Ham Sok-Hon and Korean Quakerism - Past and Present
Friends Bulletin
PACIFIC, NORTH PACIFIC AND INTERMOUNTAIN YEARLY MEETINGS OF THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS
September 2001The Quaker presence in Korea goes back to the Korean War, when Ruth and Floyd Schmoe and others built homes and the AFSC did relief work for war victims (see A Western Quaker Reader, pp. 134-5). According to a history of Quakerism in Korea by Haeng Woo Lee, "Reginald and Esther Price from Washington Monthly Meeting, and Arthur Mitchell from Honolulu Monthly Meeting came to work under the International Cooperation Administration, the American Government's agency to help rebuild Korea. " They stayed on and along with a group of Koreans helped to found Seoul Meeting on February 15, 1958.
Around this time Ham Sok-Hon, a Korean patriot and spiritual leader whom some have likened to Gandhi, became involved with Quakers. Well known in Korea for his courageous stands and spiritual depth, Ham traveled to' Pendle Hill and Pacific Yearly Meeting in 1963 and became well known among Friends.
In 1988, Shirley Ruth (then editor of Friends Bulletin) visited Ham Sok-Hon in Korea with a group of Friends. Asked what we Americans could do to be useful to Korea, he replied: "Convince your government to withdraw its occupation troops from South Korea by 1990. Ask them to persuade the USSR and China to bring pressure on North Korea to begin reunification talks" (FB, March 1989, p. 118).
Frequently imprisoned for his outspokenness, Ham Sok-Hon was deeply committed to spirituality. "A universe such as this, living a life such as this, is it not worth living even though there is much suffering?" Significantly, his major book was entitled Queen of Suffering, a Spiritual History of Korea.
Ham Sok-Hon's death in 1989 was "a great sorrow for the whole of Korea, "recalled Gilmann Booh, clerk of Seoul Friends Meeting. "People will remember his teaching forever. "
After his death, attendance at Seoul Meeting declined, but now the Meeting appears to be on an upswing.
Tom Coyner, a computer programmer [sic. - actually a software sales & marketing manger] married to a Korean and currently living in Seoul, describes the current revival of interest in Quakerism in Korea. More information about Ham Sok-Hon and a history of Korean Friends can be found at http://www2.gol.com/users/ quakers/HSH_index.htm. -Editor.
CURRENT SITUATION AT SEOUL MEETING
by Tom CoynerPositive changes in Seoul Meeting began about eight months ago and things continue to improve. The catalyst came largely by repatriated Koreans who have studied in the UK and Pendle Hill.
The meeting house is starting to look like a real meeting house inside and out. We have about fourteen people attending meeting for worship and often have more than twenty people showing up. The meeting house is cleared of personal effects and is nicely organized with lots of light coming in from three walls on the second floor.
I started taking it on myself to do some cleaning up of the garden and walk ways every Sunday. By the third Sunday I found myself surrounded by other enthusiastic Friends in what was our first "work camp" in years. The next two Sundays were the same and we have now done some landscaping, including building a stone wall topped with flowers and creating a small shaded lawn after removing thousands of stones and dozens of tree roots before planting the sod strips. We look forward this summer to having a picnic there.
This spring is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Quaker patriot Ham Sok Hon. Since he was a close associate of President Kim Dae Jung, the government has been sponsoring events to refamiliarize the younger generation with Teacher Ham. Early in 2001 KBS (the BBC of Korea) did a documentary on Ham Sok-Hon and the Seoul Monthly Meeting was highlighted as well as several quotes by non-Quakers who had extremely positive things to say about our faith tradition. That led to the newspaper article. So we are starting to become known and the meeting is steadily becoming stronger.