SUKHEE KANG

IRVINE CITY COUNCILMAN

Take 10 | Full biography

Irvine City Councilmember Sukhee Kang was first elected to the Irvine City Council in November 2004 and was re-elected in November 2006. The first Asian-American to win two consecutive terms on the Irvine City Council, Sukhee Kang has twice earned the support of his City Council colleagues to serve as Mayor Pro Tem.  With experience in business and finance, Councilmember Kang has followed through on his commitment to support balanced budgets, expand City support for local schools, work in partnership with the local business community and demonstrate the highest standards of open and inclusive government.  Under his leadership, the City initiated an online Annual Citizen Survey, soliciting direct input from Irvine residents to build upon the statistical survey undertaken by the City each year.

Raised and educated in South Korea, Sukhee Kang came to the United States in 1977 after graduating from Korea University in Seoul.  Sukhee built a successful career in sales and management in the retail electronics field and was distinguished as the first Asian-American promoted to senior management within the Circuit City Corporation.  During his 15 year career with the company, Sukhee received numerous awards in recognition of his outstanding leadership and exemplary work ethic, including the company's highest honor— induction into the prestigious Circuit City Colonel's Club.
Sukhee built upon his business experience by opening his own independent retail establishment and offering consulting services to other businesses.
Following the LA Riots, in which many Korean businesses suffered extensive damage, Sukhee began to take a more active role in civic and community affairs. He served as Chairman of the Korean American Coalition of Orange County and the Korean American Scholarship Foundation, Western Region. After he served many years for his own Korean American communities, Sukhee decided it was time to get more civically involved in the local Irvine community.

In his first term on the City Council, Sukhee represented the City as a member of the Orange County Great Park Corporation and the Orange County Sanitation District. He led the effort to create the Irvine Educational Partnership Fund to provide additional resources to our local schools in support of enhanced health and counseling services. An advocate for expanded public access for our local open space resources, Sukhee worked with the Irvine Ranch Land Reserve to open the northern open space reserves for public hiking.

Now in his second term of office, Councilmember Kang continues to serve on the Orange County Great Park Corporation Board and now serves as Irvine’s representative on the Foothill/ Eastern and San Joaquin Hills Transportation Corridor Agencies. A member of the Executive Steering Committee of the League of California Cities Orange County Division, and the Orange County Measure M Super Committee, Sukhee was recently honored with the Community Leadership Award by the Asian Pacific Islanders Heritage Council of Orange County.

Councilmember Kang lives with his family in Irvine's Northpark Square neighborhood. He and his wife Joanne are proud of their son Alan, a graduate of UC San Diego now working as a research scientist with Johnson & Johnson in Irvine, and their daughter Angie, a second year law student at UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall Law School.