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Appendix IX
Korean Travel
Diary, 1960
By Frank Engel
Excitement simmered
amongst the tourist class passengers as the plane circled
When I had passed
through Customs and been officially and very warmly welcomed by representatives
of the Korean Student Christian Council, including Hung-tae Kim and Hei-sun Oak
who were at
So began my third
visit to
From The Student World, No. IV, 1961
110
A changed Korea
The change was due
to two factors: the overthrow of the Syng-man Rhee regime, and the means by
which it was overthrown.
Syngman Rhee
himself was and to a large extent remains, the symbol of national independence,
of national unity and of resistance to communism. To achieve any of these aims
called for a rigorous and sometimes repressive policy. By and large this was
accepted more willingly by the Koreans themselves than by outsiders. They saw
the necessity for it, and they were accustomed to that type of government under
the Japanese and their own kings. But by the end of 1958, it became clear that
the Liberal Party intended to use extreme measures to keep itself in power and
Syngman Rhee in the presidential palace. It used physical force to secure the
passage of amendments to the National Security Act by which it took increased
powers. This caused a major political disturbance, which was only aggravated by
the Government's suppression of a prominent newspaper in April 1959. In May
and June of that year, I was surprised by several instances of individuals
being publicly critical of the government - and by the fear of others to be a
party to such criticism. Looking back, one sees the meeting of Christian
professors in
Throughout 1959,
the government kept up its pressure to ensure that Syngman Rhee was re-elected
as President in 1960. In March 1960, two months earlier than originally
planned, he was re-elected.
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But the pressure
had gone too far. There was an outcry against the rigging of ballot boxes and
other corrupt or coercive acts during the polling. A demonstration in
As the
demonstrators from
It was not until
July that elections were held which resulted in the victory of the Democratic
Party and the disappearance of the Liberal Party. Before and after that there
continued to be demonstrations or agitations against leaders in any walk of
life who had been too closely associated with the Liberal Party. One of the
allegations was usually that they had made "illegal fortunes", i.e.,
that they had used their positions to feather the own nests. Every public
institution and agency of government, every university, church or association
was subject to this process of "purification". In some cases leaders
resigned whether politically involved or not, but in most they were forced out
by student demonstrations. This was continuing seven months after the
Revolution, but by that time, it had become clear there was a limit to the
amount of leadership a nation could lose. The Government felt compelled to
forbid any further attacks on the senior leadership of the Army, as the
situation was imperiling the defense of the country. About the same time, they
felt compelled to try to bring to an end the era of "government by
demonstration" and, after a hesitant beginning, took firm action against
students who demonstrated in November.
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However, in the
meantime, it had been clearly established that the new government was subject
to criticism and that the student body, in some measure or other, was the voice
of such criticism.
Major consequences
of the April Revolution were:
a)
Freedom of thought and expression. It was now possible to
discuss a variety of political and economic ideas without being arrested as a
communist. It was even possible for men in public positions to discus the
possibility of contact with
b)
Hope of a new society free from corruption and graft in
political and business life.
c)
New relationships with
It was a completely
different atmosphere, an almost unbelievable change that had taken place. And
yet by the end of six months, feelings of confusion, bewilderment and even
despair were being expressed by some students. The bright promise of the
Revolution seemed in danger of becoming tarnished. Somehow, the sacrifice of
young lives did not seem to guarantee a purer national life. Social and
political optimism was being supplanted by the persistence of evil in the
political struggle. Bewilderment arose as students saw that demonstrations were
not enough, and that there needed to be more fundamental approaches to a new
life movement than those of trying to correct the trade balance by boycotting
coffee shops.
The winter that
brought in 1961 was one darkened by uncertainty and fear as to what the New
Year might fail to bring forth or what it might reveal. As it began, it
smelt like a fateful winter.
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Change in student
Christian circles
To my great
delight, the Korean Student Christian Council organized my visit. Instead of my
time being divided between three organizations, the Student YMCA, the Student
YWCA and the Korean SCM. It began with a reception held by the KSCC and was
marked by a series of KSCC conferences on the life and mission of the Church,
and by regular meetings of the staff of the three organizations coming together
as the staff of the KSCC. Working together, the staff discussed the areas of
common work. They adopted a common study programme to be carried out by the
KSCC, and plans for a joint summer service programme with preparatory training
for participants.
How great a change
is this can be judged by the fact that Winburn Thomas first proposed the idea
of a KSCC when he visited
It was not,
however, until the KSCC became the affiliated member of the Federation at
The conferences on the Life and Mission of
the Church
The KSCC planned
three of these and a fourth took place by the spontaneous initiative of
students in
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The three
conferences was planned by the KSCC to convey to each major region some of the
thinking and stimulus of Strasbourg, to present the KSCC as an established fact
and explain its policy and program, and to give help to the development of
regional Councils of the KSCC. We were fortunate in being able to have several
leaders present at all the conferences and some at more than one conference. In
general, the pattern was as follows:
a)
I spoke on the LMC Programme, stating the reason for it and
its significance in the Asian setting and for an SCM, summarizing very briefly
the main thought of Rangoon Conference, and passing on some of the main ideas
from
b)
There was an address on the role of the KSCC, its aims,
programs, and hopes.
c)
A panel discussion on the task of the SCM (SCM here means
KSCM plus Student Ys) in the light of the changed and changing situation in
d)
An address on how to plan an SCM program, or a discussion
on the formation of a regional council.
Lack of finance and
pressure of academic work prevented the holding of conferences longer than one
weekend; but it seemed to me it was well worth while doing this much. Students
of the three organizations were brought together in fellowship, the KSCC began
to take on reality, information was disseminated about the WSCF and the LMC
program, and help was given with regional and campus problems. Not least was
the value of a team of leaders representative of the KSCM, the Student Ys and
the WSCF working together not once but several times and in different settings
which tended to throw up a variety of problems and challenges which had to be
faced together. In this venture, the KSCC was discovering itself and we were
learning what it could and should mean.
We also learnt a
good deal, as to what students were thinking. We learnt of their confusion,
bewilderment and loss of courage, because of the lack of adequate Christian
leadership and the lack of Christian unity. We learnt of their sense of
responsibility to change society and the church; and of their uncertainty as to
how these things were to be done. We heard a tall lad stress the need for a
conscious concern with social reform, the need for "the consciousness that
I am in history", and the need for a religious discipline so that we may
know our calling in the world.
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On the other hand,
we heard a girl say, "It is necessary first of all to concentrate on the
campus task and to build up confidence and find a central faith, and only then
to go out to change society." We heard another student say, "Start
with your limited capacity. Don't be concerned or afraid because of its
smallness". And yet another said, "We must come to the SCM with our
minds, not with our ears only; for the SCM should be a place not merely for
fellowship, but where students will receive inspiration from the Bible."
And after several complaints about the lack of leaders who understood students,
one student stated emphatically, "A sense of purpose does not depend on
senior leadership, but on the witness of members on the campus.... We must
explain that Christianity is not just for the old people who want to go to
heaven."
There is certainly
vitality, enthusiasm, dedication and courage amongst Christian students in
With these needs in
view, the KSCC has planned its program.
The
One afternoon I stepped out of the
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There were many
factors involved in this situation as in most serious disputes; but strangely
enough, anti-Americanism was not one of them, although it might have become
one. The University Board saw the struggle as basically, a contest between
itself and some professors and students for control of University policy. The
professors, on the other hand, were basically concerned about certain problems
of tenure of their positions, and the students were simply supporting the
professors. As in an industrial dispute or strike, one dismissal or action has
various effects and side effects and the major issues get obscured. Cutting
through all the allegations, misunderstandings and fears on both sides, there
seemed to be two main issues:
a) What
is the nature of a Christian university? How is it maintained as a Christian
university? Is this done by giving full tenure of office to Christian
professors only and placing others on a temporary basis? What is the test of
being a "Christian" professor? Baptism? Nominal church attendance?
In other words, what is the role of the institutional Church in the power
structure of a Christian university?
b) What
is the role of the foreign missionary, particularly in times of insistence on
self-determination?
It sees to me, in
other words, that beneath the smoke of strike action, house-wrecking, teargas
and police arrests, there were the fundamental issues of the nature of a
Christian university and the role of official church leadership particularly if
this is foreign in nationality. For this reason, this local struggle (which
involved the arrest of 187 students, the destruction of 2 buildings and the
arbitration of a dispute in a Christian university by a Government Ministry of
Education) is of significance to the WSCF as a whole.
The Christian's
political concern
There was no doubt
about the liveliness of the political concern of Korean Christian students.
This was due both to the realization that students had political power as shown
in the April Revolution and to the subsequent bewilderment as to the nature of
politics and the role of the Christians.
When at an informal
meeting which I had with student officers of the YMCA and YWCA, questions were
called for; the first question was "What do you think about
Neutralization (meaning the international neutralization of
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The question of the
Christian's involvement was a particularly live one because the Revolution had
shown that many Christian leaders were involved in politics in the sense of
being closely connected with the Liberal Party and its leadership. When this
was shown to be corrupt, ruthless and repressive, it reflected no credit on the
churches. This was particularly because of the involvement of a number of
Christian ministers in full-time political activity, as, for example, Mr. Chun
as Minister of Public Information and the man responsible for the suppression
of the
At the informal
meeting with student officers, already referred to, I was asked, "What is
the meaning of reconciliation?" I took this to be a general question, but
soon discovered it was a burning personal issue, for the student who asked it
was right in the thick of student politics in Yonsei University! The result was
that he requested an additional meeting and the next day brought seven others
from Yonsei to discuss what it means to be reconciled with non-Christians and
to take a reconciling part in a strife-torn university. Politics and theology
are far from being academic questions in
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Appreciation
I cannot conclude
without expressing very grateful appreciation of the warmth of the welcome
given me on this as on previous occasions, of the friendship shown to the
Federation and me and of the wonderful hospitality, which I received. A
Federation Secretary could not be received more whole-heartedly and cordially than
in