Choi is a first-generation Korean-American immigrant and the first Korean American to serve as an elected county or district attorney in the United States.

[1] The family resided for a time in Saint Paul's Skyline Tower, the largest subsidized housing complex in the United States west of Chicago.

He has embraced criminal justice reform initiatives, establishing a veterans' treatment court, engaging in community prosecution efforts, and working to reduce racial disparities.

Choi has also aggressively prosecuted human trafficking and other cases of violence against women, earning recognition from other county attorneys in Minnesota for these efforts.

[2] In 2015, he announced the indictment of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis for crimes related to the coverup of sexual abuse cases.