Jeju village residents celebrate election of Korean American congressman

Residents of Hagwi 1-ri in Jeju City, South Korea, displayed banners to celebrate the election of Dan Koh to the US House of Representatives.

The villagers in the coastal area of Aewol placed the signs near a monument that honors the family of Koh’s grandfather, Koh Kwang-lim. Koh Kwang-lim was a senior diplomat and an international law scholar who served as an acting ambassador at the South Korean Embassy in Washington during the early 1960s.

The banners describe Koh as the pride of the Jeju Koh clan, a family group defined by a shared surname and ancestral origin. Dan Koh expressed his gratitude to the community while speaking to reporters at the US Capitol in Washington. He plans to visit South Korea after he begins his term to represent Massachusetts’ sixth Congressional District early next year.

The celebration reflects the deep cultural ties in Korean villages where the success of a descendant serves as a source of pride for the entire local community.