100 YEARS AGO
According to the Residency General of Korea, that country's native population was 9,781,671 at the end of 1908, and that of foreigners 10,797, excluding Japanese, whose number is given as 126,168.
Of foreigners other than Japanese, 757 were Western nationals. A remarkable fact is that 237 of these were missionaries directly engaged in evangelization or teaching. At the end of 1907 there were 121 such missionaries, which means that in the course of 1908 they were reinforced by 116 new arrivals from Europe and America. It seems likely that 1909 saw progress in a similar direction at a greater rate, so at present it seems probable that between 400 and 500 foreign Christian workers are now in Korea. That is at the rate of about one missionary per 22,000 Koreans.
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