Orthodoxy in the Republic of Korea

The early years

The history of Orthodoxy in Korea began with the establishment by decree of the Holy Synod of July 2-4, 1897, of the Russian Ecclesiastical Mission , whose task was to take care of Russian Orthodox living on the Korean Peninsula , as well as preaching Orthodoxy among the local population. A certain role in the creation of the Mission was played by the fact of the mass resettlement of Koreans in the late XIX - early XX centuries to the territory of the Russian Empire ^[1] . In January 1897, about 120 Russian employees and 30 Orthodox Russian Koreans lived in Seoul ^[2] . On April 17, 1903, the church was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Chong-dong) in the center of Seoul ^[3] .

Since the Japanese occupation of Korea , the activities of the church have experienced various difficulties. ^[1] During the Russo-Japanese War, the church was closed. By the beginning of the revolution, apart from the church in Seoul, the Korean Mission had five parishes in the province, with several hundred Christian Christians. However, the mission suffered a disaster due to the loss of livelihood. Part of the property was sold, part leased. In these difficult conditions, support was provided from those who were not faithful: from the head of the Mission of the Anglican Church, Bishop Mark Trollop and pioneer of Russian trade in Korea, Judea Moses Akimovich Ginsburg. In addition, the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, which operated until 1925, provided some assistance. In 1937, on the estate of Yu. M. Yankovsky “Novina”, located at the port of Chongjin , the Resurrection Church was built for Russian emigrants who came to North Korea from Manchuria for the summer. By the period 1936-1939. Attempts to revive missionary activity in Korea are included. ^[1] In 1936, the construction of a chapel church was organized in Ompo (North Korea). ^[4] However, starting in 1940, the Japanese administration consistently expelled preachers from Korea and in 1941 completely banned Orthodox services in the Korean language. After the end of the war and the occupation of Korea in 1945, oppression of Christians in the north began, which contrasted with American support for Christians in the south and thus caused "religious emigration" to the south. ^[one]

After World War II

In the postwar years, the Russian Mission launched activities in the South. However, the presence of the Soviet consulate in close proximity to the Mission, as well as the rumors and scandal associated with visiting members of the embassy of St. Nicholas Cathedral, led to the fact that in 1949, as a result of the military seizure of the Mission, supported by the American administration, the last Russian head of the Spiritual Mission in Seoul, Archimandrite Polycarp (Priymak) was forced to leave South Korea. ^[1] The remaining priest in the Mission, Alex Kim Kim Khan, went missing at the start of the Korean War . With the introduction of the UN troops, an Orthodox chaplain, Greek archimandrite Andrei (Halkilopoulos), arrived ^[5]

On August 13, 2006, a temple was consecrated in honor of the Life-Giving Trinity in Pyongyang. ^[4] During the construction of the temple, several North Koreans underwent theological training at the Moscow Theological Academy and Seminary, two of whom were ordained to the priesthood and are currently serving. ^[five]

A request from the Russian Embassy in 2009 about a plot of land for building a church in Seoul was refused. According to the statement of the Korea Times newspaper, the place requested by the embassy is located next to the historical building of the Russian Diplomatic Mission , where in 1896-1897 hiding the king of Korea since the Japanese coup and led the country. ^[6]

From the day of its foundation until 1908, the Korean mission was under the jurisdiction of the St. Petersburg diocese , and from 1908 to 1921 - under the jurisdiction of the Vladivostok diocese , from 1921 to 1944 under the jurisdiction of the Tokyo diocese , from 1944 - under the jurisdiction of the Harbin and East Asian diocese .

After the end of World War II, the decree of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Alexy I of December 27, 1945 confirmed the stay of the mission under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate . The Russian spiritual mission in Korea continued its activities until 1949, when the South Korean authorities expelled the last head of the mission, Archimandrite Polycarp , from the country and arrested her property. In 1953, the Greek archimandrite in South Korea began reorganizing the existing parish in Seoul.

In 1955, the remaining parishes, which in those years did not have the possibility of contacts with the Russian Orthodox Church, passed into the jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Constantinople ^[4] , and the property of the Russian Spiritual Mission after the Korean War was subordinate to the American Archbishop (1955), and since 1970 ^{[5] ]} - Australian-New Zealand Metropolis . ^[7] . By a decision of the Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, on April 20, 2004, a separate Korean Metropolitanate was formed on the territory of Korea, the first head of which was appointed Bishop Sotiri (Trambas) , who served in Korea for over 30 years as an archimandrite and bishop. In May 2008, Metropolitan Ambrose (Zographos) , who until then had served in Korea for more than 10 years, replaced the metropolitan Sotirius as head of the Korean metropolis.

From 2000 to 2011, the Russian-speaking parish of the church in honor of the Monk Maxim the Greek, located on the territory of St. Nicholas Cathedral in Seoul, was nurtured by the hieromonk Theophanes (Kim) by agreement between the Patriarchate of Moscow and the Moscow Patriarchate, and with his departure to Russia, from 2012 he was nurtured by Archpriest Roman Kavchak, Ukrainian clergyman of the Patriarchate of Constantinople ^[8] .

Patriarchate of Constantinople

The Korean metropolis, according to 2007-2008, consists of 7 parishes, which makes a total of 25 churches and chapels, 9 priests and 2 deacons.

Russian Orthodox Church Abroad

The mission is subordinate to the Sydney and Australian-New Zealand dioceses ^[9] . The administrator of the mission is Priest Pavel Kang ^[10] .

• Holy Trinity Skete and Church of the Holy Righteous Anna, Samchok , Gangwon-do Province.
• Korean Orthodox Mission, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Kumi , Gyeongsangbuk-do Province .

Moscow Patriarchate

In November 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion (Alfeev) announced the intention of the Moscow Patriarchate to establish a parish in Seoul ^[11] .

On February 26, 2019, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate formed the Korean Diocese within the Korean People’s Democratic Republic and the Republic of Korea with the title of Diocesan Bishop “Korean” ^[12] .

On July 9, 2019 at the meeting of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church, the following parishes were accepted into the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church:

1. The Resurrection of Christ in Seoul;
2. Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Busan. [one]

• Russians in Korea
• Orthodoxy in the DPRK
• List of Russian Orthodox churches in the Republic of Korea

• Korean Spiritual Mission Site (Eng .)
• Website of the Korean Metropolis (Patriarchate of Constantinople) (English) (cor.)
• Orthodoxy in Korea (Russian)
• DPRK Orthodox Committee Delegation Visits Moscow