Frank Laubach and the Adult Literacy Campaign in South Korea in the 1950s–1960s

This study traces the history and contribution of the Korean Christian Literacy Association (KCLA) to literacy expansion in South Korea from liberation in 1945 to the 1960s. There are critical gaps in the data and analysis concerning the role of civil society organizations (CSO), and especially religious-based organizations, in South Korea’s literacy expansion. This study examines data and documents on one CSO—the KCLA—and the extent to which it was influenced by the American missionary Frank Laubach. Laubach and his team’s one-month visit to South Korea through the arrangement of American Protestant missionaries was the beginning of the KCLA. Through the support of foreign missionaries, their connections with the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK), the South Korean government, and funding sources overseas, South Korean Christian leaders took the Laubach method and Laubach’s teaching materials, such as the Hangeul cheotgeoleum (Korean Primer) and the Story of Jesus, and conducted an adult literacy campaign through literacy classes, reading classes, and Readers’ Clubs. While the number of enrollments, publications, and the outcome of these activities are not yet clearly verifiable, it is evident that the activities of the KCLA, through connections with Frank Laubach, foreign missionaries, and foreign funding sources, significantly contributed to adult literacy education in South Korea.