FIRST DEDICATED KOREAN

The Watch Tower of August 15, 1914, printed a fascinating letter addressed to Brother Russell, stating: “I am a stranger to you in one sense; but I came to a knowledge of Present Truth through your writings just twenty-two months ago. For some time I have been anxious to write and tell you of my special appreciation of the Truth, but circumstances did not permit until now.

“You will be interested in knowing that I am a Korean. When the first missionaries landed here (in 1885) Korea was a hermit kingdom. Since then some Koreans became identified with Christianity.

“For about eight years I drifted through the dangerous currents of what I now see was Spiritism​—Satanic teaching. Now I thank God that He sent our beloved Brother R. R. Hollister here with the Glad Tidings and saved me out of these currents which were leading me to an unknown place.

“My senses were almost lost; it took about six months to have the eyes and ears of my understanding opened. Since then I have consecrated myself to the Lord and continue to praise Him.”​—Signed, P. S. Kang.

Who was P. S. Kang, and how did he learn the truth?

To an IBSA convention audience in San Francisco in 1915, Brother R. R. Hollister related how he met Mr. Kang. “In Korea the Lord directed me to Kang Pom-shika who was at first employed upon a purely business basis to do some translating,” Hollister said. “Soon he began taking a deep personal interest in the articles he was working on, and after spending some months in our office, he professed a full consecration [dedication] to the Lord. Since then he has been much used in translating, interpreting, class leading, and managing the Korean branch. I confidently anticipate the pleasure of introducing him to you at the General Assembly as a delegate from the ‘Hermit Nation.’”

Besides her diligence in this work of distributing literature, she also paid the equivalent of $15 to Brother Kang for his personal expenses. In 1949, at age 91, she turned over these records to the present Branch Committee coordinator, Don Steele, before his coming to Korea.

FIRST PRINTERY

Brother Kang, the secretary in charge of the work in Korea, and his associates continued spreading the message, but the response was slow. Nevertheless, in 1921 they held public meeting “pilgrimages” throughout the country, and the booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die was published in the local language and distributed. Korea now joined the list of 18 branches of the Society outside of the United States.

Having the message printed in the Korean language outside the country created many hardships. Consequently, in 1922 Brother Rutherford sent Brother Kang $2,000 (U.S.) to set up a small printery of up to seven machines. The presses churned out literature in the Korean, Chinese, and Japanese languages. Still, no great increase was seen during those years.

UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT

The Society established a branch in Japan in the fall of 1926 and appointed Junzo Akashi, a Japanese-American, as the representative to Japan, China, and Korea. In the meantime, Brother Kang, who had been in charge of the work in Korea, was employing the Society’s printery for his own use, printing worldly books. He even had the audacity to sell the printery without permission. Brother Park Min-joon replaced him in 1927.