DENVER (Yonhap News) ― Getting to know Korea ― both the language and culture ― is not as easy to do in Colorado, where an estimated 30,000 Koreans live, as it is in, perhaps, California or New York. Their community mostly revolves around Korean market places and public organizations, but these days, a nascent group is attracting members who are getting to know the Asian nation in a more personal way.

Liz Salibsury, 28, is one of four people who attended the first meeting of what is now called the Denver Korean Language Meetup (DKLM). A “full-blooded Korean” as she describes herself, Salisbury was adopted from Korea and brought to America when she was three months old. Her reason for getting involved with DKLM is a common one among members.

“I started attending meetups to get more acquainted with my heritage. I wanted to actually learn Korean,” she said.

The group now has more than 100 members, although not all are active, who regularly meet to learn and teach Korean, including some Korean exchange students who occasionally lend their language skills. The group, which aims to meet every weekend, has regular social events that often include eating and singing. Language lessons are conducted on topics ranging from the history of the Korean flag, Korean movies, slang, weather, body parts, family and even the plight of North Korean refugees. 

Like similar Korea-related groups elsewhere, DKLM has many members with established links to Korea, particularly adoptees looking to reconnect with the country of their birth or descent.

But that is not always the case.

Laura Becker, a 20-year-old sociology student at Wheaton College in Chicago, reached DKLM by way of her first friendship at college.

“When I started university two years ago, my first friend was a Chinese-American girl,” Becker said. The two started going to Asian/Asian-American events on campus, and Becker’s interest in Korea grew as she befriended people in the group.

“Many of my closest friends are from Korea and it would be very difficult not to be interested in where the people I care about come from,” said Becker. “Korea is also accessible for me to learn about at this time because I know so many people from Korea who are willing to help me learn.”

Becker joined DKLM when she came to Denver for an internship and says her Korean friends have introduced her to the new worlds of Korean cuisine, entertainment and relaxation. She also started learning Korean, first through her friends and then through DKLM classes and books. She even found a virtual keyboard so she could practice Hangeul, the Korean alphabet.

Her goal is to complete her Korean experience and put her language skills to the test by visiting Korea within the next two or three years.

“I will graduate in 2014, but I may go before then. When I go to Korea for the first time I would like to spend time with all my friends who live there. I want to see tourist places but also see how everyday people live in Korea,” she said.

Becker acknowledges that she sometimes finds herself having to explain her decision to learn Korean.

“I am often frustrated by peoples’ reactions to my interest in Korea. They typically ask me for the reason and make me defend myself that way, and I don’t think there has to be an obvious reason for liking a place,” she said. “Americans should be more interested in learning about cultures outside America.”

For Carol Thornton, 49, what started with her love of K-pop led to lessons about the history and people of Korea. “I found I wanted to know about the language, food, culture, history, country and the people, and the more I learned, the more I was humbled,” she said.

Thornton, who runs a massage studio in Boulder, Colorado, plans to travel to Korea and hike for three months while experiencing the people by using homestays. Her travel schedule will be filled with visits to national parks and cultural and historical sites, she says, adding, “It will take a while but it will be worth the work.”

Denver, said to be home to about half of the Koreans living in Colorado, is the base from which groups such as DKLM will grow further. There are some 20 Korean restaurants and organizations there, including the Korean Association of Colorado, the Colorado Taekwondo Association, the Korean Soccer Association of Colorado and the Korean-American Coalition.

Brian Lee, owner and manager of kncolorado.com, an information Web site for Korean speakers in the area, says his site gets about 250,000 visits a month with around 6,000 unique visitors from within Colorado.

“I started (the site) as a Korean community site for Colorado back in 2007,” said Lee.

The DKLM, while reaching outside of the Korean community, also performs a valuable role for those within.

Jessie Mee Young Van Ausdal, a 44-year-old who works in apparel product development and design, is a Korean adoptee with personal reasons for joining the DKLM.

“I joined in January 2012 because I was not able to find any classes that offered (Korean) and hoped this would be a good way to learn. I’ve always wanted to learn to speak in Korean and I am planning to visit Korea next year and want to be able to speak the language,” she said.

DKLM have meetings in other parts of Colorado as well. Detailed information is available on www.meetup.com/Denver-Korean-Language-Meetup.