SEOUL - ROBERT COLQUHOUN

Father Hugo Park has just been appointed to a parish, after leading two 40 Days for Life campaigns as the head of Seoul Archdiocese committee for life. His successor will continue the campaign. He has worked tirelessly to have two excellent 40 Days for Life campaigns on the streets of Seoul - a huge sprawling metropolis, and ripe new country for pro-life street witness. Father Hugo has set up the foundations of 40 Days for Life, and opportunities and hope are abound for the future. 

During our time we were blessed to be able to meet Auxiliary Bishop Job Yobi Koo of Seoul Archdiocese, who stated how he would like 40 Days for Life to spread nationally around South Korea. We discussed how 40 Days for Life could spread not only around Asia but also around South Korea which only just recently has had their ‘Roe vs Wade’ moment decriminalising abortion. 

The pro-life committee organizing 40 Days for Life is sophisticated and dynamic with all ages, talents and denominations involved. Doctor Cha is considered to be the ‘grandfather’ of the pro-life movement here, has been pivotal in getting 40 Days for Life started, along with the March for Life which several hundred attend in the capital, in addition Juampi Postigo, a Spanish resident fluent in Korean, working with Opus Dei in Seoul. 
 
South Korea have had a strong and powerful team for the last few campaigns here. Yoonwha Sea is a young woman with a pro-life apostolate who has helped to galvanize the protestant community here, get social media active with pro-life, provide translation and also give pro-life talks to schools and universities. Next year there is a large Protestant conference for 10,000 people on evangelization. The Knights of Columbus have done wonderful work in supporting the 40 Days for Life campaign while here and I spoke to the Catholic press newspapers to share the vision and mission of 40 Days for Life.
 
Pro-life activism is a small world in South Korea at present. Nevertheless, abortion is not considered the issue it is in Europe or the United States, which in no way diminishes its prevalence. As an affluent country, South Korea has a low birth rate and sophisticated self conscious culture strong on image. There are several steps before pro-life work becomes more mainstream and prevalent. The Catholic Church here is just several hundred years old - as a new Church, pro-life activism is not regularly or readily associated with faith, and young people are more secularized in their outlook. Kkottongnae Catholic religious community is a powerful strong witness to the faith of the Korean Church, and consider pro-life to be important work. 
 
South Korea has a population of 51.7 million people. The constitutional court of South Korea effectively decriminalized abortion in 2019, which came into effect in 2021. The Korea Institute for health and social affairs estimated that the number of abortions performed per year was 32,063 in 2020. 
 
A wonderful moment of visiting Korea has been visiting Pastor Lee, the pastor behind the Drop box film. Pastor Lee’s Baby box has helped to save 2,081 lives from abortion. Many women are scared to register their child with the stigma involved and may abandon their child, Pastor Lee has been a global pro-life hero not only in personally adopting disabled children but in reaching out to so many women so powerfully and effectively. He runs a women’s centre and also a centre for disabled children.