Draft:Samuel Chang Jae-on

President of North Korean Catholic Organisation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Samuel Chang Jae on (Korean: 장재언) is a North Korean Catholic official who currently serves as the President of the Korean Catholic Association, a state-recognized Catholic body based in North Korea since its founding in 1988.[1]

  • Comment: The newly added sources still are not significant coverage. I think you still may not fully understand what WP:SIGCOV is; articles need to discuss the subject of the article in more than just like a paragraph or two, it needs to be like a significant discussion of them specifically. grapesurgeon (talk) 20:29, 27 February 2026 (UTC)
  • Comment: Still same issue; insufficient proof of notability. I think of the given sources, the two Katolsk sources are possibly the strongest, but other than that the rest seem to be passing mentions. grapesurgeon (talk) 14:14, 12 February 2026 (UTC)


Born
North Korea
OccupationCatholic official, religious diplomat
Known forLeading the state-recognized Catholic Church of North Korea
Quick facts Samuel Chang Jae-on, President of the Korean Catholic Association ...
Samuel Chang Jae-on
장재언
President of the Korean Catholic Association
In office
1988–present
Former President of the North Korean Red Cross
President of the North Korean Council of Religionists
Representative of North Korean Catholics in inter-Korean exchanges
Personal details
Born
North Korea
PartyWorker's Party of Korea
OccupationCatholic official, religious diplomat
Known forLeading the state-recognized Catholic Church of North Korea
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Life and Career

Jae-on is associated with different political, religious and humanitarian roles in North Korea:

Political career

Chang Jae-on was elected as a member of the 13th Supreme People's Assembly.[2]

President of Korean Catholic Association (KCA)

He served as the president of the Korean Catholic Association since 1988.[1] In 1998 he handed over an unprecedented written appeal to the Catholic Bishops´ Conference of Korea requesting South Korea´s bishops to refocus aid to the North on long-term assistance for agricultural production, especially electric power, instead of emergency food aid.[3][4]

He invited Auxiliary Bishop Peter Kang Woo-il of Seoul to visit North Korea, according to an official of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea in 2000.[5]

He sent condolences on Pope John Paul II as the President of Korean Catholic Association.[6]

After hearing the bad news, I express my deepest condolences. It is with great sorrow that all Catholic believers in our country are conducting mass in memory of John Paul II. Services are being held in Pyongyang's Changchung Cathedral and in places of worship around the country.[6]

In 2014, he declined to send North Korean Catholics to attend Pope Francis's mass in Seoul, South Korea due to the start of joint U.S.-South Korean military drills occurring at the same time.[7]

Red Cross activities

He also functioned as the president of the Red Cross in the DPRK. He served as a humanitarian and mediating role between the South and the North.[4] According to UCA News, Chang served as the president of the North Korean Red Cross and led a delegation of 100 North Koreans to South Korea in 2000 for family reunions.[8]

President of the North Korean Council of Religionists

He also served as president of the Korean Council of Religionists, an organization representing officially recognized religious groups in North Korea.[8][9][10]

Representative of North Korean Catholics in inter-Korean exchanges

He also served as a representative for North Korean Catholics to South Korea and worldwide Catholic institutions. He visited Seoul in 2000 and led 16 North Korean Catholics at a mass in March 2.[11][12][13]

See also

References

External Sources

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