Chapter 11   Afterword


12.      Later Years

      In 1965 the printing of Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era was accomplished. It was translated from the Japanese and Esperanto editions by Mr. Kim Chang-zin. He had started working on the translation in 1957 but as he could not work on it steadily it took him eight years.

      Also in 1965 a Certificate of Incorporation was issued by the government. The same year the National Spiritual Assembly acquired a National Hazíratu'l-Quds in Seoul, assisted by contributions from the National Spiritual Assemblies of Iran and North East Asia and donations from individual Bahá'ís.


      The National Hazíratu'l-Quds in Seoul in a photo taken soon after its acquisition in 1965. The acquisition was a goal of the Nine Year Plan (1964-1973).

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      In 1966 Hand of the Cause Mr. Tarazullah Samandari visited Korea for nine days, accompanied by Mr. Ruhollah Mumtazi, a pioneer to Japan. Mr. Samandari met with the National Spiritual Assembly and gave "many useful ideas of teaching" according to a report. A report by Auxiliary Board Member Mr. Yang stated that Mr. Samandari visited seven localities, including Wolsong county, the mass-conversion area, and met 233 Bahá'ís and had publicity in three newspapers.

      Publications that year were two pamphlets, "Life After Death" and "Bahá'í Teachings of a World Faith."

      Mr. Kang Hyon-oh, chairman of the Masan Local Spiritual Assembly, passed away on October 12, 1966. He had opened the Bahá'í community of Masan which was able to elect an assembly in 1966. Auxiliary Board Member Yang called Mr. Kang "the most active teacher."

      Also in 1966 the first Korean Bahá'í Youth Conference was held in October at the Seoul Hazíratu'l-Quds, which had been purchased the year before. About 45 youth attended. According to a report, this conference was the beginning of youth activities throughout Korea.


      Hand of the Cause Mr. A.Q. Faizi is giving a speech during his visit to Korea in 1967. Mr. Cho Jin-yong is translating.

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            In November of 1967 Korea had the privilege of a visit from another Hand of the Cause, Mr. A.Q. Faizi, who visited Seoul and Pusan during the week that he was there. In Seoul there was a public meeting on November 12 at a prominent conference hall with 150 people attending. Representatives of the press and television were present, resulting in the meeting appearing on Korean television that evening. Mr. Faizi met with the National Spiritual Assembly twice and had special deepening classes every day. He spent a day in Pusan speaking at a special gathering at the university. A report of this stated that the weather was very cold but Mr. Faizi stood for three hours in an unheated hall, speaking and answering questions. The meeting would have continued had the chairman not called it to a close. But the friends followed Mr. Faizi to his hotel.

      Other Hands of the Cause to visit Korea were Mr. John Robarts in 1968, Mr. Ali Akbar Furutan in 1969 and Mr. Collis Featherstone in 1971, 1973 and at least one other time with his wife, Madge. In 1974 Hand of the Cause William Sears visited Korea with his wife, Marguerite. Hand of the Cause Amatul-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum honored Korea with a visit in 1984.


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      The author, Mrs. Sims, far left, is shown during a visit to Korea in 1967. Next to her is Mrs. Elizabeth McHenry, (mother of Auxiliary Board Member John McHenry III), and other members of the National Spiritual Assembly.

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      In 1970 a direct proclamation was presented to President Park Chung Hee. He wrote the Bahá'ís a cordial letter of acknowledgement.

      The government recognized the Bahá'í marriage and Holy Days in 1971.

      In 1971 the largest teaching conference to date was held in Seoul, with over 400 Bahá'ís attending. Almost half of the participants were from other countries and had just come from the North Pacific Oceanic Conference in Sapporo, Japan.

      The end of the Nine Year Plan given by the Universal House of Justice was 1973. According to a report in The Bahá'í World Vol. XV, all of the goals of the Plan related to expanding the Faith to three hundred localities and establishing one hundred Local Spiritual Assemblies were accomplished. Actually by Ridván 1973 the number of localities where Bahá'ís resided was 557, more than five times the number at the beginning of the Plan, and more than twice the number at Ridván 1968.

      A major accomplishment in 1976 was the establishment of the Bahá'í Publishing Trust of Korea.

      ln 1988 Dr. Kim Myung Jung was appointed Counsellor in Korea by the Universal House of Justice, the first Korean Bahá'í to be so honored.


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      Hand of the Cause Mr. Tarazu'llah Samandari visited Bahá'ís in seven locations and had publicity in three newspapers during his trip to Korea in 1966. Accompanying him was Mr. Ruhollah Mumtazi from Japan, standing fourth from the left. Standing next to Mr. Mumtazi is Mr. Eugene Schreiber who, with his Japanese wife Akiko, standing at the far right, was pioneering in Korea. This photo was taken in Seoul.

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      Hand of the Cause Ali Akbar Furutan visited Korea in 1969. Shown here are Mr. Furutan, Counsellor Mr. Vic Samaniego from the Philippines, Auxiliary Board Member Mr. Yang Jae-ho, Mrs. Ridvaniyyih Suleimani, an Auxiliary Board Member in Taiwan and Mrs. Ok-sun McHenry at the Kyongju Bahá'í Center.

      Hand of the Cause Mr. Samandari with a gentleman from Kyongju, who, unfortunately, was not identified.

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      A Certificate of Incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of Korea dated March 19, 1965, issued by the government. The incorporation of the National Spiritual Assembly was a goal of the Nine Year Plan (1964-1973).

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Hand of the Cause Collis Featherstone being interviewed on MBC Television in Taejun 1973.

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      In 1984 the Bahá'ís in Korea were honored by a visit from Hand of the Cause Amatul-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum. She is shown here with Bahá'í friends on the island of Anja. Her travel companion Mrs. Violette Nakhjavani is standing on the left side.

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      This was the largest conference in Korea up to that time. It was a post-conference held after the North Pacific Oceanic Conference in Sapporo, Japan, 1971. According to statistics, the Korean conference was attended by 302 Korean Bahá'ís and 163 Bahá'ís from foreign countries who included this conference on their way home from Japan. It was attended by Hand of the Cause Mr. Collis Featherstone.

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      Certificate of Registration of the Bahá'í Publishing Trust of Korea, with the translation into English; February 16, 1976.


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Chapter 11   Afterword


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