{{short description|Protestant seminary in North Korea}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox university | name = Pyongyang Theological Seminary | native_name = | image = | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = | motto = | motto_lang = | motto_eng = | former_names = Pyongyang Chosun Jesus Presbyterian Seminary | established = {{Start date|1901}} | closed = | type = Seminary | parent = | affiliation = Korean Christian Federation (KCF) | city = Pyongyang | canton = | prefecture = | province = | region = | state = | country = North Korea | coordinates = | dean = | rector = | principal = | director = | head_label = | head = | academic_staff = <!-- or |faculty= --> | students = <!-- or |enrollment= --> | undergrad = | postgrad = | doctoral = | symbol = | website = | logo = | footnotes = (1995) | embedded = }} The '''Pyongyang Theological Seminary''' (also known as the '''Pyongyang Theological Academy''',<ref name="stat_Kore"/> but commonly known simply as the '''Pyongyang Seminary'''<ref name="KurianLamport2015"/>) is a Protestant theological seminary in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It is run by the government-controlled Korean Christian Federation (KCF) and trains pastors and evangelists.
Founded in 1901 as the '''Pyongyang Chosun Jesus Presbyterian Seminary''', the seminary has historically been associated with Presbyterianism. It became the center of Korean Christianity of the early 20th century. By 1916 its founder Samuel Austin Moffett was in disagreement over practical matters with another teacher, James Scarth Gale. The row developed into a schism on doctrinal matters and in 1959 the seminary split into the conservative Chongshin University and the liberal Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary.
In 1938, during the Japanese occupation of Korea, the seminary was temporarily closed down after students defied orders to bow to Shinto shrines. After the division of Korea, the seminary was relocated to Seoul in South Korea and renamed the '''Presbyterian Theological Seminary'''.
The Pyongyang-based seminary resumed operations in 1972 after having been assumed by the KCF. When its funds ran out in 1995, the Korean Methodist Church (KMC) of South Korea assumed a share of its financial responsibilities.
==History== ===Presbyterian roots=== Originally called the Pyongyang Chosun Jesus Presbyterian Seminary,<ref name="KurianLamport2015">{{cite book|editor-last1=Kurian|editor-first1=George Thomas|editor-last2=Lamport|editor-first2=Mark A.|last=McCord|first=Stephen K.|title=Encyclopedia of Christian Education|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6YoCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA237|year=2015|location=Lanham|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-8108-8493-9|pages=237–238|chapter=Chongshin University}}</ref> it was founded in 1901 by Samuel Austin Moffett,<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009b">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=McKim|first2=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edhZ_g-RvyMC&pg=PA104|edition=2nd|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7023-9|pages=104–105|chapter=Chongshin University}}</ref> the father of Samuel H. Moffett.<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009f"/> Samuel Austin was motivated to found the seminary in Pyongyang because the city had been badly damaged in the First Sino-Japanese War.<ref name="Corfield2014a">{{cite book|last=Corfield|first=Justin|title=Historical Dictionary of Pyongyang|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zKWBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA140|year=2014|publisher=Anthem Press|location=London|isbn=978-1-78308-341-1|page=140|chapter=Moffett, Samuel Austin (1864-1939)}}</ref> Initially, the seminary would consist of two years of preparatory courses and the actual seminary lasting three years.<ref name="KurianLamport2015"/> In the beginning, Samuel Austin taught his students at home.<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009f"/> He was its first president until 1918 and a faculty member until 1935.<ref name="KurianLamport2015"/><ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009f">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=McKim|first2=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edhZ_g-RvyMC&pg=PA311|edition=2nd|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7023-9|page=311|chapter=Moffett, Samuel Austin (1864-1939)}}</ref> The Seminary was the center of Korean Christianity of the early 20th century.<ref name="Hallmark2007"/>
In 1905 the seminary became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church in the United States.<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009b"/><ref name="KimKollontai2008">{{cite book|last1=Kim|first1=Sebastian C. H.|last2=Kollontai|first2=Pauline|last3=Hoyland|first3=Greg|title=Peace and Reconciliation: In Search of Shared Identity|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l2fjmhQG6CkC&pg=PA153|year=2008|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-6461-1|page=153}}</ref> The first class graduated in 1907.<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009c"/> A building was constructed in 1909 and renewed in 1922.<ref name="lear_Pyon">{{Cite web | title = Pyongyang: Pyongyang Theological seminary | publisher = Mowry Family Photographs of Korea. Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives. Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. Gift of Miriam Stein | work = Smithsonian Learning Lab | access-date = 13 August 2017 | url = https://learninglab.si.edu/resources/view/841424#more-info }}</ref> By 1916 Moffett was in disagreement with a teacher at the school, James Scarth Gale. Their differences concerning the quality of teaching, materials, and admission would develop into a schism between conservatives and liberals.{{sfn|Cho|2010|p=147}} Initially, the seminary remained conservative and mission-oriented.<ref name="Sunoo1976">{{cite book|last=Sunoo|first=Harold Hakwon|title=Repressive State and Resisting Church: The Politics of CIA in South Korea|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BQpFAAAAIAAJ|year=1976|publisher=Korean American Cultural Association, CMC|page=41}}</ref>
The seminary was temporarily closed in 1938 following the Japanese occupation of Korea. The Japanese occupiers demanded that students of the seminary would bow to Shinto shrines, something that they could not agree to.<ref name="KurianLamport2015"/> Until 1940, the seminary had been the only seminary in Korea maintained by the Presbyterian Church.<ref>{{cite book|title=Koreana Quarterly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DJYeAQAAMAAJ|year=1961|publisher=International Research Centre.|page=123}}</ref> After the division of Korea, the seminary was relocated to Seoul in South Korea in 1948 and renamed the Presbyterian Theological Seminary.<ref name="KurianLamport2015"/>
In 1959 the seminary finally split due to the doctrinal differences into the conservative Chongshin University and the more moderate Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary.<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009b"/><ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009g">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=McKim|first2=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edhZ_g-RvyMC&pg=PA307|edition=2nd|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7023-9|page=307|chapter=Presbyterian College and Theological Seminary}}</ref>
===Under government control=== In 1972, the seminary was reopened and assumed by the government-controlled Protestant body Korean Christian Federation (KCF).<ref>{{cite book|title=Religious and Theological Abstracts|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TgwZAQAAIAAJ|year=2004|publisher=Religious and Theological Abstracts}}</ref><ref name="ucan_nort"/> The seminary operated under KCF until 1995 when it ran out of funds. In April 1999, the Korean Methodist Church (KMC) of South Korea offered to fund the seminary to secure the continuation of its operation. KMC provided funding of $600,000 for three years.<ref name="ucan_nort">{{Cite web | title = North Korea's only seminary will be reopened with help from the South | publisher = Union of Catholic Asian News | date = 29 May 2000 | access-date = 12 August 2017 | url = http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/2000/05/29/north-koreas-only-seminary-will-be-reopened-with-help-from-the-south&post_id=16134 }}</ref> It reopened in 2000,<ref name="stat_Kore">{{Cite web | title = Democratic People's Republic of Korea | work = 2012 Report on International Religious Freedom | publisher = U.S. Department of State | date = 20 May 2013 | access-date = 14 August 2017 | url = https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2012/eap/208238.htm }}</ref> and a new building was completed in 2003.<ref name="stat_Kore2006"/>
==Operation== The seminary is run by the KCF,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Do|last2=Kim|last3=Han|last4=Lee|last5=Hong|first1=Kyung-ok|first2=Soon-am|first3=Dong-ho|first4=Keum-soon|first5=Min|title=White Paper on Human Rights in North Korea 2015|date=2015|publisher=Korea Institute for National Unification|location=Seoul|url=http://lib.kinu.or.kr//wonmun/005/0001472282.pdf#page=223|isbn=978-89-8479-802-1|page=221|access-date=12 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220213024/http://lib.kinu.or.kr//wonmun/005/0001472282.pdf#page=223|archive-date=20 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> which chooses its students and devises its curriculum. KMC, however, is consulted each semester. The seminary is located in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.<ref name="ucan_nort"/>
The seminary trains pastors and evangelists for the KCF.<ref name="stat_Kore"/><ref name="stat_Kore2006">{{Cite web | title = Democratic People's Republic of Korea | work = 2006 Report on International Religious Freedom | publisher = U.S. Department of State | date = 2006 | access-date = 14 August 2017 | url =https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2006/71344.htm }}</ref> Before 1995, the seminary had produced some 60 graduates.<ref name="ucan_nort"/>
===Attendees=== *{{Ill|Yi Seung-hoon|ko|이승훈 (1864년)}}<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009d">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=McKim|first2=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edhZ_g-RvyMC&pg=PA262|edition=2nd|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7023-9|page=262|chapter=Lee (Yi), Seung-hoon (1864-1930)}}</ref> *Hahn Sang-dong (1933-1936)<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009e">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=McKim|first2=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edhZ_g-RvyMC&pg=PA200|edition=2nd|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7023-9|page=200|chapter=Hahn Sang-dong (1901-1976)}}</ref> *{{Ill|Bang Ji-il|ko|방지일}}<ref name="Corfield2014b">{{cite book|last=Corfield|first=Justin|title=Historical Dictionary of Pyongyang|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5zKWBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA13|year=2014|publisher=Anthem Press|location=London|isbn=978-1-78308-341-1|page=13|chapter=Bang Ji Il (1991- )}}</ref> *Yoo Jae-kee (1932)<ref name="BenedettoGuder1999">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=Guder|first2=Darrell L.|last3=McKim|first3=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uFI0O7yymBUC&pg=PA355|edition=1st|volume=Lanham|year=1999|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-6629-4|page=355|chapter=Yoo, Jae-kee (1907-1949)}}</ref> *Kil Sun-joo<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009c">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=McKim|first2=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edhZ_g-RvyMC&pg=PA245|edition=2nd|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7023-9|page=245|chapter=Kil, Sun-joo (1869-1935)}}</ref> *Chu Ki-chol<ref name="BenedettoMcKim2009a">{{cite book|last1=Benedetto|first1=Robert|last2=McKim|first2=Donald K.|title=Historical Dictionary of the Reformed Churches|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=edhZ_g-RvyMC&pg=PA107|edition=2nd|year=2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|location=Lanham|isbn=978-0-8108-7023-9|page=107|chapter=Chu, Ki-chol (1897-1944)}}</ref> *Kang Ryang-uk, president of KCF<ref name="ucan_nort"/> *Kang Yong-sop, president of KCF<ref name="ucan_nort"/> *Park Yun-sun (1934){{sfn|Cho|2010|p=149}} *Song Yang-wong (1938){{sfn|Cho|2010|p=149}}
===Professors=== *Samuel Austin Moffett *William Davis Reynolds<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ko:레이놀즈(한국명:이눌서, 李訥瑞, William David Reynolds, 1867.12.11~1951) 선교사 |work=kcm.kr |date=16 May 2008 |access-date=2 March 2019 |url= http://kcm.kr/dic_view.php?nid=39704 |language=ko }}</ref> *Horace Grant Underwood *Hyuk Namkung, first Korean Doctor of Divinity<ref name="Hallmark2007">{{cite book|last=Hallmark|first=Kara Kelley|title=Encyclopedia of Asian American Artists: Artists of the American Mosaic|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=932dMZiWUfgC&pg=PA139|year=2007|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|location=Westport|isbn=978-0-313-33451-1|page=139|chapter=Joshel Namkung (1919-), photography (Korea)}}</ref> and first Korean professor at the seminary.<ref name="Chu2006">{{cite book|last=Chu|first=Weon Yeol|title=The Confucian Roots of Fundamentalist Ethos in the Korean Presbyterian Church|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rOOPAAAAMAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Edwin Mellen Press|isbn=978-0-7734-5738-6|page=160}}</ref> *Park Hyng-nong, became the second Korean professor at the seminary<ref name="Chu2006"/> (systematic theology) in 1931<ref name="Burnett2011">{{cite book|last=Shim|first=Jay J.|editor-last=Burnett|editor-first=Amy Nelson|title=John Calvin, Myth and Reality: Images and Impact of Geneva's Reformer. Papers of the 2009 Calvin Studies Society Colloquium|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YH1JAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA210|year=2011|publisher=Cascade Books|location=Eugene|isbn=978-1-62189-197-0|page=210|chapter=The Doctrine of Scripture in the Calvinist Churches in Korea}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Christianity|North Korea}} *Christianity in Korea *Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong) *Presbyterian Church of Korea (TongHap) *Religion in North Korea
==References== {{Reflist}}
===Works cited=== *{{cite book|last=Cho|first=Paul Hang-Sik|title=Eschatology and Ecology: Experiences of the Korean Church|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ePG85ShzbCkC&pg=PA147|year=2010|publisher=Oxford Centre for Mission Studies|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1-870345-75-0}}
==Further reading== *{{cite book|title=WCC Tosŏgwan Sojang Han'guk Kyohoesa Charyojip|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hW5ZP3dVJc4C|year=2003|publisher=̕æ̊Ưı̊ʻ͡æ̊ƯƠʻæ̊Ơ}} *{{Cite web | title = Gibt es christliche Gemeinden in Nordkorea? | last = Oppenheim |first = Paul | publisher = Evangelical Church in Germany | date = 2005 | url = http://www.kirche-geld.de/international/berichte/2005/reader_2005_34_nordkorea.html | language = de }}
{{Pyongyang}} {{Christianity in Korea}}
Category:Presbyterian organizations established in the 20th century Category:1901 establishments in Korea Category:Protestant seminaries and theological colleges Category:Education in Pyongyang Category:Presbyterianism in Korea Category:Universities and colleges established in 1901