Reverend Phillip Jun Buck is a Korean-American Christian missionary for Assemblies of God Korean District and an advocate for

human rights in North Korea The human rights record of North Korea is often considered to be the worst in the world and has been globally condemned, with the United Nations, the European Union and groups such as Human Rights Watch all critical of the country's record. Most ...

. In 2007, he won the

Civil Courage Prize The Civil Courage Prize is a human rights award which recognizes "steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk—rather than military valor." The prize was founded in 2000 by the Northcote Parkinson Fund. The goal of the prize is not to cr ...

for his work on behalf of North Korean refugees.

Early life

Buck was born in

South Hwanghae Province South Hwanghae Province (Hwanghaenamdo; , lit. "south Yellow Sea province") is a province in western North Korea. The province was formed in 1954 when the former Hwanghae Province was split into North and South Hwanghae. The provincial capital i ...

Ongjin County Ongjin County may refer to: * Ongjin County, Incheon, South Korea * Ongjin County, South Hwanghae Ongjin County is a county in southern South Hwanghae Province, North Korea. It is located on the Ongjin Peninsula, which projects into the Yellow ...

Korea, Empire of Japan Between 1910 and 1945, Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan. Joseon Korea had come into the Japanese sphere of influence with the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876; a complex coalition of the Meiji government, military, and business offici ...

in 1941. He was separated from his family during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and fled to South Korea in the 1950s. He later attended Han Sae University, receiving a Bachelor's and Master's in theology. In 1982, he immigrated to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

in the US, and became a naturalized US citizen in 1989.

Mission work

Buck began his mission work with Assemblies of God Korean District in January 1992 in

Khabarovsk Khabarovsk ( rus, Хабaровск, a=Хабаровск.ogg, r=Habárovsk, p=xɐˈbarəfsk) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative centre of Khabarovsk Krai, Russia,Law #109 located from the China ...

and

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea ...

, Russia, establishing churches in both cities. In 1994, he began to evangelize in China, working there for the next twelve years. In 1997, he expanded his ministry to North Korea as well, founding a noodle factory at Sun Bong Goon during the

North Korean famine The North Korean Famine (), also known as the Arduous March or the March of Suffering (), was a period of mass starvation together with a general economic crisis from 1994 to 1998 in North Korea. During this time there was an increase in defec ...

. Raising money in the US, he established a network of shelters for North Korean refugees within China, compared by ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine to the US

Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad was a network of clandestine routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early- to mid-19th century. It was used by enslaved African Americans primarily to escape into free states and Canada. T ...

. In 2002, he avoided arrest by chance after an informant gained entry to one of his safe houses, leading to a police raid; Buck happened to be out of the country. He then gave up his birth name and legally changed his name to Phillip Buck so that he could return undetected. By 2012, Buck had helped more than 200 North Korean refugees escape and resettle in South Korea.

Arrest

On May 9, 2005, Buck was arrested in

Yanji Yanji (; Chosŏn'gŭl: 연길, ''Yeon-gil;'' Hangul: 옌지, ''Yenji;'' alternately romanized as Yenki) is a county-level city in the east of China's Jilin Province, and is the seat of the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture. Its population i ...

by Chinese authorities while escorting a group of 14 North Korean refugees. He was imprisoned for 15 months before being released through the intervention of the US Embassy, but was banned from returning to China. Columnists for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' described the arrest as a sign of "a gradually hardening Chinese posture" toward the growing number of North Korean refugees. Though his children asked him to stop his work given his increasing age—Buck was 65 at the time of his release—Buck stated that he intended to continue.

Recognition

In 2007, Buck was awarded the

of the

Train Foundation John Pell Coster Train (May 25, 1928 – August 13, 2022) was an American investment advisor and writer. He was a founding editor of ''The Paris Review''. Early life Train was born on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to Helen Coster Gerard and ...

, which recognizes "steadfast resistance to evil at great personal risk — rather than military valor". The prize came with a cash award of $50,000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Buck, Phillip Living people 1941 births American democracy activists American human rights activists American Assemblies of God pastors Chinese prisoners and detainees North Korean defectors North Korean emigrants to the United States Prisoners and detainees of China South Korean Assemblies of God pastors Naturalized citizens of the United States

Early life

Mission work

Arrest

Recognition

See also

References