Far East Broadcasting Company (Korea)

Overview

The Far East Broadcasting Company is a South Korean radio broadcaster that belongs to FEBC, an international Christian broadcasting mission organization. An interdenominational broadcaster not affiliated with any particular denomination, it has conducted both gospel broadcasting within Korea and missionary broadcasting directed at the communist regions to the north. Its corporate motto is "Broadcasting Christ to the World!" As of 2026, it operates two AM stations, thirteen FM stations, and fourteen relay stations.

Founding and History

• In 1954 the Korea mission of The Evangelical Alliance Mission (TEAM), an American mission agency, established the Korea Evangelical Broadcasting Association as an incorporated foundation. That same year the association received a radio station license from the Ministry of Communications. Mission work in communist countries such as the Soviet Union, North Korea, China, and Mongolia was a principal purpose from the outset.
• On December 23, 1956, the station went on the air in Hagik-dong, Incheon, under the call sign HLKX. At its launch it was named the Korea Evangelical Broadcasting Station.
• The station was renamed the International Gospel Broadcasting Station in 1961 and TEAM Radio Far East Broadcasting in 1967, and it has used its present name, Far East Broadcasting Company, since 1979. In 1967 it reportedly moved its headquarters to Sangsu-dong, Mapo District, Seoul.
• FEBC in the United States is an interdenominational missionary broadcasting organization founded in 1945. When FEBC relocated its Okinawa transmitter to Jeju, it launched the Asia Broadcasting Station on June 30, 1973, with a transmitting power of 250 kW. Pastor Billy Kim (Kim Jang-hwan) oversaw the practical work of its establishment and became chairman of the board of the Asia Broadcasting Station in 1975.
• When the Far East Broadcasting Company encountered operational difficulties, the Asia Broadcasting Station began operating it jointly in 1977. The two broadcasters formally merged on October 1, 2001, and the Asia Broadcasting Station became Jeju FEBC.
• In 2000 the Seoul headquarters began FM broadcasting (106.9 MHz), and the company subsequently expanded its nationwide network of branch stations.

Major Activities

• Domestic mission broadcasting: It airs sermons, hymns and gospel songs, and programs on Christian faith and life.
• Northern mission broadcasting: It has broadcast toward North Korea, China, Russia, and Mongolia. Before the merger, the Asia Broadcasting Station broadcast in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian.
• Church support and events: In 2026, its seventieth anniversary year, it carried out a nationwide support program for churches that are not financially self-supporting and held regional evangelistic rallies.

Organization

The Far East Broadcasting Company is not an ecumenical body in which denominations hold membership but a broadcaster organized as an incorporated foundation. It belongs to the international FEBC broadcasting network and consists of the Seoul headquarters and branch stations throughout the country, including Jeju FEBC. Its chairman of the board, Billy Kim, is a Baptist pastor who has long served as both president and chairman. The Far East Broadcasting Company states that it was not founded by Billy Kim but resulted from the 1977 unification of broadcasters established by two American mission organizations.

Controversies and Assessment

• Because it has carried on mission broadcasting to communist countries since shortly after the Korean War, the Far East Broadcasting Company is regarded as a leading institution of the "northern mission."
• Some media outlets report that in the 1970s the company experienced both financial difficulties and conflict with parties associated with the Guwonpa (Salvation Sect).
• Around 2016, some media outlets raised concerns about hereditary succession in the company's management, citing the appointment of Billy Kim's children to key positions such as board member and head of the U.S. branch.