[Gubei]

A brief history of the LCs in Korea and how it still affects the church life there

I’m not sure how this brief introduction of the history of the LCs in South Korea will help you understand the entanglements of the LCs’ leadership chaos there, but at least you (naturally I assume most of posters here are not Korean and do not know the thus far details) can have a glimpse of what’s going on there. Of course, I'm not omniscient, but the following is from very reliable sources.

1. The grounding work was not so sound (from the viewpoint of the LCers)

Mr. Kwon (also called Mr. Wang) was a Korean, but he joined Chinese Army during Japanese Ruling Period (c. 1940s~50s). He ended up in Taiwan and found the LC led by Witness Lee. After spending some period of time there, he came back to South Korea without fellowship with Witness Lee. He started his own meeting at Daejeon, a mid sized city located in the center of South Korea. Attendees were getting on the rise, and he gained Mr. Y, later to be the leader of LCs in Korea. Obviously Mr. Kwon used Witness Lee’s messages but did not reveal the fact he was not the author but those were from Witness Lee.

2. Globalization and LSM’s ministry making inroads into South Korea.

The more South Korea was open to the international society, especially the US, the more contacts with LSM-linked LCs in the US conducted by some Korean brothers. But still Mr. Kown (also called Mr. Wang) was alive and very reluctant to see saints read LSM materials. I’ve heard some leading brothers had to read the materials privately, unnoticed not to be reprimanded by Mr. Kwon.

3. Leadership power struggle

Mr. Kwon passed away.
Mr. S, a retired military officer, was enthusiastic in contacting LSM and claimed the LCs in South Korean would have to openly communicate with LSM. Mr. Y –followers and Mr. S-followers in rivalry for some time period, ended up both camps deciding to follow LSM’s direction. But under the surface, there have been rivalry going on between coworkers and leading brothers, while some left the LCs openly criticizing Witness Lee for some reason.

4. Andrew Yu’s audacious, but seeming not so biblical appointment of coworkers and elders

Very long time, Andrew Yu had visited South Korea and gave a lot of messages with practical leading. He finally appointed nationwide coworkers and elders in the Church in Seoul, most important city in South korea, on condition that the existing 11 or so co-workers (including Mr. S and Mr. Y) have to retire. But that was a kind of hasty action without proper verification period. Andrew Yu seems to had just accepted those candidates offered by Mr. S and Mr. Y. The saints felt there are spiritual imbalance among the appointees, and some mature church leaders were not appointed, and a possible explanation is that they are not so strongly attached with Mr. S or Y.

5. The retired coworkers came back with more chaos

After 3 years or so, the retired 11 or so coworkers came back to leadership position saying that they want to contribute more. Due to seniority culture, newly appointed ones would not have rejected this coming back. I’ve heard there are obvious “hierarchy” now among leading brothers.

6. Ever-decreasing church attendees

Since then, attendees are decreasing.