Candidate Young Kim Elected... Four Korean Americans Enter US Congress

Incumbent Democrat Defeated and Elected
Four Korean-Americans Including Marilyn Strickland, Michelle Park Steel, and Andy Kim Enter US Congress

Michelle Park Steel (left, California) Republican candidate, Marilyn Strickland (center, Washington) Democratic candidate, Young Kim (right, California) Republican candidate, and other Korean-American female candidates each entered the election and joined the U.S. Congress.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] Young Kim (Korean name Kim Young-ok), a Korean-American Republican candidate, has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Along with Marilyn Strickland (Korean name Sunja) from Washington State, Democratic candidate, Michelle Park Steel (Korean name Park Eun-joo) from California, Republican candidate, and re-elected Democratic Congressman Andy Kim from New Jersey, four Korean-Americans have entered the U.S. federal Congress.

On the 13th (local time), foreign media including the Associated Press (AP) and The New York Times (NYT) reported that Young Kim won against incumbent Democratic Congressman Gil Cisneros in California's 39th congressional district.

The election was held on the 3rd along with the U.S. presidential election, but due to delays in counting mail-in ballots, the results were announced ten days after the election. According to the NYT vote count, Young Kim received 50.6% of the vote, leading Cisneros by 1.2 percentage points (about 4,000 votes). Previously, in the 2018 midterm election, Kim was comfortably ahead of Cisneros until the middle of the count but was overtaken in the final mail-in ballots.

California is a Democratic stronghold, but the 39th district where Kim ran covers Orange County, which has many conservative voters and is classified as a Republican stronghold. It also includes Korean residential areas such as Fullerton and Buena Park, with about 18,400 Korean voters.

Kim stated on her campaign website, "As an immigrant, I achieved the American Dream through hard work and determination," adding, "We need someone who can resolve the partisan gridlock in Washington D.C. and offer bipartisan solutions, and I will keep that promise."

Born in Incheon, Kim moved with her family to Guam, a U.S. territory, in 1975, where she spent her middle and high school years. She later moved to California when she entered the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, majoring in business administration. After working in the financial industry, she started a clothing business. She entered politics at the encouragement of her husband Charles Kim (an election consultant), who served as the national president of the Korean American Coalition.

Kim worked for 21 years as a staff member for Ed Royce, a pro-Korean former U.S. Congressman who served 13 terms in California's 39th district, developing her capabilities while also supporting the Korea-U.S. Congressional Caucus and building connections with Korean political circles. In 2014, she became the first Korean-American woman elected to the California State Assembly. With this election, she adds the title of the first Korean-American woman to enter the U.S. federal Congress.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.