[INTERVIEW] 'Open celebration of kimchi empowers young people'

New York State Assembly member Ron Kim, fifth from left, Korea's Consul General of the Republic of Korea in New York Chung Byung-hwa, second from right, and Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) CEO Kim Choon-jin, seventh from left, and other dignitaries celebrate the passage of Kimchi Day Resolution at the New York State Assembly at the New York State Capitol in Albany, New York, May 24. Courtesy of Ron Kim

5-term NY Korean-American assemblyman stresses sense of identity, culture

By Lee Kyung-min

Ron Kim, or Ronald Tae-sok Kim, a five-term member of the New York State Assembly from the 40th district, said embracing kimchi, a fermented Korean dish, is about developing an elevated sense of identity and culture, a point of pride increasingly appreciated and celebrated not only by Koreans but also people of Korean heritage. Kim was instrumental in designating Nov. 22 as Kimchi Day in the U.S., currently recognized in four states: New York, Virginia, California and Washington D.C.

The fermented side dish with a strong smell has long been a source of ridicule and therefore shame for Korean Americans.

However, the more people become open to recognizing it as a part of who they are and where they came from, the deeper and faster the shame turns into gratitude, a completely different way of perceiving self and by extension how others view and treat them.

The new approach gradually but surely, in his view, will change people's microaggressions, a deeply scarring experience with lasting traumatic implications.

Passive aggression, microaggressions

"The act of microaggression is more detrimental to young people," Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times, Sept. 23. "It's deeply psychological. It's not a direct threat but a subtle one."

Kim put forward, as an example, people making fun of stereotypes based on the ubiquity of Asian proprietors, including Koreans, as dry cleaning business owners in America.

However, he believes that such attitudes will increasingly have no place, as evidenced by immense changes in the way people have begun to perceive him, and other Asians, over the past decade.

"When I got first elected in 2012, someone asked me if I could dance like Psy, a Korean entertainer, just to make fun of me, on purpose. But never again can they do that anymore. There has been a huge change in the last ten years. If these changes can be achieved this fast, coupled with the Korean brand, it will be a whole different world of things."

Ron Kim speaks during an interview with The Korea Times, Sept. 23. Courtesy of Ron Kim

Empowering young people

A seasoned assemblyman with a national political presence celebrating the traditional Korean dish via a public event, in his view, helps people with little understanding of Korean culture to become enlightened as to how biased, careless and nonchalantly hurtful many have been.

"We have some symbolic events to expose our identity to the larger world when the entire community comes up to the capital and celebrates and embraces who we are. Upon encountering such events, people stop behaving in a certain way and treat people better."

While Kim takes on mainstream issues as a politician in America, he believes taking on Korean heritage cultural projects is all the more meaningful and empowering for young people with a Korean background.

"My last name is Kim. I'm Korean and I look like a Korean. When they see me fighting the big fight ― the mainstream issues like when I took on Cuomo or I'm on MSNBC focusing on nursing homes fights like David versus Goliath ― I think those types of moments give younger people even more sense of power. All that has an impact on politics as well as our ability to take a stake, pass legislation and feel empowered. All that is in line."

The comment on him giving an interview with a nationally televised news broadcaster last year was over criticism of former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who allegedly covered up data about COVID-19 nursing home deaths.

Kim understood that any decision made by the state government would be criticized if he blew the whistle. Cuomo even gave him a threatening call, despite the two being in the same party.

"It was an extremely difficult time for me and my family," Kim said.

The former governor was one of the most powerful Democrats in the nation who had presidential aspirations. But for him, it was not about politics or political loyalty. It was about the thousands of families who depended on him and his office to make better decisions.

He said the expose was an inevitable course of action since it concerned issues of health and the restoration of rights for the elderly, an area where he cared deeply for a very long time.

"I have served on the Health Committee for many years before chairing the Committee on Aging. The pandemic exposed the deeper shortfalls in our health and long-term care system. My office has been working non-stop to build a better public response to the aging crisis."

Comptroller

The ultimate goal for him is to seek a higher office of comptroller, effectively the chief financial officer of a public body that handles public pension investments.

"There's only a couple of seats that interest me, one of them is the comptroller's office."

People don't really understand or like it because it's complicated and involves Wall Street, finance, pension funds, hedge funds and private equity firms. "However, that is where so much important work gets done, especially in New York, where we have $280 billion (400 trillion won) retirement funds and pension funds."

"It is huge, it could be its own sovereign state. That kind of retirement money this office handles and how to invest ― You could change industries, the markets overnight for the better or for the worse."