VAILLANCOURTS

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Version: 1.1 04/28/2024

THE SEOUL YMCA, 1946-1950

By Dana Vaillancourt

INTRODUCTION

History tends to get romanticized the further one moves from the actual events.  Stories get told or reminisced, sometimes exaggerated, key points left out, then repeated, and eventually may only contain shades of what may have actually happened.  Historians are not immune either, due to personal bias or ethnocentric views or interpretations of the past or other cultures from their own perspectives.  Regardless, whether from honest mistakes, thinly veiled agendas or just repeating the same stories, the truth is typically more fascinating because it accurately portrays a place in time.  This is the case with the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in Seoul, Korea from 1946-1950.  This is when it’s popularly noted that Yoon, Byung In and Lee, Nam Suk started teaching what later became known as the Chang Moo Kwan at the Seoul YMCA. 

In an attempt to get as clear of interpretation of the state of the YMCA and any martial arts that may have been practiced there, I’m going to depend on primary historical sources versus secondary sources.  A primary source is a first-hand or contemporary account of an event or topic and are the most direct evidence of a time or event.  This is due to their being created by people or things that were there at the time or event. These sources offer original thought and have not been modified by interpretation.  Secondary sources tend to provide second-hand information and commentary from other sources or researchers.  I will only use secondary sources for temporal context.

The primary sources I’m using include written records of the Seoul YMCA during the period in question, several dated photographs, dated newspaper advertisements and a personal review of a recorded interview with Lee, Nam Suk in March 2000.  The YMCA records are in English, and the interview is recorded in English and Korean, with a Korean interpreter.  To the best of my knowledge, there is no one currently living that trained martial arts at the Seoul YMCA between 1946-1950 or with Yoon Byung In or Lee Nam Suk during their short tenure at the YMCA.  Beyond the aforementioned sources, I’m not aware of any other primary sources. Hopefully as more primary sources are found, the story will become clearer.

 

THE SEOUL YMCA, 1946-1950

Brief Background

Korea was ruled as a part of the Empire of Japan from 1910 to 1945 under the Japanese name Chōsen.  It was following the dropping of atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima that Japan surrendered to the Allied forces on August 15, 1945, ending the thirty-five-year colonial rule of Korea by Japan.  Following the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1910 until its liberation in 1945, churches, the YMCA’s and Christian organizations experienced some difficulties. YMCA association secretaries and leaders were imprisoned, and Student Associations were forced to disband. Only the Seoul City Association, one out of ten City Associations, was allowed to continue and that with reduced and restricted programs.¹ 

 

PHOTO 1.  Seoul YMCA’s letterhead in 1908 (Annual Reports - Box 1, Folder 2).

 

Construction

The cornerstone ceremony for the Seoul YMCA was in November 1907 and the building was completed and a dedicated-on December 3, 1908.²   The building contained, on the ground floor, a metal-working shop, an advanced carpentry shop, a machine shop, and stock room. There was also an auditorium within — a public hall that would go on to be used for concerts, memorials, lectures, and debates. The new building was well-admired by the foreign community, yet a significant portion of the original plan appears to have never been built. An entire wing, which contained a gymnasium and baths, was completely eliminated due to lack of funding.³ 

By 1910 the main structure had already become “insufficient to house the activities of the organization.” Apparently, the YMCA also utilized four existing auxiliary Korean outbuildings, two of which contained “a forge room, a lumber drying kiln, and a carpenter shop for beginners.” These auxiliary buildings predated the main building. The association’s property also contained outdoor tennis and athletic grounds, and a hall for fencing and wrestling. The fencing and wrestling hall was eventually padded, with a “shower bath” installed on the grounds.⁴

 

PHOTO 2.  The Seoul YMCA main building around the end of 1908. Frank G. Carpenter. (Source: Library of Congress.)

 

PHOTO 3.  The Seoul YMCA from the C.1920’s-30’s. (Source: International Research Center for Japanese Studies.)

 

The issue of the unbuilt gymnasium was revisited, and a public fundraiser was held in 1911 and the gymnasium and the “boys building” was constructed sometime in the 1920’s.⁵ 

 

PHOTO 4.  An image of the Seoul YMCA after it was expanded around the second decade of the nineteen hundreds. The original building is labeled “a”, the industrial building labeled “b” and the gymnasium labeled “c”. Note that the original image is unlabeled. Source: Pictorial Chosen and Manchuria (Seoul: Bank of Chosen, October 1919).

 

Post-War II

During the World War II period (1939-1945), the Seoul YMCA was isolated from the outside world and had no access to American Secretaries.  Dr. George Fitch became the new Secretary of the Seoul YMCA in July, 1947, and served until 1952.  Fitch was a well-known American YMCA proponent.⁶   In 1947, Fitch noted that the Seoul Central YMCA building was “a substantial 3-story building with about 38,000 square feet” and was located at “#9 2^nd Street, Chong-No, Chong-No Ku, Seoul and the alley surrounding the other three sides of the building is called Insa Dong.”⁷

On July 20, 1947, George Fitch writes the following on the condition of the building:

The Seoul Central Building, which also housed the office of the National Council, was erected forty years ago and is in a very sad state of disrepair.  For the past fifteen years practically no repairs whatever have been made save to leaky roofs. There are over 600 panes of glass broken or missing.  The fire escape stairway to the auditorium (used almost daily) has completely rotted away. The splendid equipment installed by George Gregg for classes in wood and iron work, printing, photography, &c [sic], was removed and sold in 144 [sic 1944] at Japanese government insistence. Some of the iron railings and other hardware were also removed by the Japanese…. Any heat within the building is out of the question.⁸

Despite the poor condition of the Seoul YMCA, it was noted as being a “centre of great activity” with the hall and gymnasium in “great demand.”⁹   It was also noted that senior memberships were up and there was strong enrollment in the day high school, evening school, union theological classes with a junior division with “scouts, sports many useful activities.”¹⁰

The poor condition of the main building also meant that there was no heat until the winter of 1948, as much of the original heating equipment was confiscated by the Japanese.¹¹ Winter temperatures in Seoul can fall below zero degrees Fahrenheit. In a letter from George Fitch to Lawrence Todnem on November 7, 1948, he notes the following:

You will be glad to know that we now have the old plant in usable condition, with the small Japanese boiler taken over from the school annex and installed in the main building.  This leaves the annex with no heating whatever, but in the main building we should be able to have a little heat in different sections at different times—never in more than one section at once. I do hope by the next winter we should be able to have the new equipment installed.  What a godsend it will be to these inadequately-clad and young men—not to mention the rest of us!¹²

Korea was still in poor economic straights and raising money for improvements to the YMCA at the time was also difficult. Fitch notes, “Government employees, even the highest, university professors, and many others are paid less than a subsistence wage.” Even so, Fitch notes that the Koreans were “generous, almost to a fault.”¹³

 

SEOUL YMCA PHYSICAL PROGRAMS (1946-1949)

1946

There are no Seoul YMCA records for 1946, as Dr. George Fitch did not become the new Secretary of the Seoul YMCA until July, 1947, The only primary source information available is a recorded video-taped interview with Lee, Nam Suk by Jon Wiedenman in March 2000¹⁴. Lee notes that he met Yoon, Byung In in 1946 and both had a shared interest in martial arts. Lee, Nam Suk (age 21) had taught himself "Shotokan," through a discarded textbook written by Gichin Funakoshi, and was already teaching.¹⁴ Yoon, Byung In (age about 26) supposedly had more formal training in Shutokan and Chan Fa and had recently returned from Japan.  According to secondary sources, Lee and Yoon both began teaching at the YMCA in Jong Ro, Seoul, on September 1, 1946. ¹⁵   Lee, Nam Suk noted in his interview that they both initially had separate classes at the YMCA and shortly after combined their classes after agreeing on a curriculum. Lee, Nam Suk shortly went on to teach at the Ministry of Communications around May 1947, where he was employed.  Lee taught mostly his own Okinawan-influenced material at the Ministry of Communications, but incorporated some of Yoon’s Chang Fa technique influences. When asked specifically if Yoon, Byung In was his martial arts senior, Lee notes that they were at an “equal level,” but Yoon was senior in age.  Lee noted that he and Yoon were “always on good terms” and “got along very well.”¹⁴

 

PHOTO 5. This photograph has been popularly identified as Yoon, Byung In in front of the Seoul YMCA building c. 1946.  While the writing above the door does identify the Chosan Young Man’s Christian Association, the architecture of the entry does not match the primary facades of the Seoul building. (Source: Borjas in Hoonlyon Vol. VI No. 1, Pemako Press (2023: 66)).

 

1947

In August and October 1947, the Seoul YMCA’s correspondence does not list any formal martial arts programs in their athletic activities nor does various electronic searches for 1947 identify any martial arts references in the correspondence.  August correspondence notes that the “Physical” programs consisted of a boxing club, a wrestling club, basketball, gymnastics, weight-lifting, and ping pong. Gymnastic exhibitions were noted as being conducted twice yearly. ¹⁶   In October, the following “Physical” programs were noted: “It has a Y’s Men’s Club with 30 members, a boxing club with 150 members, a Wrestling Club with 50 members, Basket Ball Teams with 150 enrolled, gymnastics, weight lifting, ping-pong and holds an athletic exhibition twice annually.”¹⁷   

However, the "Chayu Sinmun," dated August 24, 1947 had the following advertisement which states:   "Establishment of the YMCA Tang Soo Department. The YMCA Physical Education Department has established a new Kwonbeop (Tang Soo) Department with instructor Yoon Byung-in and is recruiting members for classes to start every day at 5:30 PM starting from September 1st. Applicants are asked to apply at Central YMCA’s Physical Education Department."

 

 

1948

In the Seoul YMCA’s correspondence dated November 7, 1948, no formal martial arts programs are noted nor does various electronic searches for 1948 identify any martial arts references in the correspondence.  Basketball continues to be very popular and “… in addition, of course, we have our usual wrestling, boxing and other programs.”¹⁸

While the Seoul YMCA annual reports do not note any formal martial arts programs as of November 7, 1948, the below historical photograph dated “November 3, 1948” has been popularly identified as the “3rd Regular Promotion Test at YMCA Seoul.”⁶   While the buildings in the photograph do not resemble the major facades of the Seoul YMCA, this could have taken place in the rear of the main buildings near the earlier auxiliary buildings.

 

PHOTO 7.  3^rd regular promotion test at Seoul YMCA on November 3, 1948. Yoon, Byung In and Lee, Nam Suk are sitting. (Source: On the Occasion of the 30th Anniversary of Founding of Taekwondo Changmookwan (Sep. 1. 1946 - Sep. 1. 1976).  (Commonly referred to as the “Green Book”) (1976: 18)).

 

1949

In the August 12, 1949 Seoul YMCA’s annual reporting on formal physical programs, “Judo” is noted, as well as a new program that year, “Chinese ‘Shadow Boxing.’  The full list is as follows:

Physical Department: Basketball leagues and tournaments were held in the gymnasium 6 times this year; table tennis contests 4 times this year; “Judo” wrestling contests 4 times this year plus 4 times for practice; Chinese “shadow boxing” group began this year; fencing group began this year; practiced gymnastics marching; camping, mountain climbing….¹⁹

Basketball continued to be a major activity with 20 boys’ teams, 16 girls’ teams and 55 teams of young business men.²⁰   

One of the popular martial arts photographs attributed to the Seoul YMCA is found in the “Green Book.” It is dated February 19, 1949 and is noted as the 2^nd demonstration at the Seoul YMCA (PHOTO 8). The interesting thing about this photograph is the windows in the rear of the interior gymnasium photograph match those on the second story of the gable-end exterior view of the gymnasium building in PHOTO 3; providing photographic proof of Yoon, Byung In and Lee, Nam Suk at the Seoul YMCA.

 

PHOTO 8.  2nd Demonstration at the Seoul YMCA on February 19, 1949. Yoon, Byung In is identified in the diamond shape and Lee, Nam Suk in the square. (Source: On the Occasion of the 30th Anniversary of Founding of Taekwondo Changmookwan (Sep. 1. 1946 - Sep. 1. 1976).  (Commonly referred to as the “Green Book”) (1976: 17)).

 

THE SEOUL YMCA IS DESTROYED BY FIRE (1950)

The Korean war broke out on June 25, 1950 and the North Korean Army occupied the YMCA building from August 1 to September 26, 1950. On September 27, 1950, the Seoul YMCA building was destroyed by fire. An account of the fire was given in a letter of November 7, 1950 sent to Dalton F. McClelland from S. Y. Chang (General Secretary – National Council YMCA’s of Korea), D. W. Hyun (General Secretary – Seoul YMCA) and Robbins Strong (Secretary, International Committee YMCA for Korea).  The YMCA building was covered by fire insurance arraigned through Mr. McClellend’s office. ²¹

 The description is as follows:

After the Communist occupation of Seoul the Y building was used by different Communist agencies and most recently by soldiers.  All Y personnel had been forced out of the building with the exception of the janitor and his family who occupied a room at the back of the premises. The Communist Army moved out of the building on the night of the 26^th of September, 1950. The fire began at about 5.00 P.M. [NOTE: the time was identified as 5:00 AM in associated correspondence] on the 27^th of September. At that time there were still Communist soldiers on the streets many of them moving out of the city along the street in front of the Y namely Chong-no.  Thus efforts by Y staff to get into the building were unavailing. The UN forces first arrived in the area of the building between eleven and twelve in the morning of the 27^th.  By that time the fire was raging furiously. Fighting continued in the area up until around 3.00 P.M. of the 27^th when resistance ceased.  By that time the building was far gone although is smoldered for some time to come. ²¹

The same correspondence noted the cause of the fire.  A group of beggar children, boys and girls (about 15-16 years of age) were paid 5,000 won apiece to set fire to the YMCA and some other buildings.  They were provided with cotton balls soaked in an accelerant which they threw around the building, then lit.  Fires began in the gymnasium, but were also started in other parts of the main building, annex and wrestling hall.

PHOTO 9.  View of the burned-out Seoul YMCA building early 1950’s. (Source: Presbyterian Historical Society)

 

CONCLUSION

Yoon, Byung In and Lee, Nam Suk started teaching what later became known as the Chang Moo Kwan at the Seoul YMCA in 1946. While the Seoul YMCA records do not identify any formal martial arts program until 1949, an interview with Lee, Nam Suk in 2000, newspaper advertisements from 1947 and a photograph dated February 19, 1949, indicate that they did utilize the facility during the 1946-1949 period. Although records clearly identify the Seoul YMCA as being in poor condition during this period (did not even have heat in the main building until November 1948), it continued to be heavily utilized for diverse activities. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to acknowledge my gratitude to Mr. Jon Wiedenman for sharing his time, first-hand experiences & interview tapes of Lee, Nam Suk, as well allowing me to review the Lee family photographs for this project. Also, to Ms. Betty Chang for her Chinese-to-English translations as part of this paper.  Special thanks to Lee, Nam Suk’s children Chong (Hack) Lee and Sara Lee for their shared stories and reminiscences of their father. I'd also like to acknowledge Ondrej Slechta's contribution of local newspaper advertisements from 1947 and his translations of them.

 

BIBLOGRAPHY

¹ Correspondence - Presented to Projects Committee of the International Board (10/14/1947), International Board (10/17/1947), Committee on Priorities and Allocations (10/31/1947). Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

² A Year’s Progress: The Work of the Young Men’s Christian Association of Korea and China during 1908 (Shanghai, General Committee of the Young Men’s Christian Associations of China and Korea, 1909), 20. Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.)

³ “The Y.M.C.A. Building,” The Korea Mission Field, vol. 3 no. 12 (December 1907).

⁴ P. L. Gillett, “Annual Report for the Year Ending September 30th, 1910,” Annual Report of Secretaries in China and Korea to the International Committee (1910), 155. Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

⁵ F. S. Brockman, “Annual Report for the Year Ending September 30, 1911,” China YMCA: Foreign Secretaries’ Reports, 1900-1929 (incomplete). Found on page 1 of Brockman’s report; this compilation of reports has no master page numbering system. Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

⁶ (From August 20, 1947 Correspondence from Pyun Syung OK, General Secretary of the Korean National Council of YMCA’s to the International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Associations in NY, NY) (Correspondence and reports, 1930-1948.Box 6, Folder 8 – page 50). Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

⁷ (Letter to Lawrence Todnem 11/12/1948).  (August 27, 1947  - Letter to International Committee from George Fitch).  Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

⁸ Correspondence and reports, 1930-1948. (Box 6, Folder 8 – page 20). Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

⁹ BOX 6, FOLDER 8 page 1 – letter from 1947 plenary meeting by Dr. Tracy Strong. Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹⁰ Box 6, Folder 8 page 28 – letter from July 20, 1947.  Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹¹ 1948 (Correspondence and reports, 1930-1948. Box 6, Folder 9 – page 133).  Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹² Letter to D. N. McClelland, International Committee, YMCA, New York from George Fitch 11/7/1948 (Correspondence and reports, 1930-1948. Box 6, Folder 9 – page 108).  Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹³ Correspondence and reports, 1930-1948. (Box 6, Folder 9 – Page 14). Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹⁴ Recorded interviews (audio and video) between Jon Wiedenman and Lee, Nam Suk in March 2000.  A Korean/American interpreter was present.  Interview property of Jon Wiedenman.

¹⁵ 1976:18  On the Occasion of the 30th Anniversary of Founding of Taekwondo Changmookwan (Sep. 1. 1946 - Sep. 1. 1976).  (Green Book)

¹⁶ Correspondence from the National Council Young Men’s Christian Association of Korea to the International Committee of Young Men’s Christian Association in New York. (Box 6, Folder 8 – page 33).  Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹⁷(Correspondence - Presented to Projects Committee of the International Board (10/14/1947), International Board (10/17/1947), Committee on Priorities and Allocations (10/31/1947) (Correspondence and reports, 1930-1948. Box 6, Folder 8 – page 54). Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹⁸ Letter to D. N. McClelland, International Committee, YMCA, New York from George Fitch 11/7/1948, (Correspondence and reports, 1930-1948.Box 6, Folder 9 – page 109).  Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

¹⁹ Report. Y.M.C.A.’s of KOREA by Ira Holland, International Committee, Y.M.C.A., Seoul, Korea 8/12/1949.  Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

²⁰ (1949-1953 Box 4, folder 1 -page 28 from February 1949). Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.

 ²¹ (S. Y. Chang, D. W. Eyun and Robin Strong to Dalton McClelland 11/7/1950 - Correspondence and reports, 1949-1953 Box 4, Folder 3, pages 11 & 14). Located in the Annual and Quarterly Reports of the YMCAs in the Kautz Family YMCA Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries.