Twenty-eight descendants of missionary Horace G. Underwood (1859∼1916) came together to commemorate the centennial of death of the man who founded Yonhui Professional School (now Yonsei University) and who set in place the first cornerstones of the Korean church.
Yonsei University and the Underwood Commemoration Project Society held a joint ceremony marking the centennial of Underwood’s death and presenting the Underwood Mission Award, on October 12 at the Yonsei University Centennial Building. Participants included Underwood’s grandson Dr. Won Deuk-han (89), and two great-grandsons: Won Han-seok (61), a Yonsei University board member, and Dr. Won Han-gwang (73). Four generations of Underwoods continued their various services in Korea until 2004, when they declared, “We believe we have done all we can,” and all departed from Korea except Won Han-seok.
At the commemoration ceremony, Won greeted the 800 some guests, saying, “Our love for Korea made many of our family members come all the way here for this special event.” He added, “Our family is rooted in Korea. We have named ‘South Korea’ as our home on our Facebook profile.”
The previous day, at the Underwood centennial open lecture, Dr. Won Deuk-han expressed his feelings about the lack of communication of the Underwood legacy and of the Gospel in and around the Yonsei campus.
Reporter A-young Kim (singforyou@kmib.co.kr), with Yeara Ahn-Park (yap@kmib.co.kr)
Photo by senior reporter Kang Min Seok
Full Story in Korean:
언더우드 후손 28명 “우리 고향은 South Korea”: 서거 100주년 기념 행사