"There are over 40,000 Koreans within the state of Colorado, but when you think about neighboring states, there are close to 70,000," says Minsoo Song, outreach coordinator for the Aurora Office of Integration and Immigration Affairs, who is leading the consulate effort.
"When I share this number, people are like, 'No!' [in disbelief]," she says. But according to some Korean community members, there are even more within the state. “They say there's got to be 50,000 or 55,000."
If you leave the numbers out and just look at Aurora itself — Colorado's third-largest city — it's easy to see the strong Korean presence in the state. The area is rich with Korean-owned businesses, Korean churches and young Korean-Americans in public schools.
"We see a really big presence from the Korean community," Song says.
Aurora is attractive to immigrants because of its affordable housing, good schools and availability of work in a metro area, she adds. For Koreans, specifically, Colorado is a good alternative to the crowded West Coast, where the first Korean immigrants to this country landed.
Having a South Korean consulate to serve this major foreign-born community "has long been a dream for the local Korean community," she adds.
Among other things, immigrants rely on consulates to get their visas to study and work in the U.S., and later their passports once they complete the requirements to become citizens. Unlike embassies — which are only located in a country's capital — consulates are meant to be more accessible, but the closest South Korean one is in San Francisco.
Although the South Korean consul general does travel out to Colorado two to three times a year, seeking services in California can seem out of reach for many foreign-born Koreans here.
"Whenever a Korean community member needs to get a visa or passport — because they're not naturalized yet, they still have Korean citizenship — they need to go to San Francisco to get those things or any document," Song says. "To some of our community members, it's not the easiest thing to do."
Although the South Korean consul general does travel out to Colorado two to three times a year, seeking services in California can seem out of reach for many foreign-born Koreans here.
"Whenever a Korean community member needs to get a visa or passport — because they're not naturalized yet, they still have Korean citizenship — they need to go to San Francisco to get those things or any document," Song says. "To some of our community members, it's not the easiest thing to do."
A South Korean consulate would not only help foreign-born Koreans with the naturalization process, Song points out, but could also help solidify the presence of the hardworking Korean community that's been booming in Aurora for decades and put a spotlight on the city itself for leaders in South Korea.
"We need to have a consulate office — not just for the convenience of people, but if we have a consulate office here, they could work more closely with the Korean government," Song says. "If there's a Korean government's presence, they will get more support, and they'll feel more supported."
Song adds, "Everybody within the state of Colorado and the Korean community, they want this office as soon as possible. There are so many people here who need the consular service. Not only that, they need their government and their community well represented here."
One in every five of Aurora's approximately 400,000 residents is foreign-born, earning the city a reputation as one of the most diverse in the country.
A large part of that diversity is the "tight-knit" Korean community, which it also one of the largest and most visible foreign-born groups in the area, Song says. The next-largest group is from El Salvador.
Aurora already has a General Consulate of El Salvador on Havana Street, along a corridor that Korean community members have branded "Korea Town" — even though Mexican, Japanese, Vietnamese and Ethiopian restaurants also dot the stretch from East Iliff Avenue to East Mississippi Avenue. The consulate serves communities in Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska.
"The reason that the consulate of El Salvador came to Aurora is that the Salvadorean community is heavily populated within the city," Song says. "We want to replicate the same thing for the Korean community."
Aurora "is working really closely with the [South] Korean government and the Korean community" to bring a consulate to fruition, Song says. Just before the pandemic, she met with the South Korean ambassador to the U.S. and the American ambassador to South Korea, as well as with previous ambassadors from both sides, "which doesn't happen that often."
The South Korean government's foreign affairs office has already received an official request from Aurora, "but the job doesn't stop there," according to Song. Aurora must continue cheerleading for the consulate while it's being considered.
The biggest challenge to making the Korean community's dreams come true is the competition. Aurora isn't as obvious of a location for a consulate as Denver is (there are 35 individual consulates in the Mile High City).
"Denver is great, and from a political point of view, it might be the better place," Song admits. "But if you want a consulate office to serve the community, it makes more sense to have the consulate office in Aurora, where Koreans have businesses. If they're here 24/7 but they need to travel to a consulate, it's more of a hassle."
Song made some strides, however, after meeting delegates from the South Korean government in Washington, D.C., late last month. The delegation was there alongside President Yoon Suk Yeol, who addressed Congress (and sang "American Pie").
Aurora also has close connections with the South Korean government through the nonprofit Aurora Colorado Sister Cities International, a nonprofit that link city workers here with their counterparts in Seongnam City, South Korea, which Song describes as "the Silicon Valley of Korea."
Song joined the Aurora Office of Integration and Immigration Affairs in 2016 shortly after it launched as part of Aurora's Immigrant Integration Plan — a long-term strategy to help immigrants and refugees become a part of cultural, economic and civic life in the community. Aurora is the only city in Colorado with such an office.
One of the goals of the Immigrant Integration Plan "is to raise the visibility" of Aurora, Song says, and she believes that a South Korean consulate would do just that.
