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| St Andrew Kim Taegon, depicted in the 2022 Korean film, A Birth |
Ask about South Korea, and certain things may come to mind. My wargaming friends may talk about the Korean War which divided the country into two. My parents might talk about food, while my students may chat about the latest K-pop or K-drama trend.
Little people know that South Korea actually has the highest Christian population by percentage (28% as of 2022) in East Asia, and dispatches the 2nd most Christian missionaries across the world (United States is the first).
Christianity was introduced to Korea in the 18th century, when Korean scholars (returning from China) translated western books. At that time, Korea was heavily Confucious and banned Christianity.
Yet it was during this time, that a young Andrew Kim decided to become a priest.
The first Korean-born priest
Born to a ruling-class family in 1821, Kim's parents were Roman Catholic. Despite his father being martyred for his faith, Kim decided to go to seminary after his baptism at age 15.
After spending time in seminary in Portuguese-controlled Macau and the Philippines, Andrew Kim was finally ordained as a priest in Shanghai in 1844 the French bishop Jean-Joseph-Jean-Baptiste Ferreol. He then returned to Korea to evangelise.
After being arrested by the authorities, he was executed by beheading near Seoul in 1846. His last words were,
"This is my last hour of life, listen to me attentively: if I have held communication with foreigners, it has been for my religion and my God. It is for Him that I die. My immortal life is on the point of beginning. Become Christians if you wish to be happy after death, because God has eternal chastisements in store for those who have refused to know Him."
Bishop Ferreol lamented his death, and made a request to be buried next to Kim when he died.
In 1984, Andrew Kim was canonised (along with other Korean martyrs) as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. Birth, a film about his life was released in 2022.
