Eli (Seung) Oh’s interview
This was taken from a radio interview that KQED did with Eli (Seung) Oh on September 15, 2017. Are California Dreamers Snatching Health Care Jobs from Citizens? Nope, Say Experts
Discussion Questions
Christian History in Korea - adapted from Truth & Tidings by Chung, Joseph H. "Assembly History in Korea"
Buddhism came to Korea about 1,600 years ago during the Three Kingdom Era. In A.D. 1392, the Choseon Dynasty, the last dynasty, banned all religions while enforcing Confucianism. However, the Koreans still believed in Buddhism in their hearts, but they obeyed Confucianism as a moral standard. This went on for many centuries. When Japan invaded Korea in 1592, Portuguese Jesuits served in the Japanese military as chaplains and indirectly introduced Catholicism to Korea.
In the late 18th century, Choseon closed its borders to protect the country from superpowers. In 1866, Robert J. Thomas, a Welsh missionary, was working as an interpreter on the American merchant ship, the General Sherman. On its last fateful voyage down the river to Pyongyang, the Choseon army attacked the ship and set it on fire. Thomas, standing on the deck of the burning ship, opened his case of Bibles and flung them to the people on the river bank. Finally, with his clothes on fire, he leaped overboard and tried to offer his Bible to a waiting soldier who killed him with a spear. Among the many spectators, a man named Park Young-Sik picked up one of the Chinese Bibles scattered on the sand. Back home, he covered his walls with the pages of that Bible. Later on, his house would become one of the first meeting places for Christians in Pyongyang.
There are many stories where other missionaries worked to bring the gospel to Korea - In September of 1884 an American diplomat, Dr. Horace Allen, came to Han-Yang (Seoul) as an American diplomat. A few days after arriving, Prince Min Young-Ik, the Queen’s nephew, was severely wounded in a terrorist attack. Dr. Allen saved his life with a minor operation. As a result, King Go-Jong lifted persecution against foreign religions, and even established the first hospital (Gwang-Hae-Won) with the royal treasures.
The bloody fighting of the Korean War ceased in 1953, but both North and South are technically still at war. However, the God of sovereign grace, in His mercy, turned this tragedy of war to useful ends. With international aid coming into this wartorn country, He sent His servants to Korea with a "clear gospel message".
Now the light of New Testament assembly church testimony shines brightly in Korea, due to all the labors and sacrifices by the early Christians. Today, many Korean Christians now serve as missionaries in other parts of the world, bringing the message of salvation to people who have never heard.
Discussion questions