Park Ji-won is a writer for The Korea Times who has been covering a wide range of topics from Korea’s culture to its politics. An avid journalism enthusiast to the core, Ji-won brings a thoughtful and unique perspective to every topic she covers. On weekends, you'll often find her contemplating life’s purpose on a yoga mat — with a cup of quality tea in hand. A native Korean speaker by birth and fluent in English through her work, she went to college in Japan and is learning Chinese and French — hoping to add Polish, Russian and Thai to the mix.
Park Soon-kyung, theologian and unification activist, dies
Park Soon-kyung Courtesy of Park Soon-kyung's funeral committee
By Park Ji-won
By Park Ji-won
Park Soon-kyung, a theology professor and unification movement activist, died of old age on Saturday. She was 97.
Born in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, July 14, 1923, Park studied theology at Methodist Theological University in Seoul and philosophy at Seoul National University. She gained a master's degree from Emory University divinity school and a Ph.D. at Drew University with the dissertation “Man in Karl Barth's doctrine of election.” After returning to Korea in 1966, she taught students at Ewha Womans University until 1988 and Mokwon University from 1988 to 1991. She was a professor emeritus of Ewha Womans University.
She expanded the boundaries for female theologians by serving as the first president of the Korean Association of Women Theologians.
She served as manager of the Korean projects for Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians since 1978. Her work had been providing theological grounds for scholars working on feminist liberation theology through her studies.
In her book roughly translated as “Tasks for Korean people and feminist theology” (1983) she wrote that the concept of feminist theology came from the problematic situation of the church, traditional theology, history and society. The claims of feminist theology have been defined by the male-centered patriarchal system and women were oppressed and subject to the system.
She also dedicated her life as an activist to the peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula.
She participated in working-level talks with North Korea as a representative of scholars in 1989. She was a vice chairman of the National Alliance for the Country's Reunification. She was arrested and detained for 106 days for violating the National Security Act after giving a lecture in a seminar hosted by the Korean Christian Church in Japan in 1991. She also served as honorary chairwoman of the Pan-Korea Alliance For Reunification since 2005 and standing adviser of the South Korean branch of the All-Korean Committee for Implementation of the June 15 Joint Declaration.