Dedication of the Seoul Korea Temple
Most of Seoul’s buildings were constructed after the end of the Korean War in 1953. The roughly 30 years prior to the Seoul Korea Temple’s dedication, the area was accustomed to construction and the emergence of new buildings.
However, it was noted that when the Seoul temple was built, it garnered more attention and interest than usual from locals. And during the open house in early December 1985, the temple drew a steady flow of visitors despite the month’s freezing temperatures.
Yoon Joung, a longtime member in the Seoul area, said that “it is a great blessing to have a temple in the land of Korea.”
“What greater blessing can you ask for than this?” Joung asked.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency, presided over the dedicatory ceremony’s six sessions from Dec. 14 to Dec. 15, 1985. He said he had shed more tears for Korea than he had for any other place in the world, Church News reported.
President Hinckley reminded the Saints in attendance of a promise by late Church President Spencer W. Kimball — who passed away the month before the dedication — made to them during an area conference in Seoul on Oct. 21, 1980: “‘If you will live the gospel, if you will be obedient to the commandments of God, if you will pay your tithes and offerings with honesty, you will be blessed of the Lord,’” President Hinckley quoted.
He continued, “President Kimball spoke as a prophet. Today, I see fulfillment of that prophecy. While there is still poverty in the land, there is a substantial degree of prosperity.”
President Howard W. Hunter, acting president of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, said, “It has been a relatively short time since missionaries came to this beautiful country called ‘Land of the Morning Calm.’ They planted the seeds of the gospel that have sprouted and grown and matured into a bountiful harvest.”
He then spoke of the rejoicing of members throughout the world when the announcement of the Seoul Korea Temple was given in April 1981.
“The completion of this temple today and its dedication will long be remembered by you as the most significant occasion,” President Hunter said. “There has been an expansion of the gospel already in your land, but this commences a new and greater expansion.”
It was noted by Elder William R. Bradford — a General Authority Seventy and president of the Asia Area — that “most attending this temple dedication are first-generation members of the Church in Korea.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Our hearts are filled with gratitude for this long-awaited day. This is the first such house of the Lord ever constructed on the mainland of Asia, this vast continent where dwell more than a billion of Thy sons and daughters, and where through the generations of the past have lived unnumbered hosts whose lives have not been touched by the saving principles of the gospel.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Seoul Korea Temple here.
Timeline of the Seoul Korea Temple
A temple for Seoul, Korea, was announced by President Spencer W. Kimball on April 1, 1981. A groundbreaking ceremony was held May 9, 1983, and just two years later, an open house for the new temple was held from Nov. 26 to Dec. 7, 1985. President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the house of the Lord on Dec. 14, 1985.
Architecture and Design of the Seoul Korea Temple
The Seoul Korea Temple stands on a 1-acre hillside near downtown Seoul. Exterior walls were created with granite quarried from mountains in Korea, and the tallest spire reaches 112 feet high. The structure includes a baptistry, four ordinance rooms and three sealing rooms.
The temple grounds feature various shrubs, bushes and a fountain in front of the entrance.