Thanks. You grew up in the United States, so the answer I would be looking for, should we meet and I ask you this, would be the region or town, and state, where that was. Pretty straightforward, and precisely the same thing I’d be looking for in asking a white American the same question.
Looking Korean, or Pakistani, and having the name and family heritage to match, is perfectly compatible with being as American as anyone–and is not the same as actually being Korean, or Pakistani, in one’s own personal origin.
Of course people whose personal origin (to me, more the growing up part than just the birth) is outside the United States can become Americans as well.
Okay, to be clear, I don’t make a habit or “avocation” of investigating the origins of everybody I meet. Nor do I ask it of total strangers, out of the blue, ever. But I don’t consider people total strangers after we’ve met, exchanged names and a few words. At that point, I might well ask, either out of friendly curiosity (which might be derived from accent or appearance, or anything they’ve said, or whatever) or simply for the sake of continuing the conversation.
No, I can’t think of any kind of person I wouldn’t ask this about in a first meeting–not by way of introduction (though I’ve had people introduced to me, and been introduced, on this basis), but at some point, sure, perhaps. More or less as people might ask each other, on first meeting, what their profession was, or whether they had children, or whether they were watching the playoffs. Any of these might come up in some contexts, none is usually essential.
No, I didn’t offer all the background. Some comments upthread had mentioned multi-part answers to the question, and I meant to explain how my standard answer is more concise than some, despite not being as simple as that of someone whose roots and whole life are all in one place.