KIWA was founded in 1992 by progressive-minded Korean activists who saw class as the basic contradiction of the immigrant communities in Koreatown.
It has since been involved in the aftermath of the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest, campaigns to improve working conditions and immigrant worker empowerment in various Korean ethnic industries, the living wages campaign, and Koreatown's multi-ethnic community developments.
KIWA is perhaps best known recently for its long campaign against Assi Market, the largest ethnic Korean-owned supermarket of the United States, located in Koreatown.
Although initially staffed mostly by ethnic Koreans, KIWA grew to encompass Asian-Pacific American and Latino organizers and members.
The Spanish language "Alianza de trabajadores inmigrantes del Barrio Coreano" had been in common use since the early 2000s; however the English language name was officially changed in March 2006 from Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates to Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance.