About Koreatown

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Located in central Los Angeles west of downtown, Koreatown is home to a diverse group of people who hail from all over the world. It is located roughly within the boundaries of Pico Boulevard on the south, Hoover Street to the east, Melrose Avenue up north, and Crenshaw Boulevard​ out west.

(In 2010, the city council formally declared Koreatown’s borders as Western, Olympic, Vermont, and 3rd… with a business corridor on Western from 3rd to Rosewood.)

Actual residents are majority Latino — Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans — with many business owners being Koreans who live in the affluent neighborhoods of nearby Hancock Park and of Orange County. Such Korean Americans regularly visit for the food, shopping, spas, and the nightlife, aside from doing business.

“Transient” residents who have no intention of staying here for more than a few years are black, white, and multi-ethnic Hollywood aspirants waiting for their big break and larger incomes that would make living elsewhere affordable.

The terrorism of racist police, especially of the the 24-hour whir of their helicopters overhead, is a fact of life for actual Koreatown residents. Tourists who visit can expect an experience that is similar to the stereotypical gritty Los Angeles seen in the movies. Women in particular should be careful about LAPD picking them up on the charge of public intoxication while leaving their drunker male companions behind.