Kang Won Yong

Who was Kang Won Yong?

Dr. Kang Won Yong was a Christian leader, pioneer of the ecumenical movement in Korea, and an advocate for peace and reconciliation in the Korean peninsula.

In 1945, Kang established the Kyoung Dong Presbyterian Church in Seoul. This church would become the starting point for the spread of the Presbyterian Church within South Korea. After this, he served as General Secretary of the Korean Student Christian Federation in 1948. In 1964 and again in 1980, he was President of the National Council of Churches in Korea.

In 1962, Kang founded the Korean Christian Academy to facilitate dialog between South Korea's many religions. He served as its director and president. Through the Academy's committee for interfaith dialogue, Yong sponsored over one hundred meetings among leaders of South Korea's six leading religions. As a result, he was arrested in 1979 by the National Intelligence Service of Korea for alleged subversive activity.

Kang served two terms as President of the Christian Conference of Asia from 1968 to 1983. From 1975 to 1983, he was a member of the Central Committee and of the Executive Committee of the World Council of Churches. In the early 1970s, he took initiative and contributed towards the founding of the ecumenical academy Association of Christian Institutes and Study Centres in Asia. Also in the 1970s, Kong lead movements for human rights and democracy in Korea, holding hundreds of dialogs with military leaders to encourage reconciliation and a return to democratic process.