Casually flipping through the Washington Post the other day, I spotted a quote that really grabbed my attention. Here’s what a woman said when asked to reflect on the meaning of the Jewish High Holidays: “Part of what it means to be Jewish is to be connected with the community and to serve. It’s part of our moral obligation.”

Let’s try something just for fun. We’ll take that quote and switch some words around. How’s this: “Part of what it means to be Korean American is to be connected with the community and to serve. It’s part of our moral obligation.”

What a novel idea? Could this ever be the case, now or in the future?

I’m not so sure. There seems to be something in the Korean American mindset that drives many of us away from the idea of “doing” community service or public service. Maybe we’re not “wired” for it. Maybe it’s not in our DNA.

Let me be brutally honest. For many of us, it really comes down to this: “It’s all about me, my life, my happiness, my future. That’s all that really matters. Individual well-being trumps all. What about the broader world around us? That’s irrelevant. Only bleeding-heart ‘do-gooders’ care about that. And the same goes for our own Korean American community as well. If the community can’t help me, why should I waste my time getting involved?”

David S. Kim is a transportation lobbyist in Washington, D.C. He serves on the board of directors of the Korean American Coalition, Washington, D.C. Area Chapter.

Yes, that sounds harsh. Makes it seem like we’re heartless and selfish people. But let’s face it, when it comes to giving a hoot about — or even thinking about — the notion of collective well-being and collective success, we simply turn a blind eye. It’s a case of indifference at best and self-centeredness at worst.

Why? There are plenty of reasons, but here’s my theory. Life for many Korean Americans tends to revolve exclusively around three primary things: family, church and work (not necessarily in that order).

These are the three pillars of life — maybe we should call it the “Korean American trinity.” Everything else is viewed as secondary or even unimportant, including community service and doing “good deeds.” Those are nowhere to be found within the Korean American consciousness.

We Korean Americans tend to live very insular, inward-looking lives. Dare I say self-absorbed lives? We act as though we’re an island unto ourselves.

It’s one thing for the earlier generation of Korean Americans — the first wave of immigrants — to take on such an approach to life. That’s quite understandable. But amazingly, this pattern of “cocooning” has only continued, even intensified, to this day.

Back to the family-church-work routine. Don’t get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with putting a strong emphasis on family, church and work. All three are essential. I’m a practitioner of all of them.