American Protestant Missionaries in Korea between 1884 and 1942, from the Perspective of Immigration

Lee, Yeong-Mi (author)

Between 1884 and 1942, about 1,000 American Protestant missionaries came to Korea. Most of them were young, religious, and educated people from various socioeconomic classes. It was their enthusiasm for overseas missions that made them decide to be missionaries, but it was the economic stability provided by the boards of foreign missions which allowed them to actually live as missionaries for a long time in Korea. Overseas missionary work was both a calling and a well-paid job, and therefore, missionaries’ lives in Korea were far from lived in hardship. They built their own communities, maintained the American middle-class lifestyle, and enjoyed a model family life with many children. Adopting the Korean way of life was considered unhealthy or inappropriate. Their lives were criticized by non-missionary Westerners, and sometimes by themselves, for being too luxurious, but it enabled them to engage in missionary work for a long time. Of course, they did not always live comfortably and freely throughout their time in Korea. When Japanese rule began, they also came under Japanese control and interference. Some were arrested, imprisoned, and even tortured. However, instead of returning to the US, they lived in Korea for as long as possible, sometimes for generations. In short, from the perspective of immigration, American Protestant missionaries were immigrants who came to Korea in search of a better life. There they experienced the joys of God’s work that they could not enjoy in the US, and not as poor and lonely missionaries, but as middle-class professionals with families and financial stability.

• Language: English
• Keywords: American Protestant missionaries, immigration, missionary salaries, middle-class lifestyle, family life
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FF - Faculty of Arts
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 09.05.2025
• Number of pages: Str. 259-284
• Numbering: Vol. 13, no. suppl.
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-178257
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• eISSN: 2350-4226
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2025.13.sup.259-284
• Publication date in RUL: 22.01.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Asian studies
• Publisher: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, Založba Univerze v Ljubljani
• ISSN: 2232-5131
• COBISS.SI-ID: 265206272

Licences

• License: CC BY-SA 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
• Description: This Creative Commons license is very similar to the regular Attribution license, but requires the release of all derivative works under this same license.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Ameriški protestantski misijonarji v Koreji med letoma 1884 in 1942 z vidika priseljevanja

Abstract

Med letoma 1884 in 1942 je v Korejo prišlo približno 1000 ameriških protestantskih misijonarjev. Večina jih je bila mladih, vernih in izobraženih ljudi iz različnih družbenoekonomskih razredov. Za misijonarstvo so se odločili zaradi navdušenja nad tujimi misijoni, vendar jim je ekonomska stabilnost, ki so jo zagotavljali sveti tujih misijonov, omogočila, da so v Koreji dejansko dolgo časa živeli kot misijonarji. Prekomorsko misijonarsko delo je bilo hkrati poslanstvo in dobro plačano delo, zato življenje misijonarjev v Koreji še zdaleč težko. Zgradili so svoje skupnosti, ohranili življenjski slog ameriškega srednjega razreda in uživali vzorno družinsko življenje z veliko otroki. Sprejemanje korejskega načina življenja je veljalo za nezdravo ali neprimerno. Njihovo življenje so zahodnjaki, ki niso bili misijonarji, in včasih tudi oni sami kritizirali, da je preveč razkošno, vendar jim je to omogočilo, da so lahko dolgo časa opravljali misijonsko delo. Seveda pa niso ves čas bivanja v Koreji živeli udobno in svobodno. Ko se je začela japonska vladavina, so tudi oni prišli pod japonski nadzor in vmešavanje. Nekateri so bili aretirani, zaprti in celo mučeni; vendar so, namesto da bi se vrnili v ZDA, v Koreji živeli čim dlje, včasih tudi več generacij. Skratka, z vidika priseljevanja so bili ameriški protestantski misijonarji priseljenci, ki so prišli v Korejo iskat boljše življenje. Tam so izkusili radosti božjega dela, ki jih v ZDA niso mogli uživati, in to ne kot revni in osamljeni misijonarji, temveč kot strokovnjaki srednjega razreda z družinami in finančno stabilnostjo.

• Keywords: ameriški protestantski misijonarji, priseljevanje, misijonarske plače, življenjski slog srednjega razreda, družinsko življenje