Friends in Korea
by Haeng Woo Lee
Pendel Hill
May 1969Acknowledgements
First of all, I thank the Friends World Committee and Pendle Hill for inviting me and giving me a chance to study Quakerism and also giving me a chance to write this paper. I wrote this paper as a term paper for Pendle Hill, and also for the record of Seoul Friends Meeting. Seoul Meeting has some record, but it is not only incomplete and lacking details, but inaccurate, even though the Meeting's history is so short .
I would like to call this paper a record of the Seoul Friends Meeting rather than the history of the Seoul Friends Meeting.
I greatly appreciate the advice and encouragement of Dan Wilson, Jack and Janet Shepherd, Elizabeth Gray Vining, Howard and Anna Brinton, Douglas Steere, and other Friends, especially the help of Nancy Ewald in correcting the English throughout the many weeks it has taken to write this paper.
Haeng Woo Lee
May 1969
Pendle HillTable of Contents
Part I. General.
1. Background
Part II. Activities
Part III. How They Became Friends
1. Sok Hon Ham
2. Churl Oh
Part I. General
We wonder if Friends like Rufus Jones, Gilbert Bowles, Howard Brinton and others that once paid visits to Korea in the first part of the twentieth century, received an inspirtion and saw a vision that a small Friends group was to be born there some fifty years later.
It is interesting and not meaningless to realize that the tragic war between the West and East, North and South in Korea, was a historically important period for our meeting. This was the time when AFSC and FSC sent a team of relief and medical workers to serve the devastated refugees and orphans in Kunsan (1953-1958). Though they did not come as Quaker evangelists or missionaries, their direct and indirect influence did serve greatly to bring about the birth of this Friends Meeting.
About the same time, an old Friends from Seattle, Washington, came to Korea leading a team of welfare workers under the name of "Houses for Korea," to build houses for needy refugee groups. Through Floyd Schmoe, organizer and director of the team, some of us came to know a little about the "Peculiar People" called Quakers .
About the time when the Friends Service Unit withdrew from Korea in the first part of 1958, some Koreans who worked with the FSU, and others in Seoul who were seeking for a religious inspiration, began growing in number. We believe that there was a will of God when He helped us in finding Reginald Price from Washington Monthly Meeting, and Arthur Mitchell from Honolulu Monthly Meeting, in this remote land of Korea. They came to work under the International Cooperation Administration, the American Government's agency to help rebuild Korea.
It was the evening of February 15th,1958, when several people were gathered in silence for worship which was follow- ed by discussion about Quakerism at the home of the Mitchells in Seoul. We think that this was the first gathering of our group. Regular weekly meetings continued after that on Thursdays. We also remember Soodo Medical College where we met together several times, but we usually met at the home of Arthur and Shirley Mitchell. From March 22nd,1958, we began meetings on Satudays. This tradition was kept for the following three years. Meeting always began with silent worship for thirty minutes, and about an hour was given for study and fellowship.
In July 1958, Yoon Gu Lee and Shin Ai Cha made their decision to commit their life together to the Quaker way of life and applied for membership at Honolulu Monthly Meeting, and were accepted. Present at their wedding in October 1958, were Herbert Bowles and Don Bundy from Honolulu and Pasadena, California, who had come to Korea to inspect the Kunsan area for AFSC and FSC. In the winter of 1958, we often met at Ham Bum Chung's home in Chungpa-dong, but mostly the Meeting met at the houses of Arthur Mitchell and Reginal Price. We remember warmly, with love and care, the two families, and all the services they rendered for our Meeting.
AFSC energetically tried to bring some Koreans to the seminars and work camps in Japan for many years, and for the first time, Boo Yung Ahn of Taegu successfully went to the Program in the summer of 1958, and gave an interesting report to our Meeting in October.
In spring of following year, Hilary Conroy, director of the AFSC seminar in Japan, came to Korea for a visit with us in Seoul.
In August 1959, the Meeting began using Dr. Byung Woo Kong's clinic for worship.
Kap Son Whang, in spite of the difficult relationship between Japan and Korea, was sent to the AFSC program in Japan in 1959, and came back enriched by his experience. In February 1960, Rufus Jones' Quaker's Faith was translated by Yoon Gu Lee and was printed for distribution among members of the group. This was the first Quaker leaflet in the Korean language.
In March 1960, Yoon Gu Lee left Korea for a year-long study at Pendle Hill.
For the months of March, April and May, 1960, meetings for worship were held at the home of Han Bum Chung, Reginald Price and Arthur Mitchell. In the last part of May, Dr. Byung Woo Kong offered his new building in Chung Jin-dong for our Meeting to use. Regular attenders increased in number when the Meeting place was settled at one definite location.
In June 1960, Reginald and Esther Price with their children, left Korea. The Meeting could not forget the contribution the Prices offered for the birth and growth of the Friends Meeting in Korea. We believe that Reginald Price ought to be called the Father of the Quaker movement in Korea.
Because one member of the Meeting was blind, the Friends group became interested in welfare activities for the blind from the beginning. Some members of the Meeting gathered once in a while to transcribe religious articles into Braille. In June 1960, the group organized a week-end work camp at one of the homes for the blind, repairing a road near their building. This was a rich experience for all that participated in sharing fellowship and cooperation in service.
In June 1960, Dong Suk Cho,Chang Hoon Lee and Soon Kyung Suh left Seoul for Japan to attend the AFSC seminar and work camp program. This made the entire group happy, in view of the unhappy relationship between Japan and Korea, The three participants came back with much to share with us. A few weeks were spent upon their return in reporting about their experience. As the result of their visits among Friends in Japan, correspondence with some Japanese Friends began taking place. Dong Suk Cho voiced his hope to join Friends while he was in Tokyo.
In November 1960, it was felt by the Meeting that some formal organization was necessary. Arthur Mitchell, Byung Woo Kong, Dong Suk Cho, Churl Oh and Chang Hoon Lee were asked to prepare for a conference in December to strengthen the Meeting by naming some committees. The following posts and persons were decided at the conference on December 18th.
General Secretary: Dong Suk Cho Study and Program: Churl Oh Service: Chang Hoon Lee Visitation: Jae Kyung Chun Advisors: Arthur Mitchell Han Bum Chung Byung Woo Kong Dae Wi Lee Sok Hon Ham We also decided that we would call this meeting officially "Seoul Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends." Letters about the conference were sent to various Friends organizations and concerned individuals. Many replies came from different part of the world, congratulating and encouraging the Meeting.
In January 1961, the Meeting held its first business meeting. Children of the University Meeting of Seattle, Washington, sent contributions through Floyd Schmoe twice, and the Meeting gladly passed these loving gifts to one needy family.
In March 1961, the Mitchells left Korea, finishing their four-year term with ICA. With Reginald Price whom we call Father of the Meeting, Arthur Mitchell's loving and tender care for all of us made us call him the "mother" that gave birth to our Meeting. With Shirly, his wife, and three children, the Mitchells did answer the divine call to bring forth the child of Quakerism in Korea.
Study programs were actively carried out. Suk Dam Lee led the study hour with "Why am I going to a Friends Meeting," Churl Oh with "Quaker Practice," Hyun Yoon with "History of Quakers," and Dong Suk Cho with "Life of George Fox" until May 1961.
The Meeting was glad to welcome Colin Morrison, a Friend from New Zealand, who came to Korea to serve as the executive director of Korea Church World Service. He arrived in April and presented a minute from New Zealand General Conference in May, though he never attended our meetings.
The Meeting was delighted and encouraged to learn that Dong Suk Cho was accepted in membership by Tokyo Monthly Meeting in May 1961.
In the last part of May 1961, Yoon Gu Lee came back via Europe, completing his study at Pendle Hill. For several weeks after his arrival he reported about his long journey to the Meeting.
In June 1961, at business meeting, organization of the Meeting was examined and the following committees were agreed upon with friends to serve:
Secretarial Committee: Dong Suk Cho Yoon Gu Lee Study and Program Committee: Churl Oh Hyun Yoon Soon Jung Han Service Committee: Choong Nae Ro Jae Kyung Chun Chang Hoon Lee In June 1961, Errol Elliott from Indianapolis, Indiana, paid an official visit for the World Committee while on his way to Kenya to attend the FWCC conference. His short visit was an inspirational encouragement for our group.
At Errol Elliott's suggestion, the Meeting decided to request an official relationship with FWCC for consultation and assistance to our Meeting till we could organize a regular Monthly Meeting. This letter was sent to Herbert Hadley, General Secretary of FWCC to be presented at the Kenya Conference.
In August 1961, Friends gathered in Kenya in the name of FWCC discussed our letter, and a warm reinly came from Herbert Hadley including the minute adopted by the Committee on FWCC and Friends in Korea. The minute recorded by FWCC is as follows:
Seoul Friends Meeting: A Minute has been received from the Friends group in Seoul, Korea, signed by Yoon Gu Lee and Dong Suk Cho, which requests a "direct and official relationship with FWCC." Friends who know this group spoke highly of its life and enthusiasm and of the value of the fellowship to members and attenders, whose experience has been moulded by suffering. The Meeting has about thirty regular attenders, and has already established contacts with Japan and Pacific Yearly Meeting.
It was approved that the Central Office keep in touch with the group at Seoul, help to nourish its spiritual life, and encourage it to strengthen its links with Pacific Yearly Meeting, and with Japan Yearly Meeting.
For the small and isolated group of Friends in Seoul, this was a happy step of progress.
At the business meeting in August 1961, the Secretary Committee was strengthened by asking Churl Oh to join the Committee. Churl Oh was asked to serve as Presiding Clerk, Dong Suk Cho as Treasure Clerk, and Yoon GU Lee as Recording Clerk and Correspondent.
Choong Nae Ro, Young Ki Kim, Soon Kwi Kwon and Young Ai Kong participated at the AFSC seminar and workcamp program in Japan for the month of August 1961. The Meeting received their report with joy.
Four young attenders of the Meeting married in October and December 1961. Joon Shik Cha and Jae Hee Lee who met each other at our Meeting and decided to make a home together, married under the care of the Meeting. Joon Hwan Lee and Sung Ai Cha married after attending our Meeting for some time.
On December 17, 1961, an annual conference was held to review the life of the Meeting for the past year and to think about the next year. Reports were received from the three committees. We were not at all proud of the results, but were thankful that we could maintain this Meeting and carry out some service activities for TB patients in the year of 1961. In thinking of the coming year, the conference was united in suggesting that we ought to give emphasis to learning at our meetings and helping each other within the group to live better in spirit in this chaotic part of the world. The conference approved the following committees:
Clerks Presiding: Churl Oh Accounting: Dong Suk Cho Recording & Correspondent: Yoon Gu Lee Study & Program Committee: Choong Nae Ro Tong Sul Cho Chang Hoon Lee Churl Oh Service Committee: Jae Kyung Chun Haeng Woo Lee Yong Chul Kim Lee Bok Han In January 1962, we decided that attenders of the Meeting would make monthly donations for the expenses of the Meeting and would start raising funds for the Meeting House. Mss. Ro, Mrs. Dong Suk Cho and Chang Bok Lee were appointed by the Meeting as the members of the Fund-raising Committee, but this was not successful.
In July 1962, Yoon Gu Lee resigned as Clerk and he left Seoul in order to run his farm in KangWon-Do. The Meeting asked Tong Sul Cho to fill the position vacated by Yoon Gu Lee. We asked ourselves why the number of attenders decreased for the last several months. We agreed that the reason was as follows: The history of the Meeting was short, the majority of attenders' religious experiences were weak, and they had to neglect individual religious life because of the grim realities of life. So we decided to ask the FWCC and FWC American Section to send us a missionary who could help our difficult situation, or a Friend who had a rich religious life and could get a job in Seoul to support himself wile giving spiritual encouragement to the Meeting.
In October 14, 1962, we moved our meeting place from Dr. Kong's typewriter manufactory to the Library for the Blind which was located in ChongRo 3-Ka, because the typewriter manufactory became busy and began working on Sunday too. We were thankful to Dr. Kong and Elder Ro, Director of the Library, for their good will in offering the meeting places.
Jae Kyung Chun suffered from feelings of guilt because of his younger brother's suicide, and so resigned his position on the service committee in October 1962.
In November (12-19) 1962, we were visited by David and Catherine Bruner as official delegates on behalf of the Pacific Yearly Meeting. They gave us much advice and encouragement.
Three attenders of the Meeting, Young Sook Kim, Won Kim and Yong Chul Kim married in December 1962. The Meeting sent delegates to their wedding ceremony to express congratulation.
In December 1962, we had a third annual conference to review the past year and to think about and plan the coming year. We were thankful that we could maintain this tiny meeting and carry out some service activities and publication without undue trouble in the past year, but we didn't do as much as we expected, considering the large number of committees and members. So we decided to reduce the organization, and the annual conference approved only a secretarial committee as follows:
Executive Secretary: Tong Sul Cho Associate Secretary: Accounting & Public-relations: Dong Suk Cho Study & Program and Recording: Churl Oh In January 1963, three members of the secretarial committee presented their plan for the year of 1963 to the Meeting as follows:
1). There will be more emphasis on Bible study and the study of Quakerism. 2). The pamphlets which have been translated into Korean already will be published until end of the year. 3). Week-end workcamps will be held in the coming summer. 4). Outdoor worship and picnic with families will be held at least twice, in Spring and Fall. 5). Home visiting among the members will be continued.
In February 1963, the business meeting accepted Margaret Utterback's proposal for Fund-raising for the Meeting House for the Seoul Friends Meeting. Margaret Utterback, a member of the Oberlin Monthly Meeting in Ohio, had visited our Meeting in February of 1962 on her way home from the FWCC Kenya conference. Before her proposal, she talked about this with Sok Hon Ham while he was at Pendle Hill.
In February 1963, Ingrid Bentzen who worked with FSU in Kunsan, and had a personal friendship with several members of the Meeting, visited us. She came to Korea to work for UNTAB. She helped us in such ways as interviewing for selection of participants for the AFSC seminar and workcamps in Japan and Okinawa. She left Korea in 1968.
In March 1963, we discussed a proposal which was to extend the length of meeting for worship from 40 minutes to one hour, but the sense of the Meeting was that it would continue for a while to be 40 minutes, because of the difficulty of the environment at that time.
In April 1963, we talked about our religious life, growth of the Meeting and study of Quakerism at the home of Lee Bok Han during a home visit. We also discussed applying for individual memberships in the Japan or Pacific Yearly Meetings, but the sense of the meeting was that it would be better to wait for more individual inner preparation.
In May 1963, we had an outdoor meeting for worship and picnic at SaeKumJung and more than ten families attended. We enjoyed singing and volley-ball, and strengthened our friendships.
In June 1963, Sok Hon Ham came back unexpectedly early from a round-the-world trip. He had left Korea for the USA on February 10, 1962, having been invited by the US State Department for its foreign leaders exchange program for three months. After that he stayed at Pendle Hill for Summer and Autumn terms. He lectured on "The Faith of Lao-tse" in the summer term and his term paper, in poetic form, was called "The Challenge of Korea." After Pendle Hill, he studied at Woodbrooke for one term. He then traveled through many countries in Europe. While he was traveling in Lebanon, he felt strongly that this was not the time to travel in ease, but the time to do something for his disordered country. He then gave up the rest of his trip, including India, which was the country he most aspired to visit because it was Gandhi's country, and came back to Korea. After returning to Korea he reported to the Meeting why he stopped his scheduled travel and addressed thousands of fellow countrymen in public meetings sponsored by the Sasangge Monthly, an intellectual magazine to which he was a well-known contributor. The Korea Times headlined his message: "People Want No More of Military Rule."
In July 1963, we received a letter from Herbert M. Hadley about Robert Kohls. Robert Kohls and his wife, from New York, arrived in Seoul in August to work with the Christian Children's Fund as Acting Director for one year. During this one year he helped our Meeting spiritually and materially, in ways such as supporting publication of Quaker leaflets and hosting many foreign visitors in his large home.
In August 1963, Dong Suk Cho resigned as Secretary and left Korea for USA to study at Pendle Hill. The Meeting asked Choong Nae Ro to fill the position vacated by Dong Suk. Dong Suk attended the Pacific Yearly Meeting and visited more than twenty Meetings on his way to Pendle Hill.
In November 1963, we received Brewster Grace's second visit and discussed, at the home of Yoon Gu Lee, the possibility of an AFSC International Work Camp in Korea. It was agreed to have an international workcamp in Korea, and later the Meeting sent a. letter to the AFSC Tokyo Office saying that the Meeting would like to support the program.
The Meeting was delighted and encouraged to learn that Friends in Ohio and Michigan organized the Joint Committee for Korea of lake Erie and Ohio Yearly Meetings to support our Meeting. The Committee for Korea gave financial help for several projects including Jae Kyung Chun's study at Columbia University since 1966, the travel expenses of Churl Oh's participation in the Friends World Conference in 1967, and support of Tandong leper village.
The Meeting accepted John Anderson's offering, which was his monthly contribution, of thirty-five dollars for the Meeting, and we discussed how to use it. Several felt that- it should be used for social work or a scholarship fund, but we agreed that it would be used for materials of publication and correspondence such as photographs and tapes for recording. The sense of the Meeting was that the most important thing was to support growth of the Meeting.
The Meeting was fortunate enough to have three representatives, Choong Nae Ro and his wife, and Mrs. Lim attend Japan Yearly Meeting in November of 1963, Before they left Korea the Meeting adopted an epistle which was sent with them, to the Japan Yearly Meeting. They gave us a meaningful report upon their return in December 1963.
In December 1963, Sang Heum Ko left for Australia to attend the first Australia Yearly Meeting. He came back in May 1964 with an epistle from Australia Yearly Meeting.
We intended to publish five Quaker leaflets in 1963, but we published only three leaflets because of financial difficulty. We were thankful to Robert Kohls for his special contribution of one hundred dollars for this publication.
On December 29, 1963, we had a fourth annual conference with two guests; Elise Boulding and George Willoughby.
We enjoyed very much George's speaking of his peace movement experiences, especially the Friendship March in India. This speech was given at the home of Robert Kohls several days before the conference. We began with an annual report and then went on to plan the coming year. Sok Hon Ham gave a lecture about religion and Elise Boulding gave us insights which she had gained through her deep religious life.
The Meeting was united in the plans for 1964, which were as follows (1) We should have weekly study meetings on certain evenings. (2) As a service activity, we should build a house, through week-end workcamps, for TB patients, and we should invite to these camps Japanese young friends who hoped to visit our Meeting, should (3) The Meeting do what ever it could in supporting AFSC for the first international workcamp in Korea in summer. We also approved the following committees:
Secretarial Committee: Tong Sul Cho Churl Oh Yoon Gu Lee Treasurer: Choong Nae Ro Service: Haeng Woo Lee In March 1964, we had a week-end workcamp to build a house for TB patients, in accordance with the plan made at the last annual conference. Mitsuo Otsu, a Japanese Young Friend, who was invited by the Meeting for this camp, participated in this camp. This was the first time that our Meeting invited a foreign Friend. Herbert Bowles and his wife also visited us and participated in this camp. They also helped us with the business of the Meeting, such as correspondence with FWCC American Section, during their stay of one month.
In the spring of 1964, Elise Boulding visited us again with her husband, Kenneth, and suggested to us strongly that the Meeting should have Sunday School, and gave us some teach ing materials for that purpose. At that time also we visited TB patients and had an outdoor meeting for worship and picnic. In August 1964, Lee Bok Han left for USA to live with her sons. She studied at Pendle Hill in 1965-66. She has been the resident director of the Los Angeles Friends Center since October 1968.
In August 1964, we had the first AFSC international work camp in Korea. We were thankful that we could assist this workcamp without undue difficulty. We were able to have fruit ful experiences in many ways, through choosing the camp site, choosing Korean participants, arranging homes for foreign participants to stay in during the orientation period and after camp, and participating in the orientation and the work camp itself. We very much enjoyed it and felt that we gained more than any other campers. During this camp, we were visited by Japanese Friends Tayeko Yamanouchi and Seiichi Kondo, and had meetings twice with them, also including Toshihiko Tanaka and Yuri Fukunishi who were participating in this camp. It was a very precious opportunity to talk about the relationship between Friends in Japan and Korea and promote mutual understanding and friendship.
We missed the Kohls family when they left in the autumn 1964, but we were happy to be joined by Keith Watson from Australia, who spent eight months with us after participating in the AFSC work camp. He later married Tae Soo Kim, one of our members, in 1966.
In the autumn of 1964, we had an outdoor meeting for worship and picnic at KeumKok with Norman Wilson and his family, during his second visit. We appreciated their sense of love and sincerity that seems to come through their deep religious life.
In November 1964, Blanche Shaffer, as the first General Secretary of the FWCC, visited us. We had special meetings during her stay of ten days (Nov. 30- Dec. 10) and discussed official organization of the Meeting, and the procedure of applying for official membership; and we confirmed the minute of the ninth triennial meeting of FWCC held in Waterford, Ireland, July 21-28, 1964. The Minute recorded by FWCC is as follows:
347 Seoul Meeting, Korea: (Monday, July 27)
Minute (a). The Committee considered further developments among Friends in Korea since the Eighth Triennial Meeting (Minute 237), noting with special appreciation the visit of Herbert and Gertrude Bowles on behalf of the FWCC as well as the visits and contacts of other Friends. The Committee desires to give its loving encouragement to the continued growth and strengthening of Quakerism in Korea.
The Committee accepts the fact that to move forward in hope and in faith always involves some risks, not least in a country so tragically divided and so beset by tribulations as Korea.
The Seoul Friends Group will be advised that when, having considered carefully the seriousness of the responsibilities involved, they find themselves in unity under God's guidance on the establishment of a Monthly Meeting, and when they have completed their organization including whatever steps may be necessary or desirable under Korean law, the FWCC will recognize that Meeting in loving Christian fellowship as a Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends not now part of any established Yearly Meeting. The development of this Meeting and its relationship to the FWCC, will be reviewed at each triennial session of the FWCC until some permanent status in achieved. Considering the special interest of Japan and Pacific Yearly Meetings, particular care will taken to keep those Meetings informed of progress made and of activities undertaken through or by the FWCC with respect-to Korea, and it is hoped that strong bond s of fellowship may develop among them.
Minute (b). The Seoul Friends Group will be advised of the availability of funds already contributed for the purpose of helping them to obtain a property suitable for their use. They will be invited, if they feel it right and practical to use such assistance, to indicate what type and size of property may be obtained, upon what terms, whether it can be maintained and utilized without further external financial support, and how legal title may best be registered. In order to give reasonable assurance that this plan will carry out the wishes of donors of the funds, the FWCC Advisory Committee, or a special committee they may appoint for the purpose, will review it. Upon approval the needed amount, not to exceed the amount donated, will be transmitted to the Monthly Meeting, or to Trustees or to such other legal entity as may best serve the purpose as determined by Seoul Friends.
Seoul Friends will be advised that, in accordance with what is understood to be their own wish, no continuing financial assistance for their normal operations, by the FWCC or other Yearly Meetings is contemplated. Special projects requested by Seoul Friends Meeting, or approved by them, will be considered by Yearly Meetings and other Friends' bodies as needs and opportunities arise, care being taken that a newly established Meeting must not be over-burdened with activities taxing the time and energy of members even when financial support is available.
The Executive Secretary of the FWCC and Clerk of Seoul
Monthly Meeting, by mutual agreement, will establish such channels of correspondence and such of co-ordination as may seem to be most suitable, and all member Yearly Meetings will be asked to observe such procedures strictly when established.
Blanche Shaffer gave a public lecture on the subject of "Faith and Practice of the Society of Friends" at the YMCA with about eighty people in the audience. This was the first public lecture for our Meeting. We also discussed the purchase of a Meeting House, and saw a building site and a house. We agreed to buy the house, which is the present Meeting House. one reason for the decision to buy this particular house was its nearness to both Yonsei and Ewha Universities, where we hoped to find students interested in attending the meeting. This hope was not realized due to lack of interest on the campuses.
Finally in January 1965, the sale was finalized on the purchase of our own meeting house for $3,150. The funds came from the following sources: $476 raised by the Korea Committee of Oberlin Meeting, organized by Margaret Utterback; $3100 through FWCC American section, from an anonymous donor who heard of the project through Margaret's Committee. The difference between the $3,150 purchase price and the $3,576 raised was used to build a small building on the corner of the property, for use by the First-Day School.
In the past six years and ten months, we had moved about ten times from houses of the members to hospitals, Congress building, Korea-China Association, Typewriter Manufactory, Library for the Blind, etc, so a meeting house was urgently needed and deeply appreciated.
On December 20, 1964, we moved into our own new meeting house and had an annual conference. After meeting for worship, Sok Hon Ham gave a lecture concerning search for truth and religion, emphasizing a dual approach: one is to look at it as a distant place, and the other is to be in it and feel the varieties of the shape of it. Religion needs to be an unchangeable truth that changes. From the distance a big mountain never changes, but to really know the true being, one ought to be close to it to see the greatness and vitality. Knowing truth and religion is one thing, and living a truth or a religion is another matter. If religion looks always the same, like a dead mountain from a distance, it has no life. We ought to seek to find that unchangeable religion that constantly changes...."
We began our annual report with a cold self criticism and confession of the weak life of 1964. We had regular meetings for worship, study groups, week-end work camps, and we assisted the AFSC work camp, yet we did not feel a fire burning amongst us. We had quite a few visiting Friends from Japan, USA, Australia and England, that strengthened us very much. Two booklets were translated and put out with the financial help that came from Madison Meeting. As to the plans for 1965, the Meeting was agreed that the emphasis should be centering down our spirits and activities at the new Meeting House for the internal growth of the members. Besides the regular worship meeting we ought to continue the weekly study group with more preparation and enthusiasm, Young Friends should start a separate weekly study meeting, a children's Sunday School ought to be initiated so that the members could bring children to the Meeting and young ones could grow in the atmosphere of Friends Meeting and in Quaker tradition, and, since the greatest part of the purchase of the Meeting House was covered by the contribution of outside Friends, we ought to offer our utmost services in maintaining the Meeting House in good shape, and in paying the monthly installments remaining on the mortgage of the meeting house, which totaled about six hundred dollars.
Other projects that this meeting decided as the tasks of 1965 were: (1) through Japan Yearly Meeting, the nuclear members of the Meeting should apply for official membership of the Society of Friends; :(2) with the help of the Madison Meeting, advancement or extension work would continue; (3) with contributions from Australia, service to TB Patients at the Rest-house we built would continue; (4) the Meeting will do whatever it could in assisting the second AFSC work camp in summer; (5) with close contact with and under the auspices of FWCC, we should request Friends everywhere to include Korea when ways open for visits. Particular efforts must be made to have closer contact with Japanese Friends by intervisitation. We would like to propose that Friends from Japan be invited to come to Korea when this Meeting has new applications to join the Society of Friends, and for our annual conference in December, 1965. From our side, we should ask Japan Yearly Meeting to invite some Korean Friends to Japan Yearly Meeting of 1965; (6) we should try to register at the Ministry of Education as a religious group for official recognition; (7) we should participate in the Christian efforts when necessary since NCC would like to have our representatives attend as observers to consultation about such things as laity movement, youth work, etc.; (8) we hope to be prepared to declare this Meeting as a constituted Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends under the proper care of a Yearly Meeting or FWCC.
The Meeting decided to send letters of gratitude to all the Friends Meetings that helped Seoul Meeting in 1964. An epistle was prepared to meet the above need and was read and adopted. Having approved the plans for 1965, reorganization was done as follows:
Clerk Yoon Gu Lee --Till May Treasurer Tong Sul Cho --June to December Choong Nae Ro Churl Oh Resident Director Churl Oh (Friends Center) Study Group Yoon Gu Lee - Till May Churl Oh - June to December Young Friends Jae Kyung Chun Children's Group Tae Soo Kim Shin Ai Lee Keith Watson Chung Bong Ro Service Activities Haeng Woo Lee Advancement Sung Kyoon Ahn In March 1965, Churl Oh's family moved into the Meeting House to become Resident Director. We were thankful to the Oh family, especially Moon Ok for her toil in maintaining the Meeting House and for her hospitality to many foreign guests for the year of their residence in the meeting house.
In the spring of 1965, we started children's Sunday School, but it continued only two years.
On July 25, 1965, we planned to have the dedication ceremony of our Meeting House, Japan Yearly Meeting were to send their delegates, Motoi Fukunishi and Yoshiko Tanaka, to this dedication, but they couldn't get their visas in time. only Janice Clevenger, of Friends School in Tokyo, arrived in time, with an epistle from Japan Yearly letting and a letter of the delegates. When we learned of the difficulty, we postponed the dedication 1 week. The Japanese delegates arrived in Seoul on July 31, so the ceremony took place the next day. During these three Friends' sojourn with us, we had precious discussions and gatherings for the sake of improving friendship between Japanese Friends and us, as well as discussing the problem of some of us applying for membership in Japan Yearly Meeting. The visit of these Friends with us led us toward immeasurably closer ties among the Friends of the three countries through their living with Korean Friends families for two weeks. After that Janice Clevenger visited us three times in July 1966, she visited us and gave us an example of how to work with handicapped people by teaching little children in Hankuk Lip Reading School for one month in March 1968, she visited is again.
It was very helpful that we could open our hearts together and talk about each member's particular agony. In the summer of 1968, the Meeting desired to have Janice spend a year in Seoul as a "Friends-in-residence." This concern had been shared with the Friends School, Esther Rhoads, chairman of Japan Committee of Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, Janice and Haeng Woo in Tokyo on September 9th 1968 and with the Friends World Committee American Section in Philadelphia. We are very glad to know that the plans are taking definite shape for Janice to spend a year in Seoul. Tokyo Friends School has agreed to release her for the last year (1970-71) of her present three-year term as English Conversation teacher and the FWCC has decided to be her official sponsor and will contribute $2,000 toward her basic support. In December 1968, she visited Seoul, and then made a preliminary job inquiry and strengthened friendship with members of the meeting.
We had also the pleasure of participating in the 1965 AFSC Summer Program by helping .with preparations and the choosing of the Korean participants for both the Korean and Japanese Programs.
In September 1965, Yoon Gu Lee and all his family left on his assignment from Church world Service for Jordan, where he is still working in Lebanon for Near East Council of Churches. Jae Kyung Chun left for Pendle Hill after which he went to Columbia University to continue his studies.
In November 1965, Japan Yearly Meeting invited four of our delegates for their Yearly Meeting, but we couldn't attend the Yearly Meeting because we couldn't get the passports and visas in time. Later our two representatives, Choong Nae Ro and Haeng Woo Lee, visited the Japan Yearly Meeting Office and several monthly Meetings in Japan during a four-week visit made possible by the kind arrangement of Japan Friends.
Margaret Utterback arrived Korea on December 18th 1965 in the bitterly cold weather of 16 degree below zero centigrade (3 degree Fahrenheit) to spend a year with us. At this same time, Haeng Woo Lee was returning from Japan after visiting Friends in Japan. Early one morning in Kokura Japan, after the ship had been at anchor for two days because of bad weather, Haeng Woo accidentally found Margaret's baggage on the deck. When he knocked at her room, he found her praying for a safe voyage and for someone to be waiting for her upon her arrival at Pusan Port. The ship was two days late already, and she had thirteen pieces of baggage. Margaret Said to Haeng Woo, "God heard my prayer and sent me an angel --- you." Margaret lived with us for 14 months. During this period, she did various things for the Meeting such as helping with correspondence with Friends in other countries, leading womens groups, visiting Tandong leper village and participating in week-end workcamps, helping carry out a study group on Thomas Kelly's Testament of Devotion and his Autobiography, and other Meeting business and activities. Margaret's loving and tender care for all of us made us call her the "Grandmother" that gave growth to our Meeting.
On December 26, 1965, we had an annual conference. The meeting started with silence. During the silence, Margaret Utterback delivered the love of those Friends in Oberlin Monthly Meeting, Lake Erie and Ohio Yearly Meetings and of other Friends in the United States who have concerns for the young Seoul Meeting. Churl Ch made an annual report and Margaret made a brief report on the Friends World Conference to be held at Guilford College, North Carolina, in 1967.
She further informed the Meeting that the Joint Committee for Korea is a making fund raising campaign to buy a round-trip ticket to enable a representative from Korea to attend the Friends World Conference in 1967. Churl Oh was appointed by the Meeting as a delegate of the Meeting to attend the Conference. Choong Nae Ro and Haeng Woo Lee reported on their trip to Japan. Special contributions were made to buy a complete set of printing equipment and we ought it later, but several Japanese Friends gave a present of a whole set of printing equipment in the summer of 1966. The meeting was united in the plans for 1966 as follows:
(1) As our service activity, we should select a village in a rural area or in a slum area in the city and supply medicines and drugs or do other relief work in that village. Sung Jin Uhm asked to submit a more detailed plan to the January business meeting. (2) The study group which met every Thursday in the past should be continued. (3) A womens group should meet every Tuesday and Friday from next week on at the Meeting House to study English (led by Margaret). This group might also attempt to do other activities in the future.
Appointed as Clerk and other conveners for 1966 were the following:
Clerk
Tong Sul Cho
Treasurer
Haeng Woo Lee
Publication & Library
Young Sang Chin
Sunday School
Tae Soo Kim and Yun Kim
Young Friends
Churl Oh
Service Activities Sung Jin Uhm Resident Director
(Friends Center)Haeng Woo Lee In addition to the above appointments, Margaret Utterback volunteered to help in corresponding with Friends in other countries.
In January 1966, we started publishing "Seoul Friends Meeting Monthly Newsletter." We were thankful to Young Sang Chin and Haeng Woo Lee for their toil in starting and continuing this publication.
At a business meeting in January 1966, the meeting decided to take up the leper village in Tandong as its main service project, after hearing eye-witness reports on this leper village by Sok Hon Ham, Churl Oh and Margaret Utterback (see service activities for details).
In February 1966, we were visited by distinguished Friends Clyde Milner, who had served as the president of Guilford College where the Fourth Friends World Conference was held in 1967, and his wife Ernestine. They gave us rich with spiritual teachings in religious life through their visit us and told us about Guilford College and their experiences.
We were thankful for their contribution of one hundred dollars for this meeting.
In March 1966, we were informed that Friends of Oberlin Meeting decided to fast one meal in every week to help Tandong leper village. We were deeply moved by their faith and spirit of service, and we felt we needed to improve our own spirit and to practice more burning prayer. Silence without inspiration is dead prayer.
On April 22-23, 1966, eight members of the Meeting had a week-end workcamp at Tandong leper village, doing leveling work on he building site of a community center to be used both for meetings and as a school. In Sunday morning we had a meeting for worship with the villagers and Sok Hon Ham gave a lecture for the lepers.
On April 30, 1966, Haeng Woo Lee's family moved into the Meeting House to become Resident Director. We were thankful to Soon Ae for her toil in maintaining the meeting house and for her hospitality to many foreign guests during the Lee's residence of two and a half years in the meeting house.
In August 1966, we had several tresured occasions of sharing friendship and concerns with four young Friends who participated in the AFSC international workcamp: Joseph Edalia from Kenya, Rachel Jackson from New Zealand, and Toshiko Isomura and Sadao Horino from Japan. Five members the of the Meeting had participated in preparation of the camp and three members also participated in the whole camp. After the camp, on the 17th of August, we had a special meeting for the campers at the Meeting House and discussed religion and Quakerism with twenty campers.
In November 1966, we had a most unforgettable visit from friends Norman Whitney and his sister Mildred, who gave us inspiring lectures and teachings in Quakerism.
We appreciated so many of their religious experiences that were expressed in very plain words and gave us such a great inspiring guidance in our thinking about the religious way of life. They also visited Tandong leper village and gave encouragement to the villagers. When they left us, they gave us an epistle titled "To Stand in the Gap." Quoted here is the last part of the epistle:
I have never forgotten the insight gained from a refugee from Eastern Europe who had endured all the terrors of war and of homelessness. He came to ask me, "How do you live without fear?"
I repeated to him the familiar words of Jesus, "If you continue in my word... you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free..." but it was not until, with great humility in the face of his experience, I told him that my fear was overcome only when I had accepted what, for me, is the truth: that I have no right to defend anything that is my own at the cost of the destruction of another, that his eyes lighted with understanding.
"Oh, yes," he said, "I see. Fear has something to do with defense. The more ready we are to defend our own by destroying others; the more certain we are that they are equally ready to destroy us."
Is not this a parable both of our interpersonal and our international situations today? Hence, the relevance of the Gandhian doctrines of non-violence and soul-force. Hence, the relevance of the love that suffers long, is always kind, and never fails.
To find the political relevance of this principle is the supreme need of this generation. To this search Quakers have a unique contribution to make. God expects it at our hands.
I do not know, we do not know, what we could do in a future circumstance; but I do know what I should do, and I will try to live in the life and courage that takes away the occasion of all wars... and all fears.
We were in deep grief when we heard of Norman's death one year after they visited us.
We received a letter from Blanche Shaffer, General Secretary of FWCC, concerning a FWCC interim meeting, held on November 18th 1966 in the United States, in which the Status of Seoul Meeting was discussed.
At a business meeting in November 1966, we decided to apply to the Korean Government for status as a juridical person (for official recognition of the Meeting as a legal entity), but this decision was not realized due to shortage of money. The expenses were estimated at about five hundred dollars.
Sok Hon Ham was invited to attend Japan Yearly Meeting in November 1966, but delays in government documentation procedures made it impossible to do so.
On December 18, 1966, we had an annual conference, attended by 26 members. The meeting was united in the plans for 1967 as follows: (1) Every Sunday, Bible study will be led by Sok Hon Ham, and another study group will continue to meet every Friday evening. (2) Announcement of the activities of Seoul Meeting will be posted on YMCA & YWCA Bulletin Boards. (3) Quaker literature and pamphlets will be sent to College Libraries in Korea. (4) It was hoped that Douglas Steere, Chairman of FWCC, would give a public lecture during his visit to Seoul the following March.
Appointed as Clerk and other conveners for 1967 were the following:
Clerk
Churl Oh
Treasurer
Haeng Woo Lee
Publication & Library
Young Sang Chin
Sunday School
Myong Hee Han
Soo Ja Whang
Yun Kim
Young Friends
Sung Jin Uhm
Service
Sung Jin Uhm
Resident Director
(Friends Center)Haeng Woo & Soon Ae Lee After business session, Sok Hon Ham gave a lecture on Future Religion and Quakerism. Quoted here is the last part of his lecture:
"Finally we must think of our situation as Koreans. What is the meaning of this historical event that we are divided into two by the two fighting powers? We are the scapegoat on the Historical Judgment Day. We are Isaac on the alter. It is our historical obligation to listen to the New Word. At least, for us all these institutionalized religions are no use, even though they may be useful to others. The Christianity, or the Buddhism that blessed the Vietnam War after they experienced the Korean War in 1950's, is not necessary for us.
"Two thousand years ago, Jesus, like a young lamb, was killed by the fighting between Hebraism and Hellenism, and there were only a very few people who believed in the New Word which sprang out of the blood that was shed from his ripped side. What did they believe in? They believed in the Word, "I am in Father, and the Father in me," that is, part is in the Whole, and the Whole in the part. They believed in this.
"The Quakers are only a handful among 3 billion people in the world, and the Korean Quakers are just like a very frail new bud, however, if we can only drink, in communion, the blood flowing from the victims of the 20th century caught between the two principles of liberalism and totalitarianism, in right way, then can we not receive the New Word that can save humanity from punishment?"
At the end of December 1966, the Meeting installed a telephone. For a long time, we had to put up with the inconvenience of no telephone, especially when we had a foreign guest, because installation of telephone was very expensive. The installation expenses were about two hundred dollars. The telephone is regarded as a luxury in Korea.
In February 1967, we received a letter from Blanche Shaffer concerning Seoul Meeting becoming a Monthly Meeting under the care of the FWCC, and requesting us to send a delegate to the tenth triennial meeting of FWCC which would be held at Guilford College, North Carolina, August 3-6, 1967.
1967 was another year filled with many days of spiritual encouragement. We had, as usual, several important visitors who enriched and encouraged us in our spiritual life.
Above all, we have to mention the visit of the Chairman of FWCC, Douglas Steere and his wife Dorothy. They stayed with us five days after arriving on the 11th of March, 1967. They shared with us their rich religious experiences and concerns. We had the second public lecture, for our meeting, at the YMCA with about one hundred people in the audience.
Having noticed some prominent Christian leaders among the audience, we felt Douglas Steere's lecture meant a great deal in Quaker outreach. And on the night of the 14th, we invited nine prominent Christian leaders of Korea to Sok Hon Ham's birthday dinner. This dinner meeting had special significance, for it was a golden opportunity for this small meeting to identify itself to leading Christians of Korea.
Douglas and Dorothy also had the opportunity to visit Dr. George Paik and Dr. Dae Sun Park, the former President and the President at Yonsei University, and Dr. Won Yong Kang, Director, at Korean Christian Academy. They also lectured at HanKuk Theological Seminary. After the meeting for worship on the 12th, they visited the Tandong leper village and gave encouragement to the depressed ex-leper patients at the village. There is no doubt that their visit to these unfortunate people was very much appreciated, and endowed them with more hope for their future.
On the morning the Steeres left Korea, Douglas gave us a written message titled "A swift visit to Korean Friends."
Quoted here are several paragraphs from the message:
It is another thing to see it with our own eyes, as we have just done. We feel that you have started in the right way by building up a small intimate fellowship of committed people who are each ready to make a personal witness to the spirit of love in the daily work that you are about. You have also undertaken a common concern in this responsibility for the leper village and for Mr. Oh. Your Bible study and study of the Society of Friends and its basic testimonies is just the right supplement to the meeting for worship.
We note a few additional suggestions, we hope that you may encourage the wives to take a more active part in the meeting and its decisions and that you may draw more women into the worship group and into the society generally.
The work campers might be personally invited to come and Teacher Ham may now and then find students and younger friends whom he could personally encourage to come along to the meeting. Each of you might ask himself which of his friends he could feel ready to invite to attend meeting. Attenders seldom come in the beginning except by a warm personal invitation of someone that they know.
We know of few Quaker groups which in spite of their small numbers have so much promise in them. However God has not favored you with so many gifts without laying on you many tasks and I believe you could be an instrument for the Holy Spirit to break through into the inner life of Korea.
You are a "thin place" - a place where there is little between you and God. We have been touched by your kindness to us and by the promise that lies in you.
We were very glad to have William Prince, a friend from Southold Meeting of New York State, join us in March 1967, and become active and helpful in our meeting during his stay in Korea for one year. He helped in the preparation of AFSC work camp and also participated very actively in the camp, He also played a part in bringing about a full understanding and friendship between Southold Meeting and Seoul Meeting.
In March 1967, Tong Sul Cho left for Vietnam with an offer of an interim job until his immigration to Canada. on June 10-11, 1967, we had a week-end retreat at the meeting house in the hope that we might revive our power of inner spirit even though the participants were only a handful of people. Through this living together for 2 days and nights we were certainly brought to better mutual understanding and a strengthening of personal ties. We prepared something for Fourth Friends World Conference and the tenth triennial meeting of FWCC, and made a report about Tandong leper village which was sent to Douglas Steere. Five members, Sok Hon Ham, Churl Oh, Haeng Woo Lee, Young Sang Chin and Sung Jin Uhm, attended this retreat. We had another retreat in October 1967.
On June 15, 1967, Churl Oh left Korea for the USA to the attend the Fourth Friends World Conference as an official delegate of our meeting. He visited many Friends Meetings and Friends in Japan and the United States, and studied at Pendle Hill for the summer term during his travel before the and after the Conference. He came back on September 3, and on September 8 gave us a report on his trip, on the World Conference and on the tenth triennial meeting of FWCC.
On July 22, 1967, Sok Hon Ham left Korea for the USA to attend the Greensboro Gathering and the tenth triennial meeting of FWCC. After the meeting, he attended the Pacific Yearly Meeting, studied at Pendle Hill for the Fall term, and visited many Friends Meetings and Friends in the United States and Japan.
We felt fullest gratitude toward World Friends for their loving help for our meeting to enable us send two delegates, and have them feel the warmth of personal participation at the gatherings. The simple ｅxpression mentioned the by Churl Oh, "I felt a real sense of belonging to the world Friends Family through the Attendance," indicates how valuable the experience was.
At the tenth triennial meeting of FWCC, Seoul Meeting was officially recognized as a Monthly Meeting under the direct affiliation of FWCC, and what was more precious for us was the warm hearts of Friends who offered special prayers for this meeting. We all felt this official recognition carried more responsibility for us to live like Friends and make constant efforts to seek for anything that we can contribute toward His Kingdom in the future.
The Minute recorded by FWCC was as follows:
Minutes of the tenth meeting FWCC August 3-6, 1967
Guilford College, Greenboro, North Carolina.
394 SEOUL MEETING, KOREA: OH CHURL, Clerk of the Meeting in Seoul, Korea, reported on the progress of that group of Friends since 1964 when the proposal was before us that it be officially recognized as a Monthly Meeting by the FWCC. Friends from all over the world have visited the Meeting since 1964, greatly enriching the life of the group. Political factors make relationships between the Japanese and Korean people difficult, but a breakthrough is now occurring partly as the outcome of an AFSC work camp near Seoul participated in by Japanese Friends. The Seoul group has sponsored a relief and rehabilitation project at the leper colony of Tandong and has translated a number of Quaker pamphlets into the Korean Language. Since 1966 they have published a monthly newsletter. After about nine years of thought and prayer, the Seoul group is agreed on requesting official recognition as a Monthly Meeting. Oh Churl reported three requests from the group:they would welcome (1) financial help to make possible more translations of Quaker literature into Korean; (2) scholarship help for their members to study Quakerism in England and America, and, (3) continued visits from Friends outside of Korea, particularly long-range visits, and Friends who might have some regular employment in Korea and would share in the life of the Meeting.
Florence Sidwell reported for the Joint Committee for Korea of Ohio Yearly Meeting (Conservative) and Lake Erie Yearly Meeting, which has served as a clearing house and information center for assistance to Korean Friends, in co-operation with many other Friends in other Meetings around the world.
It was agreed officially to welcome the Seoul Friends group as a Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends under the care of the Friends World Committee for Consultation. It was agreed that specific requests from the Korean Friends be referred to the American Section's Quaker Aid Program, and for educational fellowships to Woodbrooke in England and to Pendle Hill in the United States, and requests for financial help toward translations, to the Central FWCC office.
Sok Hon Ham brought greetings from Seoul Friends and commented on the future of Quakerism in Korea where a heavy weight of responsibility rests on a tiny group. At the suggestion of the General Secretary, we entered on a period of silent worship in which our hearts went out to the new Meeting in Korea and brought it into the circle of our Christian love.
In August 1967, we had the pleasure of participating in the 1967 AFSC summer program by helping with preparations and the choosing of Korean participants as well as participating in the camp itself. The camp was held at the Tandong leper village, Seoul Meeting's service project. The camp gave birth to a great new phase in the village life. About two and a half acres of land were reclaimed by the camp and, what is more valuable, this international work camp convinced many surrounding community people to reconsider their attitude toward lepers: if not to respect them, at least not to practice segregation against them.
In November 1967, we were visited by Robert and Margaret Blood and their two sons, who shared with us their concerns about our meeting and social problems in Korea.
On December 23, 1967, we had an annual conference, attended by 23 members. The meeting was started with silence.
Messages from Sok Hon Ham (Pendle Hill), Margaret Utterback and Janice Clevenger were read. The final part of Sok Hon Ham's message follows:
"This year there was a devastating drought in the southern part of our land. It seems something symbolic of the instance I cited above. We are living in an age of difficulty. Now, let us act. once we start to dig into our hearts, it will not be long before we discover the well spring from which "new religion" emanates. In order to quench our thirst we must dig a well. Otherwise there is no alternative but to wait to die. But what is meant by digging? In other word, how should it be done? The answer is, we should look into our hearts first. We use a shovel when digging the soil, but it is with thinking that we dig into our heart. We know that it would be of no avail if we went about here and there in digging. Therefore, concentrate your mind on one thing. This is what we call "centering." Looking into one point, you will see it magnifying and also getting ever deeper. Finally it will be exploded out into our consciousness when no more resistance is felt. There is, however, one thing still more important left. The fact is, that no one can carry on this work by himself. There needs to be an assembly. Each individual can not be separated from others. Individuality is a mere ｅxpression of one's being. It envisages the whole being known as the extended self. In an assembly where each person devotes himself, the hole in the spring can be detected and be opened. Power might be gained through a personal worship, but it will fade away soon. Why? Because it is the water stagnant in the well. It should become part of the well spring of life. It is only when each individual opens what is within that we can detect the spirit lying underneath. The number of a group is of no importance. The attitude is the most important factor."
The meeting was united in the plans for 1968 as follows: (1) we agreed to encouraging more intervisitation among the Friends and their friends. (2) an organ for the Sunday School will be bought whenever sufficient money is collected by special contribution for this cause. (3) lively discussion was held on reconsidering the location of the Meeting House; the main trend of the discussion was that the meeting house is too inconvenient to reach and sometimes, to many of us, the bus fare matters very much. Most of the attenders agreed that we reconsider moving into a more convenient place by renting out our meeting house if possible. No one, of course, thought we definitely had to move in the near future, but the matter should be kept open.
Appointed as Clerk, and other Conveners of Committees, were the following:
Clerk Churl Oh Treasurer & Service Young Sang Chin Publication & Library Bong Soon Chun Young Friends Joong Chul Shin Sunday School Soo Jung Oh Resident Director
(Friends Center)Haeng Woo Lee, after August and Young Sang Chin In February 1968, Peter and Nancy Ewald visited us on their way back from their assignment on the AFSC VISA program in Vietnam. To us as a people whose troops have been dispatched there, hearing of experience in South Vietnam was very helpful in understanding the present conditions there and in increasing our awareness of the importance of a peaceful solution there. Nancy gave a speech on Vietnam to a meeting of former AFSC campers.
In March 1968, Mr. & Mirs. Parl Welch visited us again. They attended our meeting for worship, and visited Tandong leper village and encouraged its inhabitants and significantly helped them financially.
In March 1968, Sung Jin Uhm left Korea for study in Australia. After one year there, he came to the United States and now is studying at Howard University in Washington D.C.
In May 1968, Paul Sekiya of Japan Yearly Meeting visited us in order to participate in a good-will Conference between Japanese and Korean Christians. He had a meeting with former AFSC campers at the meeting house and exchanged Views on the peace problem, which is his main concern. He also gave lectures at Choongang Theological Seminary and Yonsei University.
On June 29-30, 1968, we had a two-day retreat at the meeting house, in which we could exchange our ideas and thoughts.
We agreed especially that every effort should be made that the AFSC Korea work camp program, which was scheduled to be terminated because of budget cuts, should continue in Korea. As a result of this concern, plans were laid for a work-study project to be held in the summer of 1969 in Korea. Through the combined efforts of Young Friends and AFSC staff, meetings of former AFSC campers have been held from time to time. There were 6 such meetings in 1968, and it was decided to continue them on a monthly basis.
Harold and Betty Snyder, Quaker International Affairs Representative for South Asia, came in July 1968. At a supper meeting with them we discussed our meeting's problems and learned much about conditions in India and Pakistan. They attended meeting for worship. It was an unforgettable memory.
In July 1968, Young Sang Chin participated in the international students seminar sponsored by AFSC in Kyushu, Japan. After that he visited seven Friends Meetings in Japan and also attended a Japanese Young Friends' retreat.
In August 1968, we had the pleasure of participating in the AFSC work camp by helping with preparations and the choosing of Korean participants, and attending the orientation.
During the camp period, DeWitt Barnett and Tayeko Yamanouchi of AFSC Tokyo Office visited us to investigate the possibility of an AFSC program in Korea in 1969. They also had a concern about general Korean problems as well as the Seoul Meeting's problems. In addition to sincere discussions with us which greatly deepened our friendship, they had wide contact with government officials, politicians, scholars, educators, journalists and former participants of AFSC programs. DeWitt, Tayeko and Haneg Woo visited Prime Minister Il Kwon Chung and talked about general Korean problems, especially the reunification of Korea, and about AFSC's program in Korea, both past and future. A special concern was mentioned about the problems of Korean government documentation procedures for the foreign participants for AFSC programs in Korea, and for Korean participants in AFSC programs outside of Korea.
We hope that from their contact with notables representing various departments of Korean society, DeWitt and Tayeko will be able to advise us well on new directions and growth for our meeting. DeWitt made two other visits to Korea, in February and in November 1968.
On September 7, 1968, Haeng Woo Lee left for America to study at Pendle Hill for one year, and following that, another few years in graduate study of Mathematics. He visit the ed the AFSC Tokyo Office, Friends Meetings and Friends in Tokyo, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Cleveland. He also attended a meeting of the Joint Committee for Korea at Kent, Ohio, on his way to Pendle Hill. on February 14-15, 1969, he attended the FWCC executive committee meeting at Sandy Spring, Maryland, and reported Seoul Meeting's activities to the meeting.
The end of September 1968, Hikaru Shimojima from Tokyo Monthly Meeting came to Korea for a peace seminar in Pusan. He attended the meeting for worship twice and discussed the future relations between Japanese and Korean Meetings. This visit increased our mutual understanding and friendship.
On December 22, 1968, we had an annual conference, attended by 14 members. After meeting for worship, a taped message from Nancy Ewald and a letter from Haeng Woo Lee were shared. The general, financial and service activities reports were made, and appointed as Clerk and other conveners of committees were the following:
Clerk Churl Oh Treasurer Young Sang Chin Publications Duk Young Chun Young Friends Joong Chul Shin Resident Director
(Friends Center)Young Sang Chin The meeting was united in the plans for 1969 as follows: (1) We agreed that the emphasis in 1969 should be on publication for outreach of the meeting. (2) The Bible lecture should be more accessible to a wide number of people. (3) A system of membership should be put into effect and a system of monthly contribution should be formulated. Also discussed was the situation at Tandong leper village. In answer to the meeting's query as to what his plans were, Je Chun Oh replied that he expected to get a job teaching in a middle school near Tandong and thus be able to continue supervising there as needed. He also expressed the need for some continued support. Young Sang Chin had visited Tandong in December 1968 and made the recommendation that a way be found to supply a ceiling and chairs for the school, because the floor was concrete and with no ceiling it was very cold there. It was agreed that further discussion on Tandong was needed.
After the business session, a taped lecture by Howard Brinton which Haeng Woo had made and sent from Pendle Hill was played.
Quoted here are several paragraphs from Dr. Brinton's lecture, titled "The history and doctrines of the Society of Friends."
"I think that Quakerism is especially suitable to people of Asia. In the West, as we call it sometimes, most of our attention has been on the world around us in the development of science. We have developed science more than we have developed anything else. But in Asia there has been more attention, especially in religion, to the Inward life, and Quakerism is a religion which puts the main attention on the development of the Inward Life. Also, Quakerism is based entirely on religious experience and not on creeds and theories and ideas. So, because it is an experimental religion, it is very much in accord with modern ways of behaving and thinking...
"Friends emphasized the Spirit which produced the Bible rather than the Bible itself. They emphasized the Bible, however, as a means of checking the truth of their inward revelation. They believed that the Christ of history spoke in the same words as the Christ Within. Accordingly they endeavored to carry out all the commands of the Sermon on the Mount and the other sayings of Jesus. They were called perfectionists because they believed that it was possible to live in the Kingdom of God, a world of perfection, although surrounded by a part of an imperfect society. When they were told that their perfectionism was not practical they said that the Kingdom of God must begin with some individual or individuals and they were willing for it to begin with them, and to take the consequences even though it led to suffering and imprisonment. A Quaker method of dealing with those who oppose them is not by the use of violence but by appealing to that of God in their opponents. This of course does not always work, but history shows that the non-violent method when properly used has been as successful as the violent method. If the Quakers lived up to what they fall God required of them, they were able to attain an inward peace of mind such as did not exist to the same extent in other Christian sects...
"Recently my wife Anna and I attended Pacific Yearly Meeting in California. Of the thousand attenders more than half were under 30 years of age. It is a young people's movement. That meeting is typical of the way Quakerism is growing today in various parts of the world. The so-called West which has put so much attention on the outer world of science, is now beginning to realize that it must pay more attention to the inward world of the heart and mind; and that is what Quakerism seeks to do...
"The Quakers did not set up an institutionalized religion, that is, a religion with hard and fast forms of procedure. They wanted flexibility. No human being was to be in a position of power, no one was authorized to tell Quakers what to do or to hold them together. They believed that the Word of God, the Spirit of Christ which existed before creation, according to John's gospel, was the uniting principle through which all things were created. It is the spirit which birds one man to another; when the early Friends referred to the Spirit of God in them, they said, 'that which unites us to God also unites us to one another.' They believed that the Spirit of God could hold them together in one body without any human authority...
"The Spirit which unites us not only with one another in the same religious society or in the same meeting, but also with human beings all over the world, and enables us to respond to something in them. No matter how different our culture and way of behavior from others may be, nevertheless the same divine Spirit is in all, and this divine Spirit, if we allow it to work, can unite us; and gradually, in spite of many reverses and many setbacks, can make of us one people, not divided into races and nations but one human family."
As of the writing of this paper, we still have no official membership in the meeting. In February 1969, we printed application forms for membership and sent them to all the Friends who had ever attended this meeting. Probably, by end of 1969, the long-standing question of whether there can be membership in the Society of Friends through the Seoul Meeting, will be settled.
Part II. Activities.
a). Quakerism
The younger a meeting is in age and the weaker it is in spiritual aspect, the more effort to be strengthened in spirit should be made. And so, in 1962 and 1963, our Meeting began meeting for study on Sunday after meeting for worship. Among the subjects chosen for study were The Use of Silence, Penn and The Quaker's Faith.
In 1964, we decided to study Quakerism on Thursday evenings, and chose as our study guide the London Yearly Meeting's Faith and Practice.
In 1965, we could not meet to study regularly because Meeting were too busy with their most of the members of the official and private lives.
In 1966, we were determined to have study meetings regularly, and so every Friday evening we met at the meeting house for study on No Time But This Present and other books, and every Wednesday evening we also met at Margaret Utterback's to study Thomas Kelly's Testament of Devotion and his Autobiography. Margaret was a great help to this group.
In 1967 and 1968, we studied Howard Brinton's Friends for 300 Years and some other Quaker literature.
When we look back, we realize that the study program was not as fully utilized for the original purpose as we had wanted.
b). Bible
In the first part of 1962, we studied an outline of the New and Old Testaments led by Yoon Gu Lee and Byung Nun Choi, after meeting for worship on Sunday, But we could not continue this Bible study.
Beginning in February 1968, Sok Hon Ham gave us a Bible lecture after meeting every Sunday in the meeting house (with the exception of the third Sunday each month). Not only our own members but also numerous others, with other church affiliations, have felt that these lectures should be made more widely accessible to the public. Fortunately this hope has been realized during the time in which this paper has been written. Beginning in the spring of 1969, we have had a public Bible lecture every Sunday afternoon at the ChoongAng Theological Seminary.
In 1960 we translated and printed only 50 copies each of the following Quaker Pamphlets: Guide to Quaker Practice by Howard Brinton, John Woolman's Teaching, Some Questions about Quakerism and The Quaker's Faith by Rufus Jones. In 1963, we published The Quaker's Faith by Rufus Jones, The Origin of Quakers by Irie Yukio and The Quaker's Belief by the Japan Yearly Meeting, 500 copies respectively. In 1964 and 1965, we published Rufus M. Jones by Jane Rushmore, Guide to Quaker Practice by Howard Brinton, The Use of Silence by Geoffrey Hoyland, John Woolman's Teaching, Preparation for Meeting for Worship and Beliefs and Practice of AFSC, 500 copies respectively.
In January of 1966, we began to publish The Seoul Friends Meeting Monthly Newsletter. The first several issues were published regularly, but after that we were not able to publish them regularly: nine times in 1966, five times in 1967, not at all in 1968, due to shortage of manpower.
As mentioned, we have only a small number of Korean translations of Quaker literature. Sok Hon Ham is now translating Howard Brinton's Friends for 300 Years which will be published in the near future.
In 1965, a small building was erected on the corner of the property for First Day School from the contribution of Joint Committee for Korea of Lake Erie and Ohio Yearly Meetings.
Here seven children started their Sunday School under the guidance of Tae Soo Kim. But our children were soon disappointed when their teacher, Tae Soo, left Sunday School in the spring of 1966 to go to Australia to get married to Keith Watson.
We were not able to replace her because there was no other responsible person willing and able to teach. Soo Ja Whang and Yun Kim took over the responsibility temporarily, but did not continue for very long.
We feel quite frustrated because our Sunday School has been closed for the last two years. There are two children at present in the meeting, and no teacher.
It is expected that the same condition will continue to exist for some time, so it has been suggested that we reopen the Sunday School, if a teacher and some equipment could be found, and invite the neighborhood children.
a) Among our members. From the beginning, we emphasized home visiting among our members for mutual understanding and maintaining friendship. We had home visiting four times in 1963, three times in 1964, three times in 1965, four times in 1966, four times in 1967, and six times in 1968. This will be continued.
b) Abroad.
Besides those mentioned in Part I, several other members of our meeting visited abroad.
In August 1962, Tong Sul Cho traveled to Japan on his own business, and so was able to attend an AFSC International Student Seminar, and visit the Friends Meeting in Tokyo.
In August 1963, Jae Kyung Chun and Ha Jin Lee participated in the AFSC workcamp in Japan, and visited the Friends Meetings in Japan.
In 1964, Heung Ki Baik left for USA to study. He is still studying at Brigham Young University, Utah. Chang Bok Lee also left for Japan to study.
In 1965, Kyu Chul Chai for Denmark to study for one year and Won Kyoo Park for study at Columbia, South America. Won Kyoo Park is now studying at the Hiram Scott College, Nebraska.
In 1966, Jong Moo Kim left for study in Switzerland and Mrs. Tong Sul Cho left for work in the United States. In 1967, Myong Hee Han left for study at the East West Center in Hawaii.
In 1968, Young Ck Lee left for study in the USA.
c) From Abroad.
Besides those mentioned in Part I, we had a number of other Friends from. abroad. Their visits have been a great honor and encouragement.
In 1962, Catherine Paine, English Friend, member of the Friends Meeting in Australia, visited us, in December.
In 1963, Douglas.Riebe, from Philadelphia Yearly Meeting visited us, in December.
In 1964, Sybilla Sprenkel, from the Camberra Meeting, visited us in the spring and Delia Domingo, Philippines Friend who worked at Friends School in Tokyo, visited us in August. We also had visits from Eugene Boardman from Madison Meeting and Sally Abbott, introduced to us by Margaret Utterback. We also met two couples, the Spuriers and the Richies, while they were staying in Seoul to adopt children.
In 1965, we were visited by Daniel Southerland, a UP correspondent introduced by Norman Wilson; Jackson Bailey of Earlham College, and Fleder Jones from Columbia University Campus Meeting.
In 1966, we were visited by Takuro Isomura, the Clerk of Toyama Monthly Meeting in Tokyo in May
In 1967, we were visited by Robert Kohls, the former acting director of children's fund in Korea, who had been very close to us; M. Je Quier, a Friend from Switzerland on her way home from the World Conference, who shared with us her concern over repairs to the meeting house; Gwen Catchpull from England, who shared us her and her husband's experiences with work in Germany; and Fred Reeves, an American Friend.
Richard and Rose Lewis of AFSC Tokyo Office attended meeting for worship several times during their stay in Korea while organizing the AFSC Korea work camp. We were also visited by Lavanam from India, introduced by George Willoughby in October.
In 1968, we were visited by Carl Strock, who was with Peter Ewald in the AFSC VISA Program in Vietnam. Carl stopped in Seoul on his way back to Vietnam in December. He visit ed Tandong leper village, met with our meeting two times, and met former AFSC campers.
From the beginning, we emphasized service work, But we did not know how or where to start, because Korea has so many difficult problems, and we were very poor both spiritually and materially. Nevertherless, we felt we had to start some where, so as a first step we supplied medicines to two Tuberculosis Patients beginning in December 1961, for two years.
In April 1962, we had a week-end workcamp at Zion Orphanage and gave the orphans presents such as school supplies. We also had a week-end workcamp in Tuly at HanKuk Lip Read ing School, leveling a field for new building.
In June 1963, we collected used clothes and sent them to the flood sufferers. In December 1963, we also gave financial assistance (10,500 Won) to the family of Dong Suk Cho, a former Clerk of the meeting who left to study in America.
In 1964, after the Korean War, the number of T.B. Patients was increasing day by day. About 20% of the whole population of Seoul was taken ill because of poverty, and about 7% of them required emergency treatment in hospitals. But for these poor people, to be treated in a hospital was an unattainable dream. Of course, the government has a free hospital, but the beds were very limited. Every day, many T.B. Patients waited in front of the government hospital in hopes of being admitted. Some of them had no home, no money and no relatives, so that they had to live under bridges or in caves.
We decided to build a small house for them, but we also did not have enough money to buy the materials for the house. So we asked Korea Church World Service f or some money for this work, and we got 58,500 Won ($217).
In March 1964, we had a week-end work camp, leveling a field for the house. About thirty people participated in this camp, including Mitsuo Otsu from Japan, Herbert Bowles and his wife from Honolulu Meeting, and two girl students of International Christian University in Tokyo introduced by Elise Boulding.
We decided to continue the weekend work camp until we had completed the house, but at the second camp we had only 6 participants and at the third we had only 4 participants. We didn't know exact reason why number of participants the decreased; of course, most of the members were very busy. Anyhow the house was completed in September after the person responsible for service activities of the Meeting, Haeng Wee Lee, took charge of this work for a few months, supervising professional carpenters and builders. The house consisted of seven two-bed rooms and a toilet.
Keith Watson reported about this to his Meeting in Australia and Friends in Australia contributed 17,077 Won (24 Pounds) for this project. So we were able to provide for the patients a heating system and some smokeless coal.
And we also supplied brought some medicines for them. Herbert Bowles brought some used clothes from Honolulu Friends, and we distributed this loving gift to the T.B. patients and to other needy families through home visiting.
In 1965, we continued the visits and some poor and isolated people.
At a business meeting in January 1966, the meeting decided to take up the leper Village in Tandong as its main service project, after hearing reports on this leper village by Sok Hon Ham, Churl Oh and Margaret Utterback.
The leper colony, situated in Tandong, DaeDuk-Kun, Choong Nam province, was started by Je Chun Oh, who was a Baptist preacher. one day Preacher Oh found a leper among the congregation. He tried to do what he could to look after him. The leper was soon moved into the leper asylum. Mr. Oh, however, continued to help his family. When this news spread, many lepers came to him from far and wide for help. Every time he gave what little he had to each one. The number inevitably increased. They needed a place to be settled. Finally, he bought a small house to accommodate them. The housing problem was thus settled, however, they still had to make their living by begging. once again, he was asked to help by providing them farming land on which they could live without help from. others. He sold out his inherited property. This was, of course, not enough, and he managed to borrow some money from one of his supporters.
In June 1964, they purchased 21,060 pyong (16 acres) of land for 900,000 Won ($3,333). But the land alone could not provide enough for them to live on. The lepers had no means other than the land. They were compelled to go begging once again.
In the meantime, it happened that Je Chun Oh met Keith Watson, an Australian Friend, at PoolMoo rural school, in December 1964. Mr Oh was working at the .school as a part time lecturer of music. Keith Watson was very much concerned over the Tandong leper colony, and promised to offer help. He sent 50,000 Won on Christmas, 1964, and again, 200,000 Won in 1965. With some of that money, Oh paid back his debt borrowed for buying the land, and the rest he put into getting livestock such as cows and small pigs. In spite of all this, the lepers had to continue their miserable way of life.
Oh came up to KCWS to ask for a food supply, but was refused on the grounds that among the leper group there was no administrator to be trusted.
In August 1965, Mr. Oh moved into YooSung, near the colony, with his family, determined that he would take charge of the colony himself. Thus, he could get the food supply from KCWS.
But it proved to be insufficient to sustain these people, because the supply came only once every three months, and besides, the quantity was barely enough to last 20 days.
Such being the case, the witnesses, Sok Hon Ham, Churl Oh and Margaret Utterbach, suggested that we devote our efforts to help this leper colony. And so, the meeting decided on Tandong as our service work site.
At first, we didn't expect any other help from outside. We thought we would try to help in whatever way circumstances permitted. Even though we could not give material help abundantly, we would back them up spiritually. In the course of discussion, Margaret noticed how we stood. on behalf of the meeting, Margaret called for help from the Friends in USA. We had lots of contributions, and other supplies began to reach us one after another. In consequence, our work enlarged to an unexpected scale.
We continued this project for three years, until December 1968. The emphasis in 1966 was frequent visiting both by meeting members and their visitors from abroad, in order to break down the prejudice and segregation against the lepers in the surrounding community. Also emphasized was material construction as a basis for future self-support, such as the school building, housing, and shelters for livestock. In 1967 and 1968, we emphasized the providing of materials for self-support.
Following is a chronological list of activities concrrning the Tandong Leper Colony:
1. on March 1, 1966, Haeng Woo Lee and Sung Jin Uhm took the first survey trip.
2. on April 22nd-23rd, eight members (Sok Hon Ham, Tong Sul Cho, Haeng Woo Lee, Hee Joong Moon, Sung Jin Uhm, Chang Bok Lee, Kwang Ja Oh, and Margaret Utterback) had a work camp, doing leveling work on the building site of a community center to be used both for meeting and as a school.
3. In June 1966, Hee Joong Moon went down to help them build rabbit barns.
4. on July 30-31, 1966, Margaret Utterback, Janice Clevenger, and Haeng Woo Lee participated in erection of the main frame work of the community center structure, and had a meeting for worship.
5. In September 1966, Tong Sul Cho went down alone to see what was going on.
6. on October 23, 1966, Margaret, Haeng Woo, Young Sang Chin, and Sang Yon visited.
7, on November 9, 1966, Mildred and Norman Whitney (from USA), Margaret, and Haeng Woo had a meeting for worship with the villagers.
8. In January 1967, Churl Oh, Haeng Woo Lee, Ok Kyung Paik, Chong Hee Limb, Byung Ho OH, and Sang Yon Lee visited and had a meeting for worship with the villagers.
9. on March 12-13, 1967, Douglas and Dorothy Steere visited to encourage them, along with Sok Hon Ham, Sung Jin UHm, and Haeng Woo Lee.
10. In May 1967, Richard and Rose Lewis and Haeng Woo Lee visited the village on a survey trip to find a site for AFSC International Student Summer Work Camp.
11. on July 7, 1967, Haeng Woo Lee visited the village and the made preparations f or the AFSC work camp.
12. During the AFSC work camp, July to August 19, 1967, Sung Jin Uhm, Soo Jung Oh, Kyu Chul Chai, and William Prince visited the village and participated in the camp for 3 to 10 days. Haeng Woo Lee also participated in the whole camp.
13. In February 1968, DeWitt Barnett and Sok Hon Ham visited the village with encouragement.
14. In April 1968, Parl Welch and his wife, visited the village with Young Sang Chin to encourage them, and helped them financially.
15. In May 1968, Richard and Rose Lewis visited the village to renew old friendship and to see what was being planted in the field that the AFSC International Work camp had helped to reclaim.
16. on August 27, 1968, Haeng Woo Lee and his family visited the village.
17. on December 17, 1968, Carl Strock and Young Sang Chin visited the village.
As a result, these people, once isolated and ill-treated, began to be looked on with heart-felt concern by the surrounding community people. Now the people of surrounding community employ the lepers for their farming work. The local government official who had once been planning for their compulsory removal, now came to help this community.
We regret that we could not visit more frequently, but possible because Tandong is located too far from Seoul (about 130 miles) and poor public transportation makes it necessary to take two days for a visit. And also trip expenses quite expensive. For instance, Haeng Woo Lee used about 10% of his monthly salary for a trip.
The meeting supplied them with rice four times, in February and March 1966, January 1967 and January 1968, to save them from starvation.
There were eight school-aged children, in 1966; two for each grade from first to fourth, who were turned away from regular schools. The community itself should have been responsible for their education, too. Most of the people at Tandong are Christian, but there was no place to have a meeting. So we built a house (18X48X9 ft), which was to be used as school and church.
Now, there are nine children, who are being taught in this new classroom, and on Sunday, they have a meeting for worship led by Je Chun Oh. There are two teachers. The equipment, such as blackboards and desks, is very poor compared with other schools, but the parents (leper patients) are very enthusiastic that their children are receiving an education, which more than offsets the meager equipment. Two junior high school boys who are attending public school one hour away on foot have been helped with school fees by the meeting.
First of all, they must be self-supporting economically. We therefore helped them raise Angora rabbits. In May 1960, they began with 10 rabbits. Rabbit barns (12X45'9 ft) were built. By the end of 1966, there were about 70 rabbits on hand, but by the end of 167, the number was reduced to 50.
The reason was that the villagers were disappointed because they could not gain satisfactory profit out of the rabbits raising. Rabbit raising was a good business when they began, but the boom soon passed, so that they didn't pay enough attention to the rabbit raising. They began chicken-raising, too, in 1966. This livestock project was originally started in the hope that it would eventually become the main income resource for all the households in the village, because the land area is not sufficient to meet their entire needs in the future. They also started cow raising from 1967. Now, the community consists of the following;
1. Each of the 14 families has 1,000 Pyongs (5/6 acre) of farming land and a house of its own. Most of the houses were rebuilt and roofs were changed from the original thatched roofing to tile roofing.
2. There is one school for the community, which is also used for meeting activities, and one barn for the raising of rabbits.
3. Eleven head of beef cattle, 21 pigs, 100 rabbits, 100 chickens, 6 goats and 2 geese.
4. Food and Clothing;
Minimum food for 10 days per month.---from the county government.
Food for 10 days per month--- wheat flour from KCWS.
In 1968, the community could produce barley, vegetable, beans sweet potatoes, and sesame which they ate or used for food for their animals. This is enough for the 10 days per month for the people and for 7 month per year for animals.
The Southold Meeting in New York State sent clothing for children in Tandong. So the children's clothing is much improved.
The Meeting spent the total amount 1,403,480 Won ($5,198) for Tandong project for three years; 547,450 Won in 1966, 208,500 Won in 1967 and 647,530 Won in 1968.
As the meeting membership is now greatly reduced, the meeting itself was unable to do much. Most of the funds coming from overseas come through the Joint Committee for Korea of the Lake Erie and Ohio Yearly Meetings, or directly from others. We regret that we could not do more ourselves, but we feel very much thankful to the foreign Friends for their help. And we can not forget the efforts of Je Chun Oh as a director of Tandong.
Formerly, the lepers were driven to despair; begging, drinking, and violence constituted the whole of their lives. It goes without saying that they were disregarded by the surrounding villagers. Of late, the community has altered its attitude, both spiritually and materially.
Last December 1968, visits were made by Young Sang Chin and Carl Strock. After the visit Chin reported as follows;
"After walking about 20 minutes through the quiet country, as we approached Tandong, we could hear the various cries of the animals. Visiting the families, Carl remarked jokingly that the Seoul Meeting made the village noisy. I replied, 'We are not helpers. We are disturbers, if we do not want to be real disturbers of the village, we should have a continuing deep concern spiritually for the welfare of the village.'"
We know very well that the lepers are not entirely self-supporting, but we are joyful to see signs that they are well cn the way to being self-supporting. We wish to show our continuing interest and concern in the community, although we are not able to give more vigorous aid due to our small membership at present.
During that time, In December 1966, Haeng Woo Lee visited the PoolMoo Rural School on behalf of the Meeting, and delivered 80,000 Won (about $300) to buy a typewriter for the school. In late 1966 and early 1967, we gave some financial help for the SeeAl Farm.
We revisited the T.B. village, which we stopped supporting in 1966, in order to support to Tandong, by Churl Oh's urging to continue at the T.B. village as well. Meanwhile, William Prince became interested in the T.B. village.
Ok Kyung Paik, Gui Sook Bae, Sung Jin Uhm, William Prince, Young Sang Chin, Churl Oh and Haeng Woo Lee have visited them several times, and helped their flower growing and chicken raising financially.
In November 1967, we had a week-end workcamp at Agnes and David Kim's farm. It was a good refreshing experience to become apart of their humble rural life, through our work together.
In late 1967 and early 1968, Ki Hon Song, one of the attenders of the meeting became ill with inflammation of the liver (Hepatitis). So the meeting helped him by giving him 3,000 Won per month for several months.
During the time Nargaret Utterback was with us, Senator Stephen M.Young of Ohio adopted a Korean girl. He wished to continue sending financial assistance to the girl's aged grandmother, but was hampered by language problems. Margaret helped arrange the exchange of money and counseled the grandmother while she was with us, and after she left Haeng Woo Lee took on this job. After several months, Sung Jin Uhm and his wife Young Ok took over this responsibility, until the transactions were completed.
* * *
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself,
and to one another, and to God....Kahlil Gibran.
6. Supporting AFSC International Work Camp:
For our meeting, the most important activity was supporting the AFSC International Work Camps and Seminars in Korea and Japan. This work was a heavy burden for this tiny and young meeting, but we have very much enjoyed it and have been able to learn in many ways. It has been a very good chance for out-reach, especially for young people, and the meeting has gotten many fine young members through this work.
In January 1964, Norman Wilson and Brewster Grace of AFSC Tokyo Office visited us and, after discussion with us decided to have an AFSC International Workcamp in Korea.
The preparation committee was organized. Some of the meeting members participated in this committee and assisted in choosing the camp site, in choosing Korean participants for both Korean and Japanese Seminars and work camps, and arranged homes for foreign participants to stay in before and after camp.
The first AFSC Korea Work Camp was held at the Yang-Jee Orphanage in EuiJungPu in August 1964. The work project was reclaiming a large field. for farming for the orphanage.
This workcamp site was very close to Seoul, so that most of the members of the meeting were able to visit the camp and participate for a -few days. This camp was directed by Brewster Grace and Peter & Nancy Ewald of the AFSC Tokyo Office.
Through this camp, we were able to learn much in many ways. Ile felt very thankful to the staff of the AFSC Tokyo Cffice for bringing this camp to Korea, and to some of the government officials for their help in making the camp possible, and especially their great help of Ingrid Bentzen and Dong Jae Lee.
In August 1965, the second AFSC Korea workcamp was held at KwargAm-R i, JinDon-Myon, ChangWon-Kun, Kyung-Nam Province. The camp site was a fishing village and the work project was helping the village to develop a "hanging oyster" project This camp was directed by Peter Ewald, Churl Oh and Chung Soo Kim. We didn't do much of the preparation for this camp because Peter Ewald did everything. He was a marvelous person; he went everywhere through the country without anyone's help, found an excellent camp site, found good campers, and made good friends. He was a very quiet man, but we felt him to be very warm, and deep friendships developed between us even without words. This camp site was located in the southern part of Korea, and it took one day to get from Seoul to the camp site, so only two members of the meeting, Chang Hok Lee and Haeng Woo Lee, visited the camp.
In August 1966, the third AFSC Korea Workcamp was held at SuhSang Elementary School, HamHae-Do (Island), Kyung-Nam Province, again in the southern part of Korea. The work project was making rice fields for the elementary school, by piling up the soil by the seaside. This camp was directed by Peter Ewald, Churl Oh, Haeng Woo Lee, and Chum Soon Song. Five members of the meeting participated in preparation of the camp, and three friends, Sok Hon Ham, Churl Oh, Haeng Woo Lee, also participated in the whole camp.
After the camp we hosted the foreign campers in our homes.
In 1967, the fourth AFSC Korea workcamp was held at the Tandong leper village, the Seoul Friends Meeting's service project, and the work was to reclaim a hillside of about 2.4 acres. This was the most difficult camp because the circumstances were very bad, such as not enough water for baths due to a spell of dry weather, so that one of the two wells we used for drinking, baths, and laundry was dry, and the weather was exceedingly hot. one of the problems, most members of the preparation committee worried about, was the fact that this camp was in a leper village, and two Japanese canceled their participating in this camp, because of the leprosy. This camp was directed by Richard & Rose Lewis, Ok Kyung Paik, and Haeng Woo Lee. From the meeting, Sung Jin Uhm, Soo Jung Oh, Kyu Chul Chai, and William Prince visited the camp and participated in the camp for several days.
One of the most valuable results of this camp was that this international workcamp convinced many community people to reconsider their attitude toward lepers, if not to respect them, at least not to discriminate against them.
After this camp as in 1966, we had the foreign campers stay with us in our homes.
In 1968, the fifth AFSC Korea workcamp was held at Mae-Bong san, HwangJee, KargWon Province. The camp site was located in deep mountains, 600 meters above sea level, so it was not hot even in the summer. There are 42 families, most of them refugees who came from north Korea during the Korean war. The Korean-American Foundation built the houses and school for them and continue to help. Around this community there are no villages within three miles. There was a road, but not good enough to use for cars. The campers improved this road to use for cars. There is no doubt that the camp for these poor and isolated people was very much appreciated, and endowed them with more hope for their future. This camp was directed by Richard & Rose Lewis, Sung Youn Hong,and Hae Kyung Kim. We arranged home visits with Korean families for the foreign campers during the orientation held at Yonsei University for two days and another a few days after the camp. Some of the members of the meeting, Sok Hon Ham, Churl OH, Young Sang Chin and Haeng Woo Lee participated in the preparation of the camp and orientation.
* * *
Work is love made visible ... Kahlil Gibran.
Part III. How they became Friends:
I would like to write here how two of my beloved and respected friends, Sok Hon Ham and Churl Oh, became Friends. It is a very difficult task but it is perhaps very interest ing and not meaningless. Our meeting is very young and tiny, and its subsistance in the Korean society is in a very poor way. only limited people know the word "Quakers," only some of them know what Quakerism is, and few of them know there :. is a Friends Meeting in Korea. Sok Hon Ham is very famous in Korea. He is known widely as a patriot, a pacifist, a writer, and a religious leader of Korea. But only limited people know that Sok Hon Ham is a member of the Religious Society of Friends.
I wonder how I can introduce these two friends. I Know something about them as an intimate friend, but there is much I don't know about Sok Hon Ham and Churl Oh because they are very deep men.
I appreciate their permitting me to write about them. and I hope that they shall forgive me if I misinterpret them there.
1. Sok Hon Ham:
Sok Hon Ham was born in a rural community near the Yalu River in 1901. He completed his elementary education in the Presbytarian school which was begun as part of their newly introduced missionary activity in Korea. He grew up in an atmosphere of strong nationalism.
His thinking was very much changed alter the March 1st Independence movement in 1919, his age then being 13.
lie thought that education was the best way of saving his broken country. So he went to Tokyo, and entered the Tokyo Higher Normal School (famous college far teacher's training) in 1923, giving up his interest in fine arts.
In the first year of his life in Tokyo, he had a bitter experience: the great Tokyo earthquake disaster because of which so many Korean residents in Tokyo were massacred by
the Japanese. Of course the reason for the massacre was that there was a groundless rumour abroad that the Koreans set the fires which in reality were caused by the earthquake.
At the time, Korean public thought was divided, socialism was pervading the thinking of most students and intelligentsia, and the youth were torn in the agony of indecision. While in Japan, he entered the "non-church" movement led by Kanzo Uchimura who had been influenced by American Quakers and started this movement as a protest against the corrupt formal church, emphasizing bible study and "primitive" Christianity. Thus Sok Yon Ham ended a long agony of worry about which was the right way: "Christianity or Socialism?" He was convinced that the way of religious faith was the best way to improve the spiritual life of the Koreans, to unite the people in apposition to the Japanese occupation: of Korea, and to give the people strength to resist the Japanese.
In 1928, he came back to Korea after finishing his study of five years in Tokyo. For ten years, he taught History and English at Osan school which was very famous High School for its Anti-Japanese pacifist teaching. He did his best to guide the students into the non-church movement -there. He Vials
greatly influenced by the famous Christian pacifist teacher, NamKang, who taught at Osan. In 1938, he had to resign. from the school because the Japanese militarist government oppressed him too hard. After that, he was imprisoned by the Japanese several times and later by communists in North Korea,
and still later by Shyng Man Rhee's government in South Korea. In prison, he read many books about Buddhism and Taoism which gradually changed his thought in some degree. He began to doubt the doctrine of redemption. After long thinking, he was convinced that, "I, my truth, am an eternal Christ."
After World War II, Korea was divided into two countries, North and South, by the great powers. For a while, he lived in North K=orea under the communist government, but he came
down into South Korea, perhaps because there was no religious liberty in the North.
After coming to South Korea, he gave Sunday lectures, and was active in the non-church movement and other activities. These Sunday lectures and the non-church movement were very famous, so that many people knew him as a leader of the non-church movement then, and still do. He lost most of his friends in the non-church movement as it became more conservative and his own thinking liberalized. He stopped the Sunday lectures and meetings. He attempted a religious movement through running a farm. This farm was called the "SeeAl" farm, SeeAl means "the Seed." He thought, from the Osan period, that three main components: Faith, Education, and Rural Communities, should be coirbined. At that time, eighty percent of the whole population of Korea were farmers and most of them were illiterate, school was limited, the influence of Confucianism and Buddhism had deteriorated, and popular religion was in a primitive state.
While he was leading a solitary life after losing his friends of the non-church movement, he met the Quakers, especially Arthur Mitchell. He was delighted to meet the Quakers because he already knew of them from his reading of Thomas Carlyle's books at Osan, and he was very much interested in the Quaker's Conscientious Objection movement which he knew about through Mr. Dong Wan Hyun who was Executive Secretary he YMCA after World War II.
Previously, at the time he had been studying in Tokyo, he had been much impressed by Tagore's thought and later he became influenced by Gandhi's thinking. This influence is evident in the Korean history which he wrote while at Osan. He is now widely thought of as "the Gandhi of Korea." He also read the Outline of History by H. G. Wells and felt a deep sense of unity with Wells' concept of world nationalism. All these influences combined and his thinking became much like the Quakers." But his personal feeling at that time was that he didn't like sectarianism. At the beginning of World War II he thought that this war was a prelude to violent fluctuations of mankind, and that the social structure would be fundamentally changed, therefore the religion would be changed. He thought about "New Religion" continuously and he didn't want to belong to any certain sect. At the beginning of his attending the Friends Meeting, he wanted to remain as an attendee, but after he came back from Pendle Hi11, he decided to become a member of the Religious Society of Friends because the Quakers were so kind and sincere to him and he felt a personal responsibility to the Quakers.
I asked him. "What is your new religion?" Several days ago I got the following answer from him:
"I don't know in fact, I only began to feel the need for "New Religion" at the beginning of World War II. The final truth of religion never changes, but verbal ｅxpression must be constantly renewed. I simply thought that religion would be entirely different only in its new style of verbal ｅxpression because the human social structure would be changed fundamentally through this war. I am a man who while waiting for the new religion can not tell about it. But I can tell the following conditions; first it will be more reasonable than the old religion which was emotional and subconscious. Second, it will be more democratic. Sometimes, I express it as 'scientific religion,' but I can not put it in concrete terms. In my opinion, we have no conception of something like the new religion because religion is not made by man but revealed by God. If we found religion by the thoughts of human beings, it would not be religion, but a synthesis. For instance, "Bahaism is just that, It was synthesized from the good concepts which were selected from various scriptures, it was not inspired.
"Real new religion must be revealed by God to human beings without explaining the reason at the beginning. Later we interpret it. Then, the most important thing is how to interpret it."
"My thinking has been thus, but after reading Howard Brinton's Friends for 300 Years I felt as follows: I am not sure that Quakerism will become the new religion of the next age, but Quakerism is the most 'young' religion among the religion of today. So I tend to lean to the Quakers."
2. Churl Oh:
Churl Oh was born in a rural community near Kunsan in 1927. He completed his elementary education in a rural community school, and secondary education in the capital city of ChunPuk Province. He grew up in a Presbyterian family; his parents were quite active lay people in a Presbyterian church during his boyhood and he attended the church under the influence of his parents. He started wondering about the religious lives of the church people and their implementation of biblical teaching when he entered junior high school at his age of 14. He had many unsatisfied questions about religious life, and finally he kept himself from attending church for almost 10 years, until the Korean war in 1950.
After his graduation from high school, he worked as a clerk at the Transportation Bureau for three years, and then worked as an interpreter for US Army units during the Korean war for three years.
Through the bitter experiences of the Korean war, raving witnessed such a cruel calamity, he started to wonder whether We should not rely ,' upon a Mightier Power that could have control over human disaster. Finally he felt he should entrust his soul with God, believing His mighty power is the only resource that would lead human beings toward peace. And in the midst of his wondering period he happened to work with people called 'Quakers' in Kunsan right after the Korean war, whom he did not, until they withdrew from Korea, know to have been Quakers. He had been so deeply moved by their way of living and serving for the needy of his country, that this was the direct motivation for him to become interested in knowing about Quakers. He worked with FSU for one and a half years. After that, he worked as an English teacher at a High School in the country side for five years. He started to come to our meeting after he moved to Seoul, where he taught three years more.
After he joined the Quakers, he was appointed Clerk, Resident Director of the Friends Center, and convener of several committees of our meeting. Having studied about Quakerism he gradually became interested in becoming a Friend and committing himself to follow the patterns of Quaker life. Since 1963, he has been working as Community Affairs Director at Korea Church World Service as well as Clerk of Seoul Friends Meeting.