Korean Task Force Encourages Bilingual Signage

It’s difficult to travel through Duluth without encountering an Asian shopping plaza or establishment. Serving the growing number of Asian Americans in Duluth, including Korean-Americans, these businesses have brought revenue to the city, but a different culture and language as well.

Most Duluth residents were curious but clueless about the businesses, and the was concerned about locating  businesses displaying signs only in Korean in an emergency.

“Americans felt intimidated not knowing what the businesses were,” Duluth Mayor Nancy Harris said. “I felt the message I needed to send was that if we were going to assimilate and live together, then we need to be able to go to these businesses and support each other. Americans are not going to go into a business if they can’t read the signs.”

The Korean Task Force was created with initiative from Harris and two Korean-American Duluth residents. Initially, the KTF served as a liaison between the city and the Korean community. The non-English business signs provided an opportunity for the task force to address. 

“When they (police officers) got calls for an emergency and would arrive, they often had a tough time finding the business and/or the suite number,” said Jenny Wesselmann, associate broker at Sperry Van Ness Interstate Brokers and a KTF member.

Harris, along with the two KTF members and a Duluth police officer, visited each business in the shopping center on Pleasant Hill Road and the Howell Center plaza on Peachtree Industrial Boulevard. Duluth city ordinances do not require businesses to display signs in English. When they met with store owners, the officials shared the importance of having bilingual signs to attract more business and for safety reasons.

“We visited every single Korean business in the H Mart shopping center and checked every store for visibility of store signs,” said Clayton Lee, retail branch manager for East West Bank and a member of the Korean Task Force.

“We are here to help,” Harris added. “I think the project went really well just from forming relationships.”

Harris said she and the KTF focus on the advantages of placing English signs on stores and buildings and to communicate those benefits to the business owners. As a retired educator in Gwinnett County Public Schools, Harris naturally focuses on education and the positive way it impacts a community. “We want to be proactive in identifying challenges and try and educate people about them,” Harris said. “That’s really the philosophy behind the KTF.”

As a result, many Korean business owners have opted to post store signs in English as well as Korean and include suite numbers in a large and visible way. Harris said this will be an ongoing challenge because of the continual growth in Duluth. "It’s all a matter of educating new people and new business owners and continuing to build relationships," she said.

The KTF continues to meet and discuss other opportunities within the city in the areas of public safety, education, special events, and more. The next meeting is planned for April 19 at 4 p.m. in . The meeting is open to the public, and visitors are welcome.