earticle

영어

This study examines the life and ministry of Reverend Son Yang-Won through the theoretical framework of restorative justice, analyzing how his Christian spirituality embodies key principles of healing, reconciliation, and community restoration. Son's extraordinary decision to forgive and legally adopt Ahn Jae-Seon, who murdered his two sons during the 1948 Yeosu-Suncheon Incident, represents one of the most dramatic examples of restorative justice practice in modern Korean history. Drawing on Howard Zehr's foundational work on restorative justice, this paper demonstrates how Son's ministry to leprosy patients, his resistance to Japanese colonial demands for Shinto worship, and his radical act of forgiveness illuminate fundamental restorative justice principles that transcend traditional retributive approaches. Son's spirituality was fundamentally relational and restorative, prioritizing healing over punishment, inclusion over exclusion, and transformation over retribution. His ministry at Aeyangwon Church demonstrated radical solidarity with marginalized communities, while his imprisonment for refusing Shinto worship reflected principled moral resistance grounded in community protection rather than mere individual conscience. The paper examines both the transformative potential and inherent limitations of Son's faith-based approach, including family and community resistance, incomplete healing processes, and questions of universal applicability in pluralistic contexts. While acknowledging the significant challenges in implementing faith-based restorative justice models, this study demonstrates that Son's witness provides valuable insights for contemporary approaches to reconciliation in politically divided societies. His moral imagination and narrative power continue to inspire alternatives to cycles of violence and retribution, demonstrating how religious traditions can contribute meaningfully to restorative justice theory and practice. The paper concludes that Son's faith and ministerial legacy offer crucial insights for developing the moral courage necessary to imagine transformation where others see only the possibility of revenge.