E2024-G181
Minister Choe Heung-jong and His Devotion to Leprosy Patients
Narrative
Choi Heung-jong (1880-1966 (pen name: Obang) was a Christian pastor and independence activist active during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945).
Choi practiced Christian values throughout his life and greatly influenced the modern history of Gwangju through his devotion to aiding the poor, the anti-colonial independence movement, the education of the people, and missionary work. He served as the first minister of Gwangju Central Church, which began on Christmas Day, 1904, with a service led by American Missionary Eugene Bell (1868-1925). In 1912, he became the first elder in Gwangju’s Protestant community. In 1919, after participating in the March First Independence Movement, he was imprisoned for 16 months. After being released in 1920, he played a pivotal role in establishing the Gwangju YMCA. In 1927, he became the head of the Gwangju Branch of the United Front for Independence (Singanhoe), an independence movement organization. Choi dedicated his life to helping Hansen’s disease patients, founding the Gwangju Leprosy Hospital in 1912 and Aeyangwon Clinic in 1927 and contributing the Jejung Hospital (today’s Kwangju Christian Hospital) together with the Western missionaries Elisabeth J. Shepping (1880-1934), Wiley Hamilton Forsythe (1873-1918), and Robert M. Wilson (1880-1963).
In 1990, the Korean Government posthumously honored Choi with the 5th grade of the Order of Merit for National Foundation, the National Medal. On October 16, 2019, Obang Choi Heung-jong Memorial Hall was opened to commemorate Choi’s work and teachings. Obang-ro Road in Gwangju is named after him.
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