Ham Seok-heon (13 March 1901 – 4 February 1989) was a notable figure in the

Religious Society of Friends Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abili ...

(Quaker) movement in

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, and was nicknamed the "

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

of Korea." Ham was an important

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n voice for

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

and non-violence during the 20th century, despite numerous imprisonments for his convictions. He was a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

who concluded that all religions are on common ground in terms of human beings, a view shared by many Quakers. He encouraged peace and democracy and promoted non-violence movement known as “seed idea” (ssi-al sasang), consistently present in his books ''Korean History Seen through a Will'' published in 1948, ''Human Revolution'' in 1961, ''History and People'' in 1964, and ''Queen of Suffering: a spiritual history of Korea'' edited in 1985. He was also a poet and wrote about 120 poems such as “Song of the West Wind” written in 1983. In 2000, Sok-Hon Ham was selected by the Republic of Korea as a national cultural figure.

Early life

Ham was born in Pyong-an Province, currently North Korea and grew up as a Presbyterian Christian. In 1919, he joined the March 1st Movement, the beginning of Korean resistance to Japanese occupation. He lost his place in Pyongyang Public High School. In 1923 he graduated from Osan High School and went to Japan to study to become a teacher. There he first encountered the Non-Church movement, an indigenous Japanese Christian movement that had no liturgy, sacraments or ordained clergy. It spoke out against social injustices and advocated pacifism.

Biography

* March 13, 1901: Born in North Pyong'an Province (Yong-Cheon) * 1906: Entered a missionary school of Deok-il Elementary School * 1914: Graduated from Deok-il Elementary School * 1916: Graduated from Yang-shi Public Elementary School, and entered Pyongyang public high school * 1919: After protesting against Japanese colonial regime in Korea, quit Pyongyang public highschool * 1923: Graduated from Osan high school, and went to Japan to take his studies in Tokyo school of education * 1924-1928: Studied the bible under

Uchimura Kanzo Uchimura may refer to * Uchimura (surname) * Uchimura Dam in the Nagano Prefecture, Japan *Uchimura Produce , produced by Teruyoshi Uchimura, is a Japanese TV comedy program that aired from 2000 to 2005 on TV Asahi. Summary The program that Ter ...

with Kim Kyo-shin and Song Du-Yong * 1928: Graduated from Tokyo school of education * 1928-1938: Taught history and ethics at Osan highschool * 1934: Serially published “Korean History Seen through a Will” in ‘Seong-seo Chosun’ magazine * 1938: After protesting against Japanese colonial regime in Korea, quit working as a teacher at Osan highschool * 1940-1941: After working at Songsan agricultural&educational school, imprisoned as a protester against the Japanese colonial regime (schemed by the Japanese colonial regime) * 1942-1943: After writing several articles against Japanese colonial regime in Korea for a monthly magazine 'Seong-seo-Chosun(Bible Korea)', imprisoned at Seo-Dae-Moon prison * 1945: Appointed as a minister of education for Northern Pyung-an province * 1947: Imprisoned as an organizer or of a student protests against the Soviet (schemed by the Soviet) * 1956: He criticized social and political problems in an editorial paper, Sasang-gye. * 1958: Imprisoned for writing an article “Must be a Thinking People to Live” which criticizes the autocratic regime and began his religious career as the Korean representative of Quaker. * 1961-1963: Studied at the Quaker schools

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in the US and

Woodbrooke Woodbrooke Study Centre is a Quaker college in Selly Oak, Birmingham, England. The only Quaker Study Centre in Europe, it was founded by George Cadbury in 1903 and occupies his former home on the Bristol Road. Woodbrooke's first Director of Stud ...

in Britain. * 1963: Protested against General

Park Chung-hee Park Chung-hee (, ; 14 November 1917 – 26 October 1979) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the dictator of South Korea from 1961 until his assassination in 1979; ruling as an unelected military strongman from 1961 ...

becoming to run for the presidency * 1965: Protested against Japanese regime and president

for their attempt for an alliance * 1974: After protesting against President

for his attempt to change the constitution to be elected again, convicted * 1979: Nominated for

Nobel peace prize The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Swedish industrialist, inventor and armaments (military weapons and equipment) manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Chemi ...

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

* 1985: Nominated again for Nobel peace prize by American Friends Service Committee * 1987: received the first Inchon-award, given to a person who contributed in the development of press and media. * February 4, 1989: Died in Seoul National University Hospital * 2002: After his death, he received the “Accolade for Founding a Nation”, as a sign of recognition from the nation.

Bibliography

* Kim Sung-soo, ''Biography of a Korean Quaker, Ham Sok-hon'', Seoul: Samin Books, 2001, 360 pp.

External links

* *
Interviews with Teacher HamKorean Ham, Sok Hon website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ham, Sok-hon 1901 births 1989 deaths South Korean philosophers Prisoners and detainees of Japan Prisoners and detainees of South Korea Korean human rights activists Korean anti-war activists South Korean democracy activists South Korean prisoners and detainees Korean Quakers Quaker philosophers Quaker socialists 20th-century Quakers

Early life

Biography

Bibliography

See also

External links