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Riley Russell (露說, Rho Seol) was the first medical missionary to enter Korea as a medical doctor. He devoted himself to missionary work and medical service in Korea for 15 years as the director of Soonan Dispensary-Hospital, the head of the Workers’ Training School, and the director of the West Chosen Mission.
Northern Asia-Pacific Division Biography Groundbreakers Missionaries Medical Workers Couples
Sahmyook University is a university that is operated in Korea according to the educational ideals of the Adventist Church. The university is located at 815 Hwarang-ro (200 acres), in Nowon-gu, Seoul, and is operated with 5,600 students, 204 professors, and 246 employees as of the end of 2019.
Sahmyook Welfare Foundation is a foundation organized in 2001 by the Korean Union Conference (KUC) for social welfare projects. As of 2021 there are 30 welfare institutions (4 senior medical welfare institutions, 4 senior leisure welfare institutions, 8 senior welfare facilities, 3 senior job support institutions, 3 social welfare centers, and 1 local self-support facility) and 29 child-welfare facilities.
Helen May Scott, an educational missionary, entered Chosen (Korea) as the fourth of the missionaries for the educational work of the Korean Adventist Church. She was the longest missionary in Korea, serving for 32 years.
Northern Asia-Pacific Division Biography Groundbreakers Missionaries Women
The Seoul Adventist Hospital Orphanage was a social welfare institution operated by the Seoul Adventist Hospital under the name Seongyuk-won. Started in 1951 during the Korean War by Mrs. Grace Rue, wife of Dr. George H. Rue, it operated until 1981. Located at 200 Sangbong-ri, Guri-myeon, Yangju-gun, Gyeonggi-do (currently: Sangbong-dong, Jungnang-gu, Seoul), it also operated elementary and middle schools.
William R. Smith and his wife, Addie, were the first Korean Adventist missionary couple to be sent to Korea from the General Assembly, and were faithful leaders of the Korean Church with Williams serving as a pastor, educator, and administrator while serving as missionaries for 20 years.
Northern Asia-Pacific Division Biography Groundbreakers Missionaries
Heung-Cho Sohn was the first Korean Adventist to be baptized in Japan along with Eung-Hyun Lee, who laid the foundation for the Korean Adventist Church.
Soonan Academy (Korean Industrial School) was the first secondary education institution in the Korean Adventist Church and was established in Soonan, Pyeongannam-do, in 1909 and operated by the Adventist Church until 1937. This academy was converted to a public school in 1937 and left the Korean Adventist Church’s Institution.
The earliest Adventist medical institution in Korea opened in 1908 at Soonan, a town about ten miles north of Pyongyang, the present capital of North Korea. It was operated by the Chosen Union Mission until World War II, but after the war, its control was taken over by the government of North Korea. Soonan hospital was also the predecessor of Seoul Adventist Hospital.
Rufus and Theodora Wangerin were a missionary couple who led the missionary work of the Korean Adventist Church in the early days.
Northern Asia-Pacific Division Biography Groundbreakers Missionaries Died/Imprisoned for Faith
Ralph S. Watts (aka. Ryunsnag Won) and Mildred (aka. Myeongryun Won) served as missionaries in Korea for a total of 17 years, including Ralph’s tenure as superintendent of the Chosen Union Mission just before and after the nation’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule.
Cecil A. Williams and his wife, Amanda Wilma, have served as missionaries in Korea for 18 years. He served as the secretary and director of the Publishing Department, the Mission Department, the Relief Service Association, and the Religious Liberty Department of the Korean Union Mission (KUM). He also served as the president of the KUM for six years until he left for the Okinawa Mission in Japan.
Yujawon is a senior sanitarium facility operated by the Seoul Adventist Hospital and was opened on March 3, 2008, after constructing a sanitarium center with the support of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Yujawon is equipped with facilities such as a medical room, a physical therapy room, a rehabilitation program room, and an inpatient room that can accommodate 120 patients, and provides complex services such as medical, nursing, social, and psychology.