Home and Health (Ka Jung Koa Kun Kang)

Home and Health (Ka Jung Koa Kun Kan in Korean) is a monthly periodical published by the Korean Publishing House (KPH, aka. Sijosa) in Seoul, Korea. It was launched in January 1990 as the official magazine of the Korean Adventist Church. Later in 2009 Home and Health published 60,000 copies per month. Even now it is steadily being distributed to the Korean mission field along with Signs of the Times, Korea (Sijo) magazine.

Background

The root of this monthly periodical can be traced back to the magazine titled Kun Kang Saeng Hwal [Healthy Life], which was first printed in April 1941.¹ Due to the coercive colonial rule of Japanese imperialism, the Korean Adventist Church was disbanded on December 28, 1943, and the magazine was closed in June 1944.² After a long time, KPH planned to publish Home and Health as a successor to Healthy Life. The purpose of this magazine was to provide a specialized educational magazine that helps modern people to improve their bad health habits and build happy families.

Foundation

The first issue of the periodical was printed in January 1990. At that time Elder Bo-Deok Lee, who was the president of KPH, built a three-story modern publishing house with the support of the Korean Union Conference. Home and Health was published as a magazine symbolizing the new publishing work in this new building. The magazine's editor was Pastor Se-Won Chun, editor-in-chief of the KPH, and the publisher was Pastor Hyung-Hwan Lyu, who was president of the Korean Union Conference. Pastor Hyung-Hwan Lyu stated at the publication speech as follows: “Now we are free from the sorrow of living in poverty and unfairness. We are living happily and freely to a certain extent. Now the food, clothing, and shelter problems have been solved. We are looking forward to living a healthier and happier life. So, we publish a professional health education magazine suitable for these times. We decided to do it.”³

History

For more than thirty years, the monthly Home and Health magazine has been introducing ways to fundamentally solve family and health problems with the special message of the Adventist Church. In addition, Home and Health served as a public service to society and at the same time helped the healthy and clean image of the Korean Adventist Church. As Bill Knott, editor of Adventist Review, said along with Sijo, Home and Health have played a huge role in the thriving Adventist Church in South Korea.⁴

Since January 1990 Home and Health has been published bi-monthly. The following year, 1991, Home and Health issued 42,000 copies. KPH purchased a state-of-the-art four-color press. And then since the January 1994 issue, the magazine has been published monthly. As of July 2021, the magazine has been published in issue 351.⁵ Over the past 30 years, eight editors have been in charge of publishing the magazine, and Pastor Hoon-Jae Lee is currently serving as an editor.

In the early years, the magazine was published as 40 pages, composed of detailed information for NEWSTART health principles, articles from the medical professionals and home counselors and general education articles.⁶ The price of the magazine was 1,500 won per month. The volume has increased to 44 pages since 2004.⁷ It was printed in the Korean Publishing House (aka. Sijosa) located in Seoul.

The present format in July 2021 was adopted in January 2004. This 44-page Korean language magazine has contained general health articles, home articles, and Adventist messages about home-health physically and spiritually.⁸

The Home and Health magazine is also organized into books by health topics. KPH just began to broadcast with the theme of the health message and is exploring various ways to more effectively communicate the principles of the health of the Adventist Church to the world. What is clear is that the growth of the congregation depends on the dynamism of publications. The two are inseparable.

Outlook

Currently Home and Health has an average circulation of 60,000 copies (as of June 31, 2021) and recent issues are also available online at Chanel21 of sijosa.com.⁹ The Home and Health consecutive numbers are No. 1 through No. 581 by July 2021.

List of Editors

Mi-Sook Kim (1990-1993); Cheon-Soo Park (1994); Hee-Man Park (1993-1995); Chul Kim (2001-2008); Jae-Joon Choi (2009-2012); Jae-Man Park (2013); Ki-Tae Kim (2014-2020); Hoon-Jae Lee (2021-Present).

Sources

Korean Publishing House. Centennial Commemoration of Korean Publishing House. Seoul: Korean Publishing House, 2011.

Home and Health (Ka Jung Koa Kun Kang). January 1990; January 2004; January 2021.

Healthy Life (Kun Kang Saeng Hwal), April 1941.

Lee, Kuk Heon. A History of Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church. Seoul: Sahmyook University Press, 2020.

http://ch21.sijosa.com/sub_ebook.html?sca=1&pay=.

Notes

1. See the first issue of Kung Kang Saeng Hwal, April 1941, 1.↩

2. Kuk Heon Lee, A History of Korean Seventh-day Adventist Church (Seoul: Sahmyook University Press, 2020), 182.↩

3. Hyung-Hwan Lyu, “In the First Issue,” Health and Home, January 1910, 3.↩

4. Korean Publishing House. Centennial Commemoration of Korean Publishing House (Seoul: Korean Publishing House, 2011), 126.↩

5. Health and Home, July 2021, 3.↩

6. Health and Home, January 1910, 2.↩

7. Health and Home, January 2004, 2.↩

8. Health and Home, July 2021, 2.↩

9. http://ch21.sijosa.com/sub_ebook.html?sca=1&pay=.↩