Quốc Nam founded Saigon Radio in October 1993 as the first Vietnamese-language radio program in the Pacific Northwest. Nam was formerly a Vietnamese military officer, and he immigrated to the United States in 1976. He lived in Kansas City, Seattle, and San Jose and founded newspapers in each city. Nam moved back to Seattle in 1993 and launched Saigon Radio to serve the approximately 50,000 Vietnamese Americans living in the area.

This image shows Nam working in Saigon Radio’s studio in Rainier Valley. Along with five part-time DJs, Nam broadcast from 9 AM to 11 AM, Monday through Saturday, on KKMO 1360. The usual broadcasts included news (both from Vietnam and from Vietnamese American communities across the US), advertising tailored to the Vietnamese community, English language lessons focusing on everyday situations, talk radio with wide-ranging subjects, stories from Vietnamese authors, and Vietnamese music.

Caption information source: “On Saigon Radio, the wakeup call is ‘Jinh chao, America’ – Vietnam immigrants like connections to homeland,” by Frank Cimatu, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 26, 1996, page C1.