[1] This makes Illinois the state with the eighth-largest Korean American population and the Chicago metropolitan area the fifth-largest, after Los Angeles, New York, Washington, and Seattle.
Many Koreans have since moved to northern and northwestern Chicago suburbs, including Glenview, Morton Grove, Mount Prospect, Niles, Northbrook, Schaumburg, and Skokie.
After being dissatisfied with the work, Koreans began to spread to California, New York, and Chicago.
In the 1930s Korean students discussed the independence movement during gatherings at the International House[7] of the University of Chicago.
[7] Due to a labor shortage, Koreans during World War II accumulated some capital.
[8] New economic opportunities that occurred during the war allowed some to open grocery stores and restaurants,[7] which were the common forms of Korean small business.
[8] After the colonization of Korea ended in 1945, several Koreans in Chicago, including the bulk of the students, left.
[7] Other significant groups included agricultural workers, coal miners, doctors, martial arts instructors, and nurses.
[10] Those who had lived in West Germany mainly entered small business while the former students became professionals and "somewhat assimilated" by moving to the suburbs.
The War Brides Act caused a disproportionate number of Korean women to come to America.
[11] From 1980 to 1990 the Chicago metropolitan area ethnic Korean population grew by 64% to 35,328 people.
Because suburbanization was beginning, some Korean Americans believe the area received its name too late.
[10] As Koreans began moving to the suburbs, they often chose areas based on the strength of the local public schools, so first-ring northern and northwestern suburbs that had good schools received more Koreans.
[12] These communities included Glenview, Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles, Schaumburg, and Skokie.
[13] Migration patterns of Koreans to the United States began to level off as there was a decline in the need for middle class standards by moving to a new country.
Indeed, by 1991 Census observers had noted that 62% of Koreans in the metropolitan already lived outside of Chicago, the third largest share among Asian ethnicities after Indians (72%) and Japanese (64%).
[17] The nucleus of the community today can be found in northwestern suburbs such as Niles, Glenview, and Morton Grove.
[19] In 2017, "Korean American Community Services, the area's oldest and largest Korean-American social service agency, and the Korean American Resource and Cultural Center, an advocacy organization", merged to form the Hana Center in Albany Park, Chicago.
[11] The Korean Cultural Center of Chicago (KCCOC, 시카고 한인문화회관) is located in Wheeling, Illinois.
[10] Emulating the jimjilbangs of Korea, King Spa in Niles opened in 2010 and claims to be the largest Asian sauna in America.