The Reverend Soon Hyun
Collected Works
*
INTRODUCTION
by Dr. Eun Sik Yang, Ph.D.,
Korean Historian
1992
In the fall of 1991,1 visited the home of Mary and David Hyun in Silverlake, Los Angeles.
David pulled out from boxes several documents for me to read and asked for my opinion as to
the possible historical significance of the documents.
I perused and examined a variety of documents for nearly two hours after which I ventured the
following opinion, as I now recall.
"Mr. Hyun," I said, "these documents are of great historical significance. They indicate facts of
the March First Korean Independence Movement and the Korean Provisional Government that
are missing in any history that I have read and studied. These facts may cause historians to rewrite the history of the March First Independence Movement.
"I strongly recommend that you take immediate steps to preserve and to protect these documents
for the future use by Korean historians.
"Your father was an amazing man with skills in organizing, communicating, orating, and even in
poetry, calligraphy, and painting. However, his contributions to Christianity and the
Independence Movement have been almost completely invisible in Korean histories. I do not
know the reason why. But the Korean people should come to know the true facts of your father's
history."
After a short period of negotiations, David Hyun commissioned me to review, collate, and
organize the documents into a format suitable for protection and preservation in museum
archives and for the future use by historians.