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Charles Park, a Korean American community leader and elder, and Susie Aeja Park look through a photo book at their home in Garland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
Charles Park first came to the U.S. over half a century ago, but he still remembers arriving at the LAX airport from Korea in 1970, unable to get the\u00a0pay phone to work or ask for help finding his way in English.<\/p>\n
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Today, at age 88, he has spent decades championing Korean American representation<\/a> in North Texas and working to provide his community with the resources and information to succeed.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s a different system from Korea to here,\u201d he said at a bakery in<\/a> Dallas\u2019 Koreatown. He waved to a staff member, who had recognized him sitting in a wooden booth in his signature pageboy hat. \u201cThey need to understand \u2026 the American system.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n To Stephanie Drenka<\/a>, co-founder of the Dallas Asian American Historical Society, Park is a \u201cbridge builder.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBoth within the Korean American community<\/a> as a connector between generations, but also with the Korean community and those outside,\u201d she said. \u201cHe’s like the unofficial leader of the Dallas Korean community.\u201d<\/p>\n Charles Park, a Korean American community leader and elder, at his home in Garland, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026.<\/p>\n Juan Figueroa\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Park serves as a representative of the North Texas Council of Korean Elders and works to connect and celebrate his community. His story began thousands of miles away nearly nine decades ago. \u00a0<\/p>\n Path to Texas<\/p>\n Park was born in northern\u00a0Korea in 1937, but when he was in grade school, his family moved south to escape the communist government. War broke out. His father was kidnapped and his sister likely died, he said. His family was shattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n He studied hard, majoring in business administration at a good school in Korea.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat’s the only way I can survive,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n He also took part in pro-democracy protests and student-led uprisings in South Korea in 1960, and was awarded for his participation on the 50th anniversary of the April 19 Revolution, which took a stand against authoritarianism and corrupt government.<\/p>\n Related: Carrollton\u2019s Korean American businesses rattled by shooting amid mounting economic pressure<\/a><\/p>\n He graduated in 1964 and married his wife that same year. After a family member got a job in California, he followed with his wife and two young kids in 1970. He and his wife had a third child in the U.S.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very difficult to make a living,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought I knew some English, but \u2026 they don’t understand me. \u2026 I have to start it all over.\u201d<\/p>\n In California, he was very active in the Korean community. He made a directory for alumni of his university living in Los Angeles, to help spread information and resources<\/a> and build community.\u00a0<\/p>\n The family moved to Oklahoma and then to Dallas around 1978 in search of stable work and more Korean community. Park wanted a better future in Texas.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cFor the kids and me,\u201d he said. \u201cKids are always better educated in a bigger city.\u201d<\/p>\n Public service honoree Eunsup Kim poses for a photo with Charles Park, president of North Texas Council of Korean Elders, after receiving his award during the fourth annual Community Awards Fest at Korean Culture Center, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n In Dallas at that time, Park said many Korean Americans worked as professors, nurses, doctors or in the garment and janitorial industries. He opened an accounting business on Harry Hines Boulevard, before it became the Koreatown and Asian Trade District it is today.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dallas-Fort Worth is home to one of Texas\u2019 largest Korean American communities, in Carrollton, according to the city\u2019s Koreatown site<\/a>. Texas as a whole is home to one of the largest Korean populations of any state in the country, with about 6% of the country\u2019s Korean population of 1.8 million, according to Pew Research.\u00a0<\/p>\n Community involvement<\/p>\n Park saw how Korean Americans in Dallas faced barriers<\/a> to making a living, filing taxes, buying a house and getting public support. He saw a lack of Korean Americans in public office and on local boards. He wanted to bring representation to these spaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n Park became involved in several community groups, including the Korean American Coalition, Korean Society of Dallas and the Korean American Chamber of Commerce in North Texas. To succeed in the U.S., he noticed, Korean Americans needed to share information, get involved and build community.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: How a Garland matriarch fled war in Vietnam to fight for representation in North Texas<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Churches became vital community spaces and the Korean newspaper helped share information.<\/p>\n Around 2000, Park ran for City Council in Garland. He did not win the election, but continued community work. He served on advisory boards and participated in citizen academies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to know more about how the system worked, then I can advise any Korean,\u201d he said. \u201cI can tell them the system works this way.\u201d<\/p>\n Park made an effort to get involved in \u201cthe mainstream,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOtherwise it was so segregated,\u201d he said. \u201cThe American community did not know what the Korean community was doing. And the Korean community did not know what they were doing. I want to break that up.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Charles Park, president of North Texas Council of Korean Elders, speaks during the fourth annual Community Awards Fest at Korean Culture Center, Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2026, in Dallas.<\/p>\n Chitose Suzuki\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n He hosted forums for discussion and understanding, seeking to bring diverse communities together. He especially worked to strengthen ties between the Black and Korean American communities<\/a> amid tensions in the 1990s. In 2005, he received the \u201cBridge Builder\u2019s Award\u201d from the Garland NAACP.<\/p>\n The strength of America comes from its diversity, Park said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to maximize the benefit of having all those nations together,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Park today\u00a0<\/p>\n Park is slowly retiring but still very active in the community. He travels to Korea often. He has three kids and eight grandchildren and can rattle off their accomplishments, from stints in the Peace Corps, to their various international degrees, to their appearances in production credits. \u00a0<\/p>\n There are still generational differences and barriers to communication within the Korean American community, Park said, that are hard to overcome. But the country is very different from when he first arrived in 1970.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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