s onward, an estimated 100,000 Korean women came to the United States as the wives of American servicemen.1 Many arrived speaking little English, in towns where they were the only Korean anyone knew. They met suspicion and hostility from Americans and stigma from other Koreans being labeled as “양공주,” translating into “Western Princess.”2 Still, they raised families, started businesses, and, after immigration law changed in 1965, sponsored parents, brothers and sisters to join them. A large part of the Korean American community today traces its roots to one of these women.2 Few of their lives have been recorded, and the women who came in the 1950s are now in their nineties.
- Ji-Yeon Yuh, interview with Crossing East, 2006. crossingeast.org
- Ji-Yeon Yuh, Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in America (New York: NYU Press, 2002). nyupress.org
Method
Interviews are recorded in person when possible and over video call when not. Narrators may review their interview before it is published, and may ask for any part of it to be removed. Recordings are published in full, not cut down into a shorter story.
A note on language
“War bride” is what the immigration records and newspapers of the period called these women, and it is the term most narrators recognize, so this site uses it too. Many of the women did not choose the label for themselves.
Support
The Korean Women History Project is carried out with support from the Washington State Historical Society.
Contact & participation
The project is actively seeking narrators, family materials, and leads. If you are a Korean war bride, a descendant, a researcher, or an archivist, please get in touch through the form below.
- Sign up Interview sign-up form