California 100.00%
I came to America with my wife in 1974, fleeing the dictatorship that was ruling South Korea at the time. I started out as a janitor and a gas station attendant, but eventually found a job with the Los Angeles Department of Data Processing where I was promoted from computer operator to assistant manager within three years (a record career advancement at the time). Sensing that my career with the Department hit a glass ceiling, I resigned and started my own business, a realty office.
The business was highly successful, but then in 1980 the dictatorship in South Korea committed a massacre in the town of Gwangju in which thousands of activists were killed. In response, I sold my business and started a publication to report from the US about the atrocities of the South Korean dictatorship that the South Korean media was unable to report. My efforts came to fruition in 1987 when Democracy was established in South Korea.
I then started a new business, which was also successful. After retirement, I went back to school to obtain a PhD. degree, ran and won a seat on a city council, and founded a non-profit foundation.
A more complete biography can be downloaded from www.JosephCho4StateSenate.com
