South Korea

The first missionary work in Korea began during the Korean War in the early 1950s, but Kim Ho Jik, one of the first Korean converts, was baptized in the United States. Kim was earning his doctorate degree when he joined the Church in Pennsylvania in 1951. Two of his children were among the first four people to be baptized in Korea, on August 3, 1952. Brother Kim later became a leader in the Korean government and was influential in helping missionaries enter South Korea.

In 1962 the Korean Mission was created, and the Book of Mormon was printed in Korean in 1967. South Korea’s first stake, also the first stake in mainland Asia, was organized in Seoul on March 8, 1973. The Seoul Korea Temple, the first temple in mainland Asia, was dedicated in 1985.

In 2001 Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presented a copy of “The Family: A Proclamation to the Word” to South Korea’s prime minister, Lee Han-Dong.

The Church in South Korea
Membership	81,251
Missions	3
Stakes	17
Wards and branches	142
Temples	1

Left: Kim Ho Jik (right) with Elder Harold B. Lee (center) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was visiting Korea. Above: The Seoul Korea Temple, dedicated in 1985.

Top left: photograph courtesy of Church History Museum; photograph of Seoul Korea Temple by William Floyd Holdman; photograph of map © iStock