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Ham Sok-Hon
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Updated August 7, 2010

NEW:

Letters from Ham Sok-Hon during his travels in America in the early 1960's -  22 letters

Five Poems by Ham Sok-Hon - in original Korean and in English translation with forward

Message from Sok Hon Ham of Seoul Friends Meeting to the Triennial of the Friends World Committee for Consultation, Sydney, Australia, August 18-25, 1973

Ham Sok-Hon Fought Against Injustice, Corruption By Kim Sung-soo, Korea Times, March 12, 2006
 

Seoul (Korea) Monthly Meeting of Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)

Ham Sok-Hon (family name = Ham; sometimes Romanized as Ham Seok-Heon) was one of Asia's most important voices for democracy and non-violence during the 20th century.   He lived from 1901 to 1989.

Imprisoned by the Japanese, the Russians and later Park Chung-Hee for courageously yet gently maintaining a sense of integrity, he was and continues to be widely respected by people within a remarkably wide spectrum of political, philosophical and religious beliefs. 

Though formally a Quaker, he concluded that all religions are one.   Within his unique perspective one can find a complimentary mixture of Christianity, Taoism and other Asian philosophies.

Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and often called the "Gandhi of Korea," Teacher Ham left a legacy of over 20 books in Korean. This site is dedicated to collecting, preserving and sharing English translations of his work as well as other pieces written about him. 

In October 2000 Ham Sok-Hon was selected by the Republic of Korea as a national cultural figure to be posthumously honored by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in April 2001.  The MOE published 20,000 60-page booklets and distributed them to all Korean middle and high schools during the spring of 2001.

Should the viewer wish to contribute to this site, please contact Tom Coyner at tomcoyner@gmail.com

© Tom Coyner 2010

This site was featured in a Korea Broadcasting System documentary on Ham Sok Hon aired on Sunday, March 15, 2001.

Korean Language Ham Sok Hon Sites:
http://ww.ssialsori.net 
http://www.religionstheology.org/
http://user.chollian.net/~hephziba/ham.html
http://myhome.shinbiro.com/~hansrang
http://user.chollian.net/~hephziba/ham06.html

English language books may be available for order from this web site.  Please click here to order the following English books:

 * An Anthology of Ham Sok Hon - US$20.00 or KRW25,000 each
An English language collection of three interviews of Ham Sok Hon, eight essays by Ham Sok Hon, nine essays about Ham Sok Hon and two papers on Ham Sok Hon (339 pages; Samin Books, 2001)

* Biography of a Korean Quaker, Ham Sok Hon - Voice of the People and Pioneer of Religious Pluralism in Twentieth Century Korea by Kim Sung Soo -  US$20.00 or KRW25,000 each
An English language biography with 20 photographs, extensive notes, bibliography and life chronology table by Dr. Sung-Soo Kim (360 pages, Samin Books, 2001)

Teacher Ham Sok Hon


Photos © 1973 by Norm Thorpe