By Jon Oaks
I was fortunate enough to attend the Arizona Diamondbacks' Korean Heritage Celebration on June 1 at Chase Field in Phoenix during a matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers. As a Korean adoptee, events like this carry a special significance. If someone had told me that Major League Baseball teams across the country would one day host Korean Heritage celebrations, I would have had a hard time believing it.

By Sharon Stern
We gathered to talk about the book The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang in May. In celebration of Pride Month, we will be joined by author, Park Sang Young, to talk about his novel Love in the Big City on June 21st!

By Sharon Stern
June 6^th is Memorial Day in South Korea.  We will take a look at its history and meaning.

By Josh Kim
This month won’t be a story. Instead we’ll be looking at a brief origin of the mythical Haetae (해태) – which since 2008 has been the official mascot of Seoul.

By Sharon Stern
Summer months tend to be a little lighter in dramaland and this June is no exception – that said, the dramas coming out this month cover interesting subjects.

By Eun Byoul Oh
Happy AAPI month & Mother’s Day everyone! During the month of May, KCCNYC will celebrate through various events and are proud to celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Month with the NYC community. We especially celebrate Korean heritage with our affiliate organizations and friends. 

By KCCNYC Monthly Team
We went to see the Yankees on May 2! Plus – there are many events coming up for the KCCNYC community in for AAPI Month! Check them out (including special offers and co-sponsored events!)

By Sharon Stern

This month we look at what little we know about women’s roles in the Gwangju Uprising.

By Sharon Stern
We discussed The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon in April.  We are reading The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly by Sun-mi Hwang for May and we will have the author, Park Sang Young,  to talk about his novel Love in the Big City for June!

By Jon Oaks
For some, AAPI Month can feel empowering to see Korean and Asian cultures celebrated more visibly – and for others, it can also bring complicated feelings connected to identity, belonging, loss, language, family history, or feeling disconnected from Korean culture growing up.

By Sharon Stern
These movies and dramas focus on the events before, during and after the Gwangju Uprising.  This is an extremely painful period of history for South Korea and depicting it on the screen is always going to be controversial – critiques of whether the story was true enough, raw enough, etc.  There are a number of movies that address this important period.  Three of them are truly must-watch movies, if you want a good overview of what happened, without watching a documentary. 

By Sharon Stern
This is another something-for-everyone month.  It’s all about who does the best storytelling, isn’t it?  We’ll have to just dive in and see!

By Josh Kim
Our myth this month tells us why the sea is salty…

By Eun Byoul Oh
While I am writing this Editor’s Note, I once again think about how Korean history has had waves of  bringing sovereignty to its people and how there are still people fighting for their rights in Korea: people with disabilities, the LGBTQIA+ community, migrant workers, and those people whose voices are often ignored or brushed away – still fighting fiercely in Korea, every day, for their human rights. 

Podcast: Members of the KCCNYC community gathered to discuss the new ‘Arirang’ record from BTS – including its influences, the reactions to the concept and content of the album, and what or who BTS is culturally in conversation with through the release of this album.