Jae Hoon Park

Jae Hoon Park (박재훈, 1922–2021), also romanized Chai Hoon Park, was a Korean composer, conductor, educator, church musician, and pastor whose work became important in twentieth-century Korean Protestant music. Born in Kangwon Province during the Japanese colonial period, he studied at Pyongyang John School and pursued music study in Japan. He later continued musical and theological education in Korea and North America, including study at Westminster Choir College.

Park taught at Hanyang University in Seoul and served as music director at Young-nak Presbyterian Church. His output included congregational hymns, sacred choral works, children’s songs, cantatas, oratorios, and operas. He was also active in Korean church-music organizations and contributed to the development of indigenous Korean hymnody rather than relying exclusively on translated Western repertory. He received national recognition in Korea for his cultural contributions and remained active as a composer well into old age.

In 1943, while still a young musician, Park set Jeon Yeong-taek’s penitential poem “Eo Seo Doraoo” to the tune later known internationally as KOREA. Korean sources describe it as his first hymn composition. Park later moved to North America, was ordained to pastoral ministry, and helped establish a Korean congregation in Toronto. He continued composing sacred music and large dramatic works into advanced age and died in Mississauga, Ontario, on August 2, 2021.