According to the Census and Statistics Department of Hong Kong, there were approximately 5 thousand

Koreans Koreans ( South Korean: , , North Korean: , ; see names of Korea) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Korean Peninsula. Koreans mainly live in the two Korean nation states: North Korea and South Korea (collectively and simply refe ...

in 2006, of which 94.4% were usual residents while mobile residents occupied 5.6%.Census and Statistics Departmen
"Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities(of the 2006 Population By-census )"
, Hong Kong, 2007-12-28.Retrieved 19 Oct 2010. Korean formed one minority group in

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

, constituting 1.4% out of the whole

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

’s population. There were around 2000 Korean

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

individuals who were

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

.Wong, S.F.
"Korean of Hong Kong Matins in early morning"
, ''Kingdom Ministries'', 2008. Retrieved 19 Oct 2010

Korean Christian development

Christian churches 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 ...

have been increased drastically since 1980 and the world's largest church (

Yoido Full Gospel Church Yoido Full Gospel Church is a Pentecostal church affiliated with the Assemblies of God on Yeouido (Yoi Island) in Seoul, South Korea. With about 480,000 members, it is the largest Pentecostal Christian congregation in South Korea. Founded by Dav ...

) also locates there. Korea comes after the US as the second largest Christian

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

country in the world. There have been more than 17,000 Christian

evangelists Evangelists may refer to: * Evangelists (Christianity), Christians who specialize in evangelism * Four Evangelists, the authors of the four Gospel accounts in the New Testament * ''The Evangelists ''The Evangelists'' (''Evangheliştii'' in Roma ...

from Korea sent abroad. According to an ''

International Bulletin of Missionary Research The ''International Bulletin of Mission Research'' (or ''IBMR'') is an academic journal covering mission studies and world Christianity, published by thOverseas Ministries Study Center(OMSC). History IBMR was established in 1950 by R. Pierce Beav ...

'' survey conducted in 2008, Korean

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

es send out over a thousand of new foreign missionaries every year which presents one of the rapid growing national missionary movements around the world. Korean missionaries served 26 countries around the world in 1979. The number of countries of service rose gradually in years. In 1990 there were 87 countries receiving Korean missionary service which was more than tripled comparing to a decade before. This number almost doubled again in 2006 in which Korean missionary were serving in 168 countries worldwide. The report showed that the greatest proportion of 47.3% of Korean missionaries served in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

. It is because Asia is the most populous but least evangelized continent. Thomas Wang, who is the honorary chairman of the Chinese Coordination Centre of World Evangelism (世界華人福音事工聯絡中心), described Korea as the largest missionary country in Asia.柯嘉�
"王永信牧師籲中韓教會交流共同實踐大使命"
��''基督日報''，Hong Kong, 30 Aug 2007. Retrieved 10 Nov 2010. Korean Christians consider China as the largest missionary service country. 70% of those who dedicate their life to missionary are willing to serve in China. As China is the main target of Korean missionary work,

academic research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

or any other resources specifically focusing on Korean Christian development in Hong Kong is very rare.

Migration history

The settlement of Koreans in Hong Kong, parts of them Christian, can be traced back to 1948. In the 1960s, economic and trade relations between Korea and Hong Kong were close, therefore Koreans started to settle down and reside in Hong Kong.

Living conditions

Koreans in Hong Kong mostly work in the field of

Wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

Retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholesaler, and t ...

and

Import An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...

Export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

Trades, Restaurants and Hotels, Transport, Storage and Communications,

Financing Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm uses ...

Insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

, Real Estate and Business Services. Over 80% of the males are "managers and administrators" and "professionals/associate professionals". About 50% of Koreans reside on Hong Kong Island, and 30% of them work in Central and Western District. Korean Christians form their own community in Hong Kong, all well blended into social, cultural, economic lives and church. There are about 14 Korean Christian churches, mostly located in Hong Kong Island and

Kowloon Kowloon () is an urban area in Hong Kong comprising the Kowloon Peninsula and New Kowloon. With a population of 2,019,533 and a population density of in 2006, it is the most populous area in Hong Kong, compared with Hong Kong Island and t ...

. Apart from churches, Korean Christians also organized

religious association The 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State instituted in France (at the time without the Alsace-Lorraine, where the law does not apply) of religious associations also say ''parochial'' or sometimes in some churches, ''presb ...

s and missionary agencies.

Korean Christian practices

Language

The language used in the churches is mostly

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

. Some churches offer

worship Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. It may involve one or more of activities such as veneration, adoration, praise, and praying. For many, worship is not about an emotion, it is more about a recognition ...

sections in other languages like

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding are ...

and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

Food and praying

Korean Christians are accustomed to having a

tea break Tea culture is defined by the way tea is made and consumed, by the way the people interact with tea, and by the aesthetics surrounding tea drinking. Tea plays an important role in some countries. It is commonly consumed at social events, and ...

after every assembly. They appreciate

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

as the medium of sharing and caring. They pray in the early morning as they think it is good to do so at the beginning of the day. Many Korean churches have Morning Prayer or morning service before the members of the church go to work. Some churches start

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deified a ...

s as early as 5:30 a.m.. Morning Prayer or morning service is provided several days a week or even every weekday in some churches. Hong Kong Elim Presbyterian Church also has mountain prayers every Saturday morning. Church members climb up to the "

Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder ( he, סֻלָּם יַעֲקֹב ) is a ladder leading to heaven that was featured in a dream the biblical Patriarch Jacob had during his flight from his brother Esau in the Book of Genesis (chapter 28). The significance of th ...

" on Mount Parker at

Quarry Bay Quarry Bay is an area beneath Mount Parker in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. The western portion of the area was also formerly known as Lai Chi (). Traditionally an industrial and residential area, the number of commer ...

to pray for peace and harmony in Hong Kong. ‘Home-cell Group’ system (家庭細胞小組) is uniquely formed in

Korean Christianity The practice of Christianity in Korea is marginal in North Korea, but significant in South Korea, where it revolves around two of its largest branches, Protestantism and Catholicism, accounting for 8.6 millionAccording to figures compiled by ...

."韓國基督教為什麼到中國傳教？"
28 Feb 2006. Retrieved 7 Nov, 2010. It consists of family, family groups, community as well as

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

which are from small to large social systems. Korean ministries believe that the home-cell group system can provide followers with help by solving the challenges and difficulties that they meet in family and daily life. Hong Kong Han Hwa Presbyterian Church which is a Korean church in Hong Kong has introduced a similar form of practice called "family meadow" (家庭牧場). In order to attract Christians and non-Christians, members from the same home-cell group usually visit one's home for their Christian gathering once a week, or even more. Home-cell groups promote family relationship and provide a platform for them to help each other.

Connections between missionary agencies and Korean churches

A survey conducted by the Korea Research Institute for Missions (KRIM) in 2007 revealed that 18.6% of Korean missionaries worked with international agencies while the remaining 81.4% with Korean agencies. Global Missionary Fellowship (GMF), Global Bible Translators (GBT),

Wycliffe Bible Translators Wycliffe Global Alliance is an alliance of organizations that have objective of translating the Bible into every language. The organisation is named after John Wycliffe, who was responsible for the first complete English translation of the whole ...

and the Global Mission Society (GMS) were voted by the mission executives as the best Korean mission agencies. Apart from this, they also considered the

Overseas Missionary Fellowship OMF International (formerly Overseas Missionary Fellowship and before 1964 the China Inland Mission) is an international and interdenominational Evangelical Christianity, Christian missionary society with an international centre in Singapore. It ...

(OMF),

WEC International WEC International is an interdenominational mission agency of evangelical tradition which focuses on evangelism, discipleship and church planting, through music and the arts, serving addicts and vulnerable children, through Christian education, ...

and Wycliffe (WBT) as the greatest and respected international mission agencies in Korea. OMF has the longest establishment in Korea by receiving and in sending missionaries.

Other practices/service

Some Korean churches like the Hong Kong Cheil Church organize courses for children and they have Saturday Cultural School biweekly, which is organized by the department of agitation and the department of

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

of the church. The training course under the department of agitation is to let children enjoy body movement and aim to relax them and stabilize their emotion. The training course under the department of Hangul is to improve children's Korean proficiency. Both courses welcome non-members. This church also helps Korean Christians to adapt to life in Hong Kong by providing information on house

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any pu ...

and

international school An international school is an institution that promotes education in an international environment or framework. Although there is no uniform definition or criteria, international schools are usually characterized by a multinational student body a ...

Other existence-Business

Hong Kong Christian Council Tyrannus is a place selling Korean merchandises, books, articles and gifts. Customers are welcomed to reserve their

seminar room A seminar is a form of academic instruction, either at an academic institution or offered by a commercial or professional organization. It has the function of bringing together small groups for recurring meetings, focusing each time on some parti ...

s for

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

or group meetings. They hold Korean classes, Cantonese classes, mother school, ribbon crafts,

book clubs Book club may refer to: * Book discussion club, a group of people who meet to discuss a book or books that they have read ** Literature circle, a group of students who meet in a classroom to discuss a book or books that they have read * Book sales ...

and worship."Cafe Daum"
2002. In Hong Kong Christian Council Tyrannus. (sect. Seminar). Retrieved 10 Nov 2010.

Visibility in the media

The news about Korean Christian in Hong Kong has been published by several local religious

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

s. These magazines also report the issues of different national churches in Hong Kong. They are all issued by " Kingdom Ministries" . They publish different languages versions of these magazines for Hong Kong,

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

and overseas. One of the magazines is "Kingdom Revival Times (HK)" which is published in May 2004 and the other one is "Kingdom Magazine" which is published since 2000."The Gospel Post Herald" is a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

company and they publish an electronic newspaper which is called " The Gospel Post Herald". It has Chinese and English version. It mainly updates the news of Korean Christian, the campaigns they hold or social services for other minorities. "Wednesday Journal" first began in 1995 and it is a free newspaper. It is published on Wednesdays and it is for Korean living in Hong Kong. It is written in Korean. The main content is about the issues happening in Hong Kong and mainland China. There are also some advertisements and news about Korean churches in Hong Kong.

Social service

Korean Christians participate in some local campaigns with other local Christian association, such as taking

parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

s. In 2004, Korean Christian church took part in a large-scale parade to preach and worship their god with other local or other countries’ communions in Hong Kong. As Korean Christian Church do not have intention to show the public what they do on

social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administe ...

, academic research or other research focusing on the social service Korean Christian participate in seem to be rare.

Korean Christian churches distribution

The details of the Korean churches are as follows:

Hong Kong Island

# Hong Kong Central Church (홍콩중앙교회) (Language: Korean; District: Central West, Hong Kong; Address: B & C, 7/F, Wing Cheong Commercial Building, 19-25 Jervois Street, Sheung Wan) # Hong Kong Koreans Church (홍콩한인교회) (Language: Korean; District: Central West, Hong Kong; Address: 5/F, Wing Tuk Commercial Centre, 177 - 183 Wing Lok Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong) # Hong Kong Elim Presbyterian Church (홍콩엘림교회) (Language: Korean; District: Taikoo Shing. Hong Kong; Address: G9~10, Nanshan Mansion, P12-13, Heng Shan Mansion, 3 Taikooshing Rd, Taikooshing, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong) # Onsarang Presbyterian Church Of Hong Kong Limited(홍콩충현교회) (Language: Korean; District: Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong; Address: Shop Nos., GA 19–22, G/F, Site A, 55 Tai Hong Street, Lei King Wan, H.K) # Full Gospel Church in Hong Kong (홍콩순복음교회)(District: Shueng Wan, Hong Kong; Address: 3/F Tung Ning Building, No.2 Hillier Street, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong)

New Territories

# Hong Kong Korean Exodus Mission Church (Language: Korean, Cantonese, English, Putonghua; District: Shatin, N.T.; Address: Unit 511–518, Citymark, 28 Yuen Shun Circuit, Shatin, N.T) # Mission Church of Korea (한국선교교회) (District: Shatin, N.T.; Address: 1/F Yan On Bldg, 20-22 Tai Wai Rd, Tai Wai, Sha Tin, HK) # Hong Kong Han Hwa Presbyterian Church(韓華以琳長老教會)(District: Yuen Long; Address: Yuen Long Theatre, 9 Yuen Long Tai Yuk Road, Yuen Long, NT, HK)

Kowloon

# Presbyterian Church of Korea Dong Shin (HK) Church Ltd (홍콩동신교회) (Language: Korean, English; District: Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; Address: 2/F, Room 204, Lee Wai Commercial Bldg, 1-3A, Hart Avenue, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon) # HK-Antioch Church (HK-안디옥교회) (Language: Korean; District: Kowloon City, Kowloon; Address: Room 10, Block D, 2/F, Summit Building, 30 Man Yue Street, Hung Hom) # Korean Baptist Church of Hong Kong (香港韓語浸信會 (韓語) 旺角山東街) (Language: Korean; Headquarters: The Baptists Convention of Hong Kong; District: Mongkok, Kowloon; Address: 8/F, Chung Kiu Comm. Bldg., 47-51 Shan Tung ST., Mongkok) # Love and Truth Christian Church (Hong Kong Aejin Church홍콩 애진 교회) (Language: Korean, Putonghua, English; District: Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; Address: Rm1001, 10/F, Landwide Commercial Bldg, 118-120 Austin Road, Kowlooon) # First Church of Hong Kong Hong Kong Cheil Church홍콩제일교회 (District: East Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon; Address: Unit 801–802, 8 / F, Energy Plaza, 92 Granville Road, (East Tsim Sha Tsui) Kowloon, Hong Kong)

References

{{reflist, 2 Christianity in Hong Kong Korean Christians Korean diaspora in China South Korean expatriates in Hong Kong