Yi Su-jeong (Evangelist)

Life

Yi Su-jeong was a yangban scholar of the late Joseon period and is described as a member of the moderate Enlightenment faction. In 1882 he traveled to Japan as an unofficial attendant of the susinsa (修信使, a diplomatic mission sent by the Joseon government to Japan) led by Pak Yeong-hyo. In Tokyo he became acquainted with the Christian agriculturalist Tsuda Sen (津田仙), through whom he encountered Christianity. He is reported to have attended a church worship service for the first time on December 25, 1882, at Tsuda's invitation.

On April 29, 1883, he received baptism at the Rogetsuchō (露月町) Church in Tokyo. George W. Knox, a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (Northern Presbyterian), and the Japanese pastor Yasukawa Tōru (安川亨) conducted the baptism and the catechetical examination (a series of questions confirming the candidate's faith before baptism), although sources differ somewhat as to which of the two performed which role. In May of the same year he attended a nationwide conference of Japanese Christians. After the rest of the mission returned home, he remained in Japan and taught Korean at the Tokyo School of Foreign Languages. He returned to Korea in 1886 and is reported to have been executed, but the specific circumstances of his death remain unclear.

Ministry and Achievements

Appeal for Missionaries

In 1883 he wrote to American churches asking them to send missionaries. In his letter he explained that because Korea was opening its doors to the outside world, it would no longer be easy to persecute Christianity as in the past, and he promised to assist any missionaries who came to the best of his ability. He believed that American churches, rather than the Japanese church, should send missionaries directly. Knox likened this appeal to the call of the man of Macedonia whom Paul heard in a vision (Acts 16:9). For this reason Yi Su-jeong is known as "the Macedonian of Korea." The letter has long been thought to have first appeared in April 1884 in the mission journal The Missionary Review, but evidence has recently been presented that it was published earlier, in January of the same year, in an American Christian weekly.

Bible Translation

While in Japan he published the Hyeonto Hanhan Sinyak Seongseo, a Classical Chinese New Testament annotated with Korean grammatical markers (to, the particles and endings added when reading Classical Chinese). He also translated the Gospel of Mark into mixed Korean-Chinese script, publishing it as Sinyak Magajeon Bogeumseo Eonhae in Yokohama in February 1885. This translation of Mark was designated a National Registered Cultural Heritage in 2016 and is held by the Korean Bible Society.

Influence on the Korean Church

His letter is regarded as having led American Christians, who knew little about Korea, to view the country as a mission field. In April 1885 Horace Underwood and Henry Appenzeller arrived at Chemulpo. Early missionaries such as these, who entered Korea by way of Japan, are reported to have been able to bring Korean-language Scripture with them thanks to Yi Su-jeong's translation. His work is therefore often cited as an illustration of a distinctive feature of Korean church history: "the Bible arrived before the missionaries." During the same period, a separate translation effort led by John Ross was under way in Manchuria.

Assessment

Yi Su-jeong is highly regarded as a pioneer in the reception of Protestantism in Korea and is described as the first Korean to be baptized in Japan. However, because there is a record that Seo Sang-ryun was baptized by Ross in Manchuria in April 1882, caution is warranted in calling Yi "the first Korean Protestant." Research to date has focused mainly on his confession of faith and his efforts to help missionaries enter Korea. More recently, studies in Korean linguistics and history have also begun to examine his translations in light of the formation of modern Korean prose style and orthography. Few verified historical sources exist regarding his birthplace, his activities after returning to Korea, or the circumstances of his death.