Korean-Americans have had a longtime, widely dispersed presence in the United States yet, for most Americans, they remain a people without a story. When Journey (Arirang Part I) begins in 1903, the Koreans no \ sooner arrive in America than their homeland is invaded and taken over by imperial Japan, which attempts to stamp out Korean language and culture, and reduce Koreans to secondclass Japanese.

The Korean sojourners became American settlers. They organized around the cause of independence for Korea while simultaneously sinking roots deeply into the new land. As they achieved astonishing success in American terms, they kept the idea of an independent Korea alive throughout Japan’s half-century occupation of the Korean peninsula.

In Dream (Arirang Part II), a dramatic renewal of migration results in the aftermath |of the Korean War and the subsequent change in U.S. immigration law. After 1970, Korean America expanded rapidly, sometime perilously, to today’s population of well over one million.

Dream concludes Arirang by outlining the distance from Seoul to Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York, and New Jersey. It is about the distance from plantation laborer and storekeeper to Harvard graduate, and from the devastating Los Angeles riots of 1992 to a heightened involvement in the American scene. Dream captures a community in transition from anonymity to national prominence.