Urban Industrial Mission

Overview

Urban Industrial Mission refers to the mission work that churches carried out in factories and workplaces in industrializing cities. It is also known by the shortened forms "Industrial Mission" or, in Korean, Dosan. Its original name was "Industrial Evangelism." As the emphasis of the work shifted from preaching the gospel to individual workers toward working conditions and workers' rights, the name "Urban Industrial Mission" came into wide use. During the same period, the Catholic Church carried out a similar labor ministry, centered on organizations such as the Young Catholic Workers.

Background

From the late 1950s through the 1960s, factories multiplied in places such as Yeongdeungpo in Seoul and Incheon, and young workers leaving the countryside flocked to the cities. At the time, the worldwide church was actively discussing industrial society and the city as new fields of mission. This discussion was carried forward chiefly by the World Council of Churches and Asian church bodies. Industrial mission in the Korean church began within this ecumenical current, with the support of overseas churches and missionaries.

Development

• 1957: The launch of Industrial Evangelism by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea is generally regarded as the starting point of Korean Protestant industrial mission. After the subsequent Presbyterian schisms, this work was continued by the Presbyterian Church of Korea (Tonghap). In the Yeongdeungpo area, the Yeongdeungpo Urban Industrial Mission was active.
• Around 1961: The American Methodist missionary George Ogle is reported to have begun industrial evangelism in Incheon. This work later continued as the Incheon Urban Industrial Mission, affiliated with the Korean Methodist Church. Other denominations, including the Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea, also took part.
• Late 1960s: Work that had centered on factory worship services and the evangelization of workers began to change. Worker education, small groups, and support for organizing labor unions increased, and the name "Urban Industrial Mission" became established.
• 1970s: As industrial mission organizations supported the union activities of women workers, they came into frequent conflict with the government and employers. Notable cases include the Dongil Textile labor union incident of 1978 and the YH Trading Company workers' sit-in of 1979. After the YH incident, the government singled out industrial mission as the instigator behind labor disputes. Criticism of industrial mission became so intense that a saying spread at the time: "When Dosan gets in, the company goes dosan" (a pun on the Korean word for bankruptcy). George Ogle was forcibly deported in 1974, and some staff members were investigated and arrested.

Outcomes and Influence

In the 1980s, continued repression of the labor movement narrowed the space in which industrial mission could operate. After 1987, the labor movement developed its own organizations independent of the church, and the role of industrial mission broadened to include labor counseling, community work, and support for migrant workers and the urban poor. Some organizations, such as the Yeongdeungpo Urban Industrial Mission, remain active today. The experience of industrial mission work became one of the pillars of the church's role in the democratization movement of the 1970s. It is also regarded as having influenced the formation of Minjung theology, which sought to do theology from the standpoint of the suffering people (minjung). The National Council of Churches in Korea responded to incidents involving industrial mission during this period with public statements and prayer meetings.

Assessment

The denominations that took part in industrial mission, along with progressive churches, regard it as an example of the church fulfilling its social responsibility and credit it with defending the human rights of workers marginalized during industrialization. By contrast, some conservative churches criticized it for departing from the church's proper mission of saving souls and evangelism and drifting into labor and political activism. In the 1970s, the government and some media outlets branded industrial mission as a "pro-communist" (yonggong, aiding communism) force. Advocates of industrial mission countered that defending the basic rights of workers was itself the practice of the gospel, and that the government was trying to obscure labor issues by recasting them as ideological ones. Today it is regarded as an essential part of the history of Korean industrialization, the labor movement, and the social engagement of the Korean church.