Aiyoung Choi was born in what is today North Korea, moved to Seoul in todays South Korea, and grew up in China, Taiwan and Japan before moving to the U.S. for college. Her connection to the Korean community in the U.S. started in the late 1980s when she co-founded the Coalition for Korean American Voters. Aiyoung has a long history of working with grassroots movements, including with womens and immigrant groups. She is also a member of Women Cross DMZ, an organization of women peacemakers mobilizing to finally bring an end to the Korean War. She participated in an historic walk across the De-Militarized Zone (DMZ) from North to South Korea in 2015 to bring attention to the ongoing conflict.