Founded in 1962, the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles was established by a handful of Korean immigrants as a channel to socialize and exchange information with each other as they sought to adjust to a new life in their new country. Since its establishment, KAFLA underwent several name changes in accordance to the growth of the organization and the Korean community. It began as the California Korean Center (CKC) in 1962. Then, in 1968, CKC changed its name to the Korean Residents Association in USA with the rapid increase in the number of Korean immigrants. In 1972, the name was once again altered to the Korean Federation of Southern California in order to better represent its community, and then to the Korean Federation of Los Angeles in 1984 because of the large number of the Korean community residing in Los Angeles. With the growing number of the Korean community identifying themselves as Korean-Americans due to their adaptation to American culture, the name was officially change to the Korean American Federation of Los Angeles in 1996.