Eastern Orthodox Metropolis of Korea

The Metropolis of Korea (Korean: 한국 정교회) is an Eastern

Metropolis of Korea of the
Orthodox diocese under the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate of Constantinople in Korea (de facto in South Ecumenical Patriarchate
Korea).[1] of Constantinople

History
In 1897, in view of the increased presence of Russia′s government
officers in Korea, the government of the Russian Empire made a
decision to send Russian Orthodox missionaries to Korea.
Archimandrite Ambrosius Gudko led the three-person team, but
was refused permission to enter the country.

In 1900, a more hospitable atmosphere between Russia and Korea

allowed a second missionary team led by Archimandrite
Chrysanthos Shehtkofsky to begin an outreach in Seoul. The
Archimandrite was joined in Korea by Hierodeacon Nicholas
Alexeiev of the original team, and chanter Jonah Leftsenko. On 17
February 1900, in a makeshift chapel the first attested Orthodox
Divine Liturgy was celebrated in the Korean peninsula. St. Nicholas Cathedral - Seoul

The first Orthodox church was constructed in Jung Dong, Jung- Location
gu, the central area of Seoul in 1903 and was consecrated in honor Territory South Korea
of Saint Nicholas (the building has not survived). However, with
the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910—1945) came a period of Headquarters Seoul
persecution of Orthodox Christian believers. Notwithstanding, in Statistics
1912, John Kang Tak, the first native Korean Orthodox priest, was Population
ordained.
- Total 6,000 estimated
In November 1921, the Holy Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate Information
terminated its support of the Korean Orthodox Church, and Denomination Eastern Orthodox
subsequently the Japanese Orthodox Church gave up its
jurisdictional authority. Thus, in 1946, the Orthodox Church of Established 2004
Korea was put into the position of having to organize itself as a Language Korean, Church
parish. Slavonic, Greek

The year 1947 saw the ordination of a third Korean priest, Fr. Current leadership
Alexei Kim Ui-han, just as the last Russian priest departed the Bishop Ambrosios
country. Father Alexei Kim was the sole priest of the Orthodox Zografos,
Church left to serve the people of Korea. On 9 July 1950, he was Metropolitan of
captured and disappeared without record. As the Korean War Korea and Exarch
broke out in 1950, the Orthodox Christian community in the
of Japan
region was dispersed and the organised forms of church life were
disrupted. Website
www.orthodoxkorea.org (https://ww
w.orthodoxkorea.org/)
In 1953, Army Chaplain Archimandrite Andreas Halkiopoulos of
the Military Forces of Greece was made aware of Korean
Eastern Orthodox
Orthodox faithful and arranged for a parish in Seoul to be Metropolis of Korea
reestablished. The following year Korean Orthodox Christian Hangul 한국 정교회
Boris Moon Yee-chun was ordained. Hanja 韓國正教會
On 25 December 1955, after the Christmas Divine Liturgy, the Revised Hanguk
General Assembly of the Orthodox Community of Saint Nicholas Romanization Jeonggyohoe
in Seoul unanimously decided to request being received in the
McCune– Hanguk
jurisdictional authority of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of
Reischauer Chŏnggyohoe
Constantinople. The Ecumenical Patriarchate, under the leadership
of Patriarch Athenagoras I, granted the request. In 1956, by
decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the pastoral care of the Church in Korea was commissioned to the
Archdiocese of Australia and a shortly afterwards to the Archdiocese of North and South America, with
Archbishop Mikhail Constantinides being the Exarch of Korea.[2]

In 1975, Archimandrite Sotirios Trambas volunteered to serve in the Korean mission of the Ecumenical
Patriarchate. During the ensuing years, he founded a monastery, several parishes both in Korea and in other
places in Asia.

In 1993, the Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople elected Sotirios Trambas Bishop
of Zelon and Auxiliary Bishop to the Metropolitan of New Zealand. In this role, Bishop Sotirios served as
Exarch of Korea. On 20 April 2004, the Exarchate of Korea was raised to the rank of a Metropolis and
Bishop Sotirios became the first Metropolitan of Korea.

On 28 May 2008, Metropolitan Sotirios retired and was given the title of Metropolitan of Pisidia. On the
same day, Bishop Ambrosios Zografos of Zelon, the Auxiliary Bishop of the Metropolis, was elected
Metropolitan of Korea and Exarch of Japan.

In early December 2018, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I visited Korea for the fourth time as
Patriarch to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the St Nicholas Cathedral in Seoul.[3][4][5]

Statistics and jurisdictional dispute

Currently, the Korean Orthodox Church has 7 parishes in South Korea: in the cities of Seoul, Busan,
Incheon, Jeonju, Palang-Li, Chuncheon, and Ulsan, as well as 13 chapels, the Monastery of the
Transfiguration in Kapeong for nuns, the Monastery of St. Andrew the First-called in Yang-gu for monks. It
also has the Missionary Center, the Publishing House under the name of "Korean Orthodox Editions", with
publications in Korean, two bookstores (Book Café “Philokalia” in Seoul and the Book Café “Logos” in
Incheon), the Camp in Chuncheon, a kindergarten under the name of “Annunciation” in Busan, the Centre
of Social Welfare for the Elderly in Chuncheon, the Orthodox cemetery in Yeong-miri.[2]

Additionally, in the early 2000s the government of North Korea established the Korean Orthodox
Committee and began the construction of a church building in the capital Pyongyang. The construction was
said to have begun on the initiative of North Korea′s leader, Kim Jong-il,[6][7] and the Metropolis of Korea
stated it had contributed thereto.[8] In July 2006, the Synod of the Moscow Patriarchate resolved to
establish the St Trinity Orthodox parish in Pyongyang — within the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Moscow
and all Rus'.[9] In August that year, the St Trinity Church was consecrated by Metropolitan Kirill
Gundyayev.[10] The St Trinity parish remains effectively under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate,
which in February 2019, following the Moscow Patriarchate′s unilateral severance of communion with the
Patriarchate of Constantinople, established its own diocese of Korea (claiming both North and South), a
move strongly condemned by the Greek metropolitan Ambrose of Korea[1]

See also
Christianity in Korea
Greek Expeditionary Force (Korea)
Greece–South Korea relations
National Council of Churches in Korea
Religion in South Korea
Russians in Korea
Orthodoxy in Korea

References
1. EXCLUSIVE: How the Moscow Patriarchate Tramples on Church Canons and Undermines
Orthodox Unity in Korea (https://theorthodoxworld.com/exclusive-how-the-moscow-patriarch
ate-tramples-on-church-canons-and-undermines-orthodox-unity-in-korea/). The interview by
Metropolitan Ambrosios Zografos of Korea, The Orthodox World, 12 February 2019.
2. THE KOREAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (https://www.orthodoxkorea.org/history/)
3. Eastern Orthodox Church leader makes 4th visit to Korea (http://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/
HonoraryReporters/view?articleId=167942). Korea.net, 12 February 2019.
4. Welcome Remarks to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew by Rev. Lee Hong Jung, General
Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Korea (Seoul, December 4, 2018) (https://w
ww.patriarchate.org/-/welcome-remarks-to-ecumenical-patriarch-bartholomew-by-rev-lee-ho
ng-jung-general-secretary-of-the-national-council-of-churches-in-korea-seoul-december)
The Ecumenical Patriarchate, 5 December 2018.
5. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Korea (https://www.orthodoxkorea.org/ecumenical-pat
riarch-bartholomew-in-korea-2018-video-by-olga-lipunova/). Orthodox Metropolis of Korea,
17 December 2018.
6. Заявление Службы коммуникации ОВЦС Московского Патриархата относительно
православного храма в КНДР (http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/233989.html).
patriarchia.ru, 30 April 2007.
7. Освящен храм Живоначальной Троицы в Пхеньяне (https://www.newsru.com/religy/14au
g2006/hram.html). NEWSru, 14 August 2006.
8. THE KOREAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (https://www.orthodoxkorea.org/history/#_ftn58) /
Footnote 58.
9. ЖУРНАЛЫ заседаний Священного Синода Русской Православной Церкви (17-19
июля 2006 года) (http://www.patriarchia.ru/db/text/126436.html) / ЖУРНАЛ №48,
patriarchia.ru, 19 July 2006.
10. "The church of the Life-Giving Trinity consecrated in Pyongyang. The Russian Orthodox
Church delegation on a visit to the KPDR" (http://www.orthodox.cn/news/20060814pyongya
ngbeijing_en.htm)

External links
Orthodox Metropolis of Korea and Exarchate of Japan (https://www.orthodoxkorea.org/hom
e/) (in Korean)
"Korean-language video on Korean Orthodox Church" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y
Lsbakjmy1w)
"Greek-language video on Korean Orthodox Church" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg
uiLSNf0CkI&feature=related)
"English-language video on Korean Orthodox Church" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k
vtxQmPMNO4I&feature=related)
"Russian-language video on Korean Orthodox Church" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
LFm5jsIJG0A)

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