South Korea Church Records

For information about records for non-Christian religions in South Korea, go to the Religious Records page.

Online Resources and Websites

 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Baptisms, South Korea, index and images, ($)


 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Banns and Marriages, South Korea, index and images, ($)


 * British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials, index and images, ($)

Historical Background: Christian Church Records (Gidok Gyo-in Kirok)

 * Religion in South Korea is characterized by the fact that a majority of South Koreans (56.1%, as of the 2015 national census) have no formal affiliation with a religion. Protestantism represents (19.7%) of the total population and Catholicism (7.9%). A small percentage of South Koreans (0.8% in total) are members of other religions, including Orthodox Christianity.
 * Foreign Roman Catholic missionaries did not arrive in Korea until 1794.
 * Protestant missionaries entered Korea during the 1880s and, along with Catholic priests, converted a remarkable number of Koreans. The lack of a national religious system gave a free hand to Christian churches. Methodist and Presbyterian missionaries were especially successful.
 * Many Koreans began to migrate to Russia in the 1860s and many of them subsequently converted to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. Orthodox missionaries entered Korea from Russia in 1900.
 * A large number of Christians lived in the northern part of the peninsula (it was part of the so-called "Manchurian revival") where Confucian influence was not as strong as in the south. Before 1948, Pyongyang was an important Christian centre: one-sixth of its population of about 300,000 people were converts.
 * Following the establishment of the communist regime in the north, an estimated more than one million Korean Christians resettled to South Korea to escape persecution by North Korea's anti-Christian policies.
 * The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South Korea was established following the baptism of Kim Ho Jik in 1951.
 * In 2013, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria was first established in Seoul for Egyptian Copts and Ethiopians residing in South Korea.

Information Recorded in the Records
Different denominations, different time periods, and practices of different record keepers will effect how much information can be found in the records. This outline will show the types of details which might be found (best case scenario):

Baptisms
In Catholic and Anglican records, children were usually baptized a few days after birth, and therefore, the baptism record proves date of birth. Other religions, such as Baptists, baptized at other points in the member's life. Baptism registers might give:

Marriages
Marriage registers can give:

Burials
Burial registers may give:

Digital Copies of Church Records in the FamilySearch Catalog
Watch for digitized copies of church records to be added to the collection of the FamilySearch Library. Some records might have viewing restrictions, and can only be viewed at a Family History Center near you, and/or by members of supporting organizations. To find records:
 * a. Click on the records of BKorea.
 * b. Click on Places within Korea and a list of towns will appear.
 * c. Click on your town if it appears, or the location which you believe was the parish which served your town or village.
 * d. Click on the "Church records" topic. Click on the blue links to specific record titles.
 * e. Some combination of these icons will appear at the far right of the listing for the record. FHL icons.png. The magnifying glass indicates that the record is indexed. Clicking on the magnifying glass will take you to the index. Clicking on the camera will take you to an online digital copy of the records.

Writing for Records
You will probably need to write to or email the national archives, the diocese, or local parish priests to find records. See Letter Writing Guide for Genealogy for help with composing letters. English is taught extensively in the school system.

Location: Older Catholic church records are in the archive of the Catholic archdiocese in Seoul, more recent records are at the local parish. Protestant records are likely at local parishes or centralized at a church headquarters.

Preservation of Record/Vulnerability: The Korean Catholic church has its records well preserved in the Archdiocesan archives in Seoul.