Participants will include K.W. Lee, the nation's foremost Korean American print journalist; Jeannie Park, executive editor of People magazine; and Alice Rhee, producer of CNBC's The News With Brian Williams.
(6:30PM, Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum)
 

Sung Rno, a New York-based playwright whose productions have been seen throughout the country, will present two of his one-act plays. The Washington, D.C.-based Asian American theater company, ASIA: Asian Stories in America, will stage Rno's work. The presentation will be followed by an informal discussion about Korean Americans in the theater.
(7:00PM, Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum)
 

Actors Soon Tek Oh (M*A*S*H, Mulan, East of Eden) and Sandra Oh (Double Happiness, Arli$$, Barrier Device) will discuss the changing face of multicultural American media, the struggle for more positive roles for Asian Americans, and gaining greater control of how Korean Americans are represented in film and on television.
(7:00PM, Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art and Sackler Gallery)
 

Filmmakers Christine Choy (Who Killed Vincent Chin? and Sa-I-Gu), Greg Pak (Asian Pride Porn) and Grace Lee (Barrier Device) will discuss making films in a Hollywood-dominated industry.
(7:00PM, Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery of Art and Sackler Gallery)
 

May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and this month's feature will kick off the heritage month festivities around the Smithsonian. Tom Coffman's Arirang: The Korean American Journey, a film in two parts, will screen in its entirety. The screening will be the world premiere of the film's second half. The director will be on hand to discuss his film.
(6:30PM, Baird Auditorium of the National Museum of Natural History)
 

Jhoon Rhee, one of the most influential innovators to bring martial arts to the American public, will offer a history of tae kwon do, followed by a demonstration of the sport.
(2:00PM, Baird Auditorium of the National Museum of Natural History)
 

The national Korean adoptee group, KAAN (Korean American Adoptee Adoptive Family Network: www.kaanet.com) will have its annual conference in Washington, D.C. in July, and the Smithsonian's program is a "pre-show" of the conference. Participants will include Deborah Johnson, one of the most respected experts on transracial adoption; filmmaker Deanne Borshay (First Person Plural); and Chris Soentpiet (award-winning children's book illustrator).
(6:30PM, Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History)
 

Sang Jin Choi, the only Korean pastor in Washington to work with homeless African Americans; Sang Park, an attorney who is a church elder in the largest Korean church in northern Virginia; and Professor Kyeyoung Park, an anthropologist from the University of California, Los Angeles, will explore why Korean churches have virtually exploded in numbers to become a vibrant presence in most major cities throughout the country.
(6:30PM, Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum)
 

This program will be divided into two sections. Young adult writers will include Linda Sue Park (2002 Newbery Medal winner, the most prestigious award for children's literature) and An Na (2002 Michael L. Printz Excellence in Literature for young adults winner). Children's book writers will include writer/illustrator Yangsook Choi (New Cat, The Name Jar) and Frances and Ginger Park (Where in the World Is My Bagel, The Royal Bee, Freedom Trip).
(2:00PM, Ring Auditorium, Hirshhorn Museum)
 

The Korean Studies Department at George Washington University will present a conference on Korean literature and, in recognition of the 2003 Korean American Centennial Commemoration, the focus in 2003 will be on Korean American literature. The first night of the conference, Oct. 24, will take place at the Smithsonian with readings by Elaine Kim (foremost Korean American and Asian American literary scholar from the University of California, Berkeley), Nora Okja Keller (Comfort Woman, Fox Girl), Heinz Inzu Fenkl (Memories of My Ghost Brother and Kori, the first Korean American anthology) and Don Lee (Ploughshares editor, Yellow: Stories).
(6:30PM, Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History)
 

Renowned modern dancer Dana Tai Soon Burgess, in conjunction with his company Moving Forward, will present the world premiere of a Smithsonian-commissioned piece depicting the dancer's mother's family's journey from Korea to the new world. Burgess' mother's family was one of the first families to arrive in 1903 on the first ship carrying Korean immigrants to Hawai‘i. A co-production of the performance by the Smithsonian and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts will be presented. The pre-performance event (Oct. 30) will take place at the Smithsonian, one week before the full productions at the Kennedy Center (Nov. 6 and 7).
(6:30PM, Baird Auditorium of the National Museum of Natural History)
 

Angela Oh, attorney and Korean American activist; Shinae Chun, the highest-ranking Korean American in the Bush administration as director of the Women's Bureau at the Department of Labor; and Jeannie Hong, the first Korean American female judge in Maryland, will explore race issues, business and political issues that face Korean Americans in the next century.
(6:30PM, Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History)