Rhee Syngman’s English Bible to be exhibited

To celebrate Easter Day on April 9, an English Bible of former President Rhee Syngman will be displayed at Chungran Church (Rev. Song Kil-weon) in the eastern Gyeonggi Province county of Yangpyeong.

The Bible was originally discovered by Jang Seong-choel, former President Yun Po-sun's first Senior Secretary for Public Relations, at the Blue House. He passed it on to his son, Jang Beom, who donated it to the church after hearing about the 'Wall of Bible,' a structure featuring Bible verses that would be built at Andersen Memorial Park. The park is the resting place of Jeong-in, who died in 2020 after being abused by her adoptive parents.

The brown-covered Bible bore the English name of the former president, SYNGMAN RHEE, in gold leaf, and several pages had paper bookmarks inserted. One of them is Galatians 5:1, a verse that the former president often quoted during his life as he fought for his country's independence:

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” When I asked Mrs. Cho Hye-ja, Lee's daughter-in-law, about the verse, she told me that it was always his favorite. “I think it means that we should never forget the unfortunate past and never repeat it,” said Rev. Song.

“After receiving this donation, we plan to collect and display Bibles of other past presidents as well," said Song. "We have already received positive responses from the families and officials of several former presidents.”


Chin-Ku Lee sys1201@donga.com