Andrew Yeom Soo-jung (; born 5 December 1943) is a Korean prelate of the Catholic Church who was the Archbishop of Seoul from 2012 to 2021, while also holding the title of Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Pyongyang in North Korea. Pope Francis made him a cardinal in 2014. He was also the chairman of Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation (CPBC).
Early life
Yeom Soo-jung was born in Ansong, Gyeonggi Province, to devout Catholic parents, Yeom Han-jin (Calixto) and Baek Geum-wol (Susanna) descendants of Joseph Yeom Deok-sun, who was among the first Koreans to convert to Christianity in the 1700s and Peter Yeom Seok-tae who was arrested and executed in 1850 for his Catholic faith. His ancestors were among the lay people who brought Christianity to the Korean peninsula in the 19th century, and his great-great-grandfather and his wife were executed as part of the Joseon dynasty's persecution of Christians. The Yeom family has kept their religious belief for generations through persecution, leading Archbishop Yeom, the fifth generation Catholic, to enter the priesthood. The third of six children, Yeom loves explaining how he discovered and cultivated his priestly vocation thanks to family prayer: his grandmother Magdalena Park and his mother, went to Mass every day for 30 years to pray for their children to become priests. His two brothers Yeom Soo-wan and Yeom Soo-eui have also followed him, currently leading two dioceses in Seoul.
At the age of 15, Yeom decided to become a priest and entered the seminary. He graduated from the Catholic University of Korea in 1970.
Priest
He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Seoul by Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan on 8 December 1970. He then obtained a Master of Education in Counseling Psychology from Korea University. He has also studied at the East Asian Pastoral Institute in the Philippines, while serving in various parishes.
After ordination he served as a curate from 1971 to 1973, then as President of the Minor Seminary, Songshin High School, from 1973 to 1977, and then as a pastor from 1977 until 1978. From 1987 until 1992, he was rector of the major seminary and then chancellor of the diocesan curia serving in that role until 1998.
In 1998 he was appointed one of the Seoul's Vicar Foranes, serving as a pastor as well until 2001. He was also a member of the Presbyteral Council.
Bishop
On 12 December 2001, Pope John Paul II appointed him an Auxiliary Bishop of Seoul and titular bishop of Thibiuca. He was consecrated on 25 January 2002 in the Changcheon-dong Stadium, Seoul, by Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk, Archbishop of Seoul, assisted by Andrew Choi Chang-mou, Archbishop of Gwangju, and John Chang-yik, Bishop of Chunchon. He then became the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Seoul and episcopal vicar for the pastoral and the apostolate of the mass media, member of the Permanent Council and of the Commission for Missions, and for the Commission for the Pastoral of Health of the Korean Episcopal Conference, as well as president of the Committee for the Apostolate of the Laity.
Archbishop of Seoul
On 10 May 2012, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him Metropolitan Archbishop of Seoul to succeed Cardinal Nicholas Cheong Jin-suk. At the installation ceremony he said "We need to keep the dignity of human life in a society that takes life lightly. The Church will fight for that". As a symbolic gesture, the ceremony was held on the 62nd anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War, praying especially for the reconciliation and reunification of the two Koreas. His ministry has also been marked by constant references to the precious faith of martyrs which is seen an example of authentic testimony all Christians should follow no matter what their life condition or state. He also expressed a strong eagerness for dialogue, reconciliation and peace between the two Koreas to calm the tensions that are circling the peninsula, introducing the risk of a new conflict. The inaugural Mass was attended by Cardinal Cheong, Culture Minister Choe Kwang-shik, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Osvaldo Padilla, political leaders including former opposition leader Sohn Hak-kyu, Rep. Kang Ki-gap and Gyeonggi Governor Kim Moon-soo. As Archbishop of Seoul, Yeom heads the largest local Church in the Koreas and is also the apostolic administrator of Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
Yeom received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on 29 June 2012.