Jun Taek-bu

Life

Jun Taek-bu was born on February 12, 1915, in Muncheon, South Hamgyong Province. His pen name was Ori. While attending Yeongsaeng Middle School in Hamhung, he was influenced by the Gwangju Student Movement. During this period he was for a time drawn to socialist thought and took part in the student movement. He later studied at the Japan Theological Seminary in Tokyo but left without completing his studies. Sources differ as to whether he withdrew in 1940 or 1941.

After Korea's liberation he worked as a magazine editor. He is reported to have served as editor-in-chief of the children's magazine Saebeot in 1952 and of the monthly Sasanggye in 1954. From about 1957 he worked for more than twenty years at the Seoul YMCA (Young Men's Christian Association). He became general secretary in 1964 and from 1975 served as honorary general secretary. He died of causes related to old age on October 21, 2008, at the age of 93.

Ministry and Achievements

Rebuilding the YMCA

He is credited with reviving the Korean YMCA, which had long been unable to function properly after liberation, and with establishing it as a leading civic organization. Because he devoted his entire life to the YMCA, he was nicknamed "the eternal YMCA man."

Writings on Christian History

• A History of the Korean YMCA Movement (1978): Covers the history of the Korean YMCA from 1899 to 1945. It is regarded as the first systematic account of YMCA history.
• A History of the Korean Ecumenical Movement (1979): A history of cooperative movements that crossed denominational lines. Its appendix includes primary sources (the original materials on which historical research is based), such as the 1924 regulations of the Korean National Christian Council. It was republished by Hongsungsa in 2017.
• A History of the Development of the Korean Church (1987, Christian Literature Society of Korea): The first volume of a four-volume series designed to look back on the first century of the Korean church and look ahead to its second century of mission. The other three volumes are Song Kil-sup's A History of Korean Theological Thought, Yi Man-yol's A History of the Korean Christian Cultural Movement, and Min Kyoung-bae's A History of the Korean Christian Social Movement. The book traces the growth of the Korean church, including its revival meetings and evangelistic movements, and is frequently cited in writings on church growth in Korea.

The Hangul Movement and Social Activities

From 1975 he devoted himself to a movement promoting love of Hangul, and he came to be called a Hangul scholar outside the academy. When Hangul Day was removed from the list of public holidays in 1991, he led a campaign to restore it. This campaign is credited with contributing to the designation of Hangul Day as a national holiday in 2006. He also took part in social movements on behalf of people with disabilities, serving as chairman of the operating committees of the Gyonam House of Hope and the Jeongnip Center. He served as a broadcasting review commissioner and participated in a movement to overcome regional antagonism.

Influence on the Korean Church

His greatest influence is considered to be his collection and organization of source materials on the ecumenical movement and the Christian social movement. In studies of the history of the Korean YMCA, he is named alongside Kim Chun-bae and Min Kyoung-bae as one of those who have compiled the YMCA's history. The National Council of Churches in Korea also cites his A History of the Korean Ecumenical Movement when explaining its own origins. His books thus serve as basic reference works for the study of the history of Korean Protestantism and the ecumenical movement.

Assessment

He is regarded as having contributed to Korean Christianity not through pastoral ministry within the church but through social and civic movements centered on the YMCA and through his records and writings. It is also frequently noted that he combined Christian activism with the Hangul movement. No prominent criticism of his life or writings can be found in publicly available sources.