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PLACING AND DISPLACING MARTYRDOM: MARTYR-MAKING IN THE PROTESTANT CHURCH IN KOREA BY SANGDO CHOI Doctor of Philosophy The University of Edinburgh 2012 DECLARATION I hereby declare that this thesis has not been presented to any other academic institution other than the University of Edinburgh, to which it is submitted for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. It has been composed by myself, and is a result of my own research. Name.....SANGDO CHOI.................... Date……31 OCTOBER 2012………... i For martyrs, the faithful imitators of Jesus Christ ii ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the phenomenon of making martyrs in the Protestant Church in Korea (PCK) especially the relationship between the institution and the designation. Tracing the historical development of ideology of martyrdom linguistically and semantically from the pre-Constantinian base-line, the writer points out that martyrdom is not a fixed or universal concept but is variously employed in different times, settings, and places to justify, legitimate and memorialise a death in a specific group and frequently for a specific reason or purpose. It may also be directly linked with the identity of one persecuted community setting a firm boundary between it and the hostile persecuting group. Furthermore, the designation of martyr is an intentional act which speak to the living not the dead. In other words, martyrdom is a part of the interpretive semantics of a particular death seen by particular lives for particular purposes. Martyrdom pertains to the politics of death, yet at the same time to the politics of the living. Martyrs for the PCK represent three major periods of Korean Protestants’ death-events: the late Chosun Dynasty (1866-1905), the rule of Japanese imperialism (1905-1945), and before and during the Korean War (1945-1953). Most Protestant Christians’ deaths occurred as a result of a clash between religion and the political power represented in each era. The PCK only started to ‘make martyrs’ by collecting and interpreting the first such deaths after 1926 and increasingly from 1983 onwards. However, their work of martyr-making has exposed PCK leaders to misusing the term, by including death after natural disasters and accidents. It is arguable that the situation in post-World War II Korea was such that the strands of anticommunism and ethnic nationalism profoundly influenced the historicity of the death-event. Martyr-making processes in the PCK context, therefore, functioned politically to define the persistently common enemy of communism and anti-nationalism, mobilizing Christians against them, and justifying creative martyr-making by its effect. Thus it will be argued that martyr-making is part of the power structure of the PCK: and power, any power, always has the potential to be wrongly used. To analyse the operation of PCK’s martyr-making more specifically, this thesis includes two case studies. The first is of Rev R. J. Thomas who is said to be ‘the first Protestant martyr in Korea,’ whose martyr status was tentatively designated in 1926 and elevated at the time of the 1884-1984 celebration of Protestantism in Korea. And the second is Rev Son Yang-Won, widely known as ‘the atomic bomb of iii love’ from 1948 when he adopted the killer of his two sons amid the ideological conflict between the leftist and rightist, whose reputation as the ‘martyr of love’ increased from 1950 immediately after being killed by communists in the early stage of the Korean War. The Thomas case uncovers the ethnic nationalistic tendency of the PCK’s martyr-making, and their anticommunist attitude in the treatment of Rev Son. In short, it will be argued that PCK leaders controlled the collective memory about deaths in the specific historical contexts to sustain their socio-political views, placing and displacing some death-events to commemorate some or intentionally exclude others, based as much on the ruling ideologies of South Korean society, mainly anticommunism and ethnic nationalism, as on the image of Jesus’ death. What this may mean for the PCK now and in future is briefly explored in the final comment. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Crossing a big mountain in life, in retrospect, I have to confess first that this thesis is not only mine, for my supervisor Rev Dr Elizabeth Koepping enabled me to complete it. Without her sharp and excellent guidance, without her selfless generosity, without her tireless thoughtfulness, without her boundless encouragement, and without her endless tolerance, especially for my laziness, my thesis could not have seen the light of day. While studying with her I have truly learnt her sincerity as a scholar, how a teacher should be and as a pastor, how a shepherd has to be. She is my everlasting mentor, best role-model, and above all, as I always say to others, she is my spiritual mother. Again, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Rev Dr Koepping for her super support. My thanks go to Rev Dr Paul Foster, my second supervisor, for providing fruitful sources, reading my writings, and brilliantly commenting on them, especially for the early period of Christianity; Prof Brian Stanley, Director of the Centre for the Study of World Christianity, for giving opportunities to present at the Centre seminar, and providing missionary sources. Taking this opportunity, I wish to express my special gratitude to Dr Sara Parvis, one of my Review Board and Viva examiners, for her warm, sincere, yet sharp and exact comments about my research. I never forgot her last comment at the Board: “well done, Mr Choi, but you have to defend yourself well generally from critics of academia, but particularly from ecclesiastical and political power”. Due to her warm warning, bearing it in my mind, I can stand here though there were severe critics both from sacred and secular conservative or fundamental authorities at home. I would like to show my appreciations to Rev Prof Lim Hee-Guk, one of leading church historians in Korea. He was willing to offer his ID card and research space when I carried out field research in 2009 at Presbyterian College & Theological Seminary in Seoul, Korea to access the library freely. Without his support, critical comments, and discussions on my research, this thesis could not fully criticise the Korean context. I am particularly indebted to two leading scholars on my subject, Rev Dr Paul Middleton, my external examiner, and Dr Candida Moss, for their great guidance. Though we met once at New College in Edinburgh in 2008, Rev Dr Middleton v clearly suggested the direction of my research. By now, his two books are indeed my textbook for my research. Dr Moss (we have never met but are communicating by internet) generously provided her new-born articles. Her recent works and two books were always challenging my arguments so that I could sharpen my ideas. Most arguments in this thesis leaned on those two scholars. My special thanks go to Mr Stewart Nicol, my everlasting best friend – who proof read my tedious works – his wife Rev Sarah Nicol, and their lovely daughter Ms Deborah Nicol. I will never forget their friendship, help, and prayers for my family and me, and also thanks for the coffee we have had. I am grateful for the editing and correction of Mr Lee Jung-Jae Jay, a PhD student, Informatics in Nursing Education in Edinburgh. He gladly took this painful work for me and his careful eye has saved me from many mistakes. Besides those great academic supports for my research, I owe many debts to institutions, friends, and family who supported my research. Particularly my sincere gratitude goes to Rev Dr Keum Joo-Seop in World Council of Churches, Rev Randolf Turner in the Council for World Mission and Rev Moon Jeong-Eun in the Presbyterian Church of Korea, who mainly provided a scholarship for my study. Thanks are due to Rev Lee Eung-Sam, Director in the Korean Church Martyrs Missionary Association, Rev Dr Kim Jie-Cheol in the Somang Presbyterian Church, and Very Rev Park Bo-Beum and Rev Dr Kim Gwang-Seon in the Macheon Jungang Presbyterian Church, for their financial supports during my study. Special thanks go to Rev Lee Eung-Sam for his endless prayer and support for me; and to those interviewees, especially Rev Dr Kim Gwang-Soo, Rev Prof Cha Jong-Sun. Special thanks are due to Rev Dr Kim Young-Bok, Rev Dr Park Seong-Won, Rev Yun Shin- Yeong, Rev Jin Yeong-Jong Terry, Rev Dr Kim Dong-Sung, Rev Dr Jeong Byeong- Jun for their guidance to Ecumenism. I have to also say that it was my pleasure to co- minister the Korean Christian Fellowship, Ross Chapel, on a voluntary basis with other Korean ministers and theological students in Edinburgh from various denominational backgrounds, during my study. Truly I confess that this thesis owes a great deal to many persons whether listed here or not for their help and generosity.