HNU to the World!

"Professor Seo Ui-pil was American, but his love for Korea was deeper than that of Koreans. He spent 40 years in Korea as a missionary, living through turbulent contemporary history such as April 19th and May 18th, and worked for democracy and unification in Korea until the end."
The students and university members who remember John Somerville (Korean name Seo Ui-pil), the last surviving member of the seven founding members of Hannam University, gathered on the 7th.
A memorial service for Missionary Seo Ui-pil was held at 9 AM on the 7th at Hannam University's Jung Sung-Kyun Missionary Building, followed by the unveiling of a bust and a biography publication celebration in the yard of Seo Ui-pil House, where Missionary Seo had lived during his lifetime, in the Missionary Village.
Starting with the memorial service, eulogies were given by Hannam University's President Lee Kwang-Sup, Reverend Han Myung-sung from the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, and Emeritus Professor Kim Jo-nyun. As representatives of the bereaved, Smith Sebon Somerville (the third son) and his wife Elizabeth Somerville Sung (granddaughter) attended and delivered words of gratitude.



At the following publication celebration for "Pastor Seo Ui-pil's Mission in Korea," the authors, Kim Nam-soon of Hannam University and Emeritus Professor Lee Ki-seok of Jeju University, introduced the book and Missionary Seo. Both authors are junior professors and students of Missionary Seo.
The book details the educational mission, academic research, and activities during the turbulent democratization movement of Dr. Seo as a missionary and historian. He studied Korean genealogy and received a doctoral degree from Harvard University, and was so well-versed in Korean culture and deeply loved Korea that even the nameplate of his house in America was inscribed in Hanja (Chinese characters used in Korean) as "Pastor Seo Ui-pil."
Then, Emeritus Professor Oh Seung-jae, who was a colleague, and Emeritus Professor Kim Jo-nyun, who was a student, shared about the activities, thoughts, and love for Korea of Pastor Seo Ui-pil during his lifetime, holding a time of reminiscence.
Dr. Seo Ui-pil was born in South Carolina in the United States in 1928 and was dispatched to Korea as a missionary of the Presbyterian Church in the United States at the young age of 26 in 1954. He served in Korea for 40 years, and from 1968 to 1994, he worked as a professor in the Department of English and History at Hannam University for 26 years, nurturing future generations.