A Study of the Emergence of the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Korea

Abstract

In September 1979 a division broke out within the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Korea (GAPCK, Habdong). This division is commonly referred to as the 4th Division of the Korean Presbyterian Church. As a result, another Presbyterian body called the “Reformed Denomination” (RD) emerged in South Korea. Although the academic community has tended to portray the division negatively, the causes of the split have not been extensively studied based on objective historical sources, so the legitimacy of this study is emerging. Therefore, the thesis of this study is to demonstrate that the causes of this division were not merely the result of an internal power struggle but rather a process to purify political and theological elements within Habdong.