Koreatown (Korean: 코리아타운, Koriataun) is a neighborhood in central Los Angeles, California, centered near Eighth and Irolo streets.

[5] The establishment of diplomatic relations between the United States and Korea paved the way for Korean immigration to Hawaii in the late 1880s.

In the early 1900s, Korean immigrants began making their way to Los Angeles, where they created communities based around ethnic churches.

As the number of Koreans increased to the hundreds, their residential and commercial activities spread to the southwestern corner of the Los Angeles business district, putting them within walking distance of Little Tokyo and Chinatown.

[6] They established churches, restaurants, and community organizations, as well as businesses that primarily focused on vegetable and fruit distribution.

[9] As the entertainment industry grew in the surrounding Koreatown area, Koreans remained segregated into low-income districts because of discriminatory housing policies.

[10] After the 1948 Shelley v. Kraemer Supreme Court case prohibited racially restrictive housing policies, Koreans began to move north of Olympic Boulevard to establish new homes and businesses.

The once-glamorous mid-Wilshire area became filled with vacant commercial and office space that attracted wealthier South Korean immigrants.

Many of the area's Art Deco buildings with terracotta facades were preserved because they remained economically viable with the new commercial activity that occupied them.

[10] This economic boom led to the creation of Korean media outlets and community organizations, which played a key role in developing a sense of communal identity in the neighborhood.

[10] The ethnic enclave was able to establish itself as the primary hub of the Korean community in Southern California,[12] and the residents successfully lobbied for the installation of the first Koreatown sign in 1982.

[13] On March 16, 1991, a Korean store owner, Soon Ja Du, shot and killed a 15-year-old Black customer, Latasha Harlins.

Du accused Harlins of stealing orange juice, and after watching her put down the jug and turn to leave, shot her in the head.

[15][clarification needed] The 1992 Los Angeles riots stimulated a new wave of political activism among Korean-Americans, but also split them into two camps.

The conservatives emphasized law and order and generally favored the economic and social policies of the Republican Party.

"[14] Some Korean Americans who survived the riot have said that people of minority races and ethnicities were not served fairly by the current social system.

[23] These organizations advocated for reparations and protections for Korean Americans, who received little support from government authorities as a result of their low social status and language barrier.

[24] In late 2008, the City of Los Angeles designated Koreatown a special graphics district (along with Hollywood and the downtown neighborhood of South Park/LA Live).

The designation allows for digital signage and electronic billboards, not permitted by city code, to be installed on building facades.

[25] The construction of the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools at the former site of the Ambassador Hotel highlighted the challenge of balancing resource expansion with business development and historic preservation.

[27] Other developments, such as the opening of new metro stations, shopping centers, and strip malls, have made Koreatown a popular tourist destination while also increasing economic inequality for locals.

But the area extends south as Olympic Boulevard and north to Beverly Blvd, with spillover into adjacent Westlake and Hancock Park.

[10][need quotation to verify] This housing segregation was due to racial covenant laws that restricted them to mixed-race, low-income districts.

[10] The area north of Olympic Boulevard transitioned from a predominantly white suburb to a home for Asian residents.

[6] The area has become the mainstay of the Korean American community, although varying sources have established different boundaries for Koreatown.

[39] The Koreatown Regional Commercial Center runs along Olympic Boulevard and is "generally bounded by Eighth Street on the north, Twelfth Street on the south, Western Avenue on the west, and continues east towards Vermont Avenue", according to the Wilshire Community Plan of the City of Los Angeles.

[43] The 2000 U.S. census counted 115,070 residents in the 2.7-square-mile neighborhood—an average of 42,611 people per square mile, the highest density of any community in Los Angeles County.

Korea (28.6%) and Mexico (23.9%) were the most common places of birth for the 68% of the residents who were born abroad, a figure that is considered high compared to the city as a whole.

[50] Korean Air's United States Passenger Operations headquarters are located in close proximity to Koreatown in the Westlake community.

[41] Schools within the Koreatown borders are:[59] The Korean Education Center, affiliated with the government of South Korea, is in Suite 200 at 680 Wilshire Place.