| Birth Name: | Young Hoon Lee | ||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 19 November 1954 | ||||||||||
| Occupation: | Evangelist | ||||||||||
| Nationality: | South Korean | ||||||||||
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Young Hoon Lee (born 19 November 1954) is a South Korean Pentecostal pastor. He has been the senior pastor of the church Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul since 2008.
Lee was born on November 19, 1954, in Seoul, South Korea. He grew up in a Christian family, and in April 1964, he joined Yoido Full Gospel Church.[1]
Lee studied theology at Yonsei University in Seoul. After graduating, he attended the Full Gospel Theology Seminary (now Hansei University) in Gunpo, and later attended the United Graduate School of Theology at Yonsei University, ultimately earning a master's degree in theology.[2] [1] [3] Lee became ordained as a pastor in 1982.[4] Afterwards, he earned another master's degree in theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in the United States, and later earned an MA and a PhD in religion and philosophy at Temple University.[5]
Lee and his wife, Inja Baek, have a daughter together.[3]
He began his ministry as pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church in 1977.[6]
In 2008, he succeeded David Yonggi Cho as senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church.[7] [8] [9]
He also became Superintendent of Assemblies of God of South Korea Yoido General Council in 2009.[10]
In 2016, he became president of the Christian Council of Korea.[11]
Young Hoon Lee, who has served as the senior pastor of Yoido Full Gospel Church since 2008, sparked controversy on May 16, 2023, when he attended the opening ceremony of the Liberty Korea Party's headquarters in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. During the event, he urged attendees to support Jeon Kwang-hoon in his call to "eradicate communist reds," a phrase now regarded as outdated propaganda. The controversy is heightened by the fact that Jeon, whom Pastor Lee supported, has previously made statements like "God, Freeze!" which are seen as blasphemous by the Christian community. Additionally, Jeon has already been labeled a "heretic" by mainstream Protestant groups in South Korea. The incident has drawn criticism, as it appears that the leader of Korea's largest church is publicly endorsing a figure deemed heretical by many within the faith.[12]