The Korean War and the Church

Background

After Korea's liberation in 1945, a communist regime was established in the North. Believers in the northwestern region, including the Pyeongan provinces, where Christianity was especially strong, then faced persecution, and from late 1945 many of them fled south. The number of people who went south between liberation and the postwar period is estimated at roughly one million to one and a half million. Youngnak Church, founded by believers from Sinuiju under the leadership of Pastor Han Kyung-chik, served both as a community of faith and as a center of daily life for these refugees from the North. Because of this experience, the view of communism as a persecuting force took root in Korean Protestantism even before the war.

Course of Events

• 1950: When the war broke out, many ministers in areas occupied by the North Korean army were arrested or abducted to the North. Pastor Son Yang-won, who cared for patients with Hansen's disease at Aeyangwon in Yeosu, chose not to flee; he was arrested on September 13 and shot at Mipyeong in Yeosu on September 28. In some cases, dozens of members of a single congregation were killed, as at Byeongchon Church in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province.
• September 1950: The American missionary Bob Pierce, together with Korean church leaders including Pastor Han Kyung-chik, founded the Korea Sunmyunghoe (now World Vision). The organization was established to aid war orphans and widows.
• October 1950: After South Korean and United Nations forces recaptured Pyongyang, a welcome rally attended by about three thousand people was held at Seomunbak Church in Pyongyang. Communist forces later sought out and killed Christians who had welcomed the UN forces.
• February 7, 1951: A military chaplaincy was instituted in the South Korean armed forces under Army Headquarters General Order No. 31. The measure was taken at the direction of President Syngman Rhee, and the chaplaincy reportedly began with some thirty Protestant and Catholic clergy (see Military Chaplains).
• June 20, 1952: According to estimates reported to the World Council of Churches (WCC), 973 churches in the South had been burned or destroyed, 997 ministers had been arrested by communist forces, and 889 believers had been killed.

Consequences and Influence

• Presbyterian schism: Shortly after the war, the Presbyterian Church split into the Kosin group, the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea (Kijang), and the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Yejang) (see Presbyterian Schisms in Korea). The historian Yoon Jeong-ran argues that refugee believers from the northwest gained control of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Yejang) on the strength of wartime relief supplies, mission funds, and their relationships with missionaries.
• Relief and welfare: Aid arrived from foreign Christian organizations such as World Vision. World Vision's early work centered on supporting institutions for war orphans.
• Military evangelism: The chaplaincy later became a channel for evangelism within the armed forces. Buddhism joined the chaplaincy in 1968.
• Commemoration of martyrs: Protestants and Catholics honor as martyrs the believers who were abducted to the North or massacred during the war. Protestant denominations have undertaken work such as investigating victims, compiling histories of persecution, and collecting materials for martyrs' memorial halls.

Assessment

Within the church, wartime deaths are honored as martyrdom for the sake of the faith, and the church's leading role in refugee relief is highly regarded. Critics, however, argue that the memory of suffering among Christian refugees from the North became fused with far-right anticommunism and was used to justify political violence. As an example, they cite the relationship between young members of Youngnak Church and the Northwest Youth League. Some former members of Youngnak Church, on the other hand, testify that the congregation's members did not themselves take part in suppression operations. Scholars note that the 2010 report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission did not substantially address Christian casualties. Research surveying the extent of losses region by region continues in an effort to fill this gap.