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.
US pastor critical of dictatorship in Korea dies
By Park Ji-won
Rev. George E. Ogle / Korea Times file
By Park Ji-won
Rev. George E. Ogle, a former U.S. missionary in Korea and vocal critic of human rights violations during Park Chung-hee's authoritarian reign, passed away in Colorado on Sunday, according to Korea Democracy Foundation, Wednesday. He was 91.
The cause of his death has not been disclosed, but he had been reportedly suffering from Parkinson's disease for years.
Born in Pennsylvania, on Jan. 7, 1929, he became a Methodist missionary in 1954 and came to Korea in the same year for mission work.
As a member of the Monday meeting, a group of missionaries from the U.S. and Canada in Korea, he devoted himself to the improvement of labor rights through education, while contributing to the country's democratization movement in the 1960s and 1970s.
He was deported to the U.S. on Dec. 14, 1974, after holding an open prayer meeting for eight men accused of having Communist ties with North Korea who were sentenced to death for treason. They were executed only eight hours after sentencing. Widely known as the “People's Revolutionary Party Incident,” the case is now widely considered one of the worst miscarriages of justice in Korea's modern history. It later came to light that the nation's spy agency had fabricated evidence and used torture to force confessions.
After he presided over a prayer meeting for the victims, the spy agency interrogated Ogle for 17 hours.
The case returned to the spotlight in 2007 when the eight victims were belatedly cleared of the charges.
Ogle was quoted as having shouted “Long live Korea” in Korean until the last moment as he was loaded on a plane for deportation.
After the deportation, he continued to raise public awareness in the U.S. on the myriad of human rights violations of the Korean dictatorship. He gave testimony twice before the hearings of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee in Washington and toured the U.S. spreading news of the terrible reality of human rights abuses in Korea.
He visited Korea several times after the nation's democratization. He participated in the presidential inauguration ceremony of Kim Dae-jung upon Kim's invitation in 1998.
For contributing to the development of democracy in Korea, he received a Civil Merit Medal on June 10 this year during a ceremonial event held to mark the 33rd anniversary of the June democratic movement. The medal is given to those who contributed to improving the people's welfare by playing a certain role in the development of the fields of politics, economy, society, education, art or science for the benefit of the people of Korea. He was not able to participate in the event due to illness.
“Rev. George Ogle is an important figure who played a role in promoting democracy in Korea. We will remember the achievement of the pastor who contributed to the establishment of democracy,” Ven. Jisun, president of Korea Democracy Foundation, said in a press release.
“My condolences for Rev. George Ogle … we will develop the democracy in which you took initiative and remember your resolve,” Rep. Lee Nak-yon, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, wrote on Facebook.