Read in Korean

Born in Seoul, Yun graduated from a foreign language school during the late Joseon Dynasty and became a Christian. He worked as a missionary interpreter in Seoul, and when Korean immigrants in Hawaii requested the dispatch of a pastor, he moved to the United States to pursue a pastoral career. In Hawaii, he formed the Shinminhoe and the Ewachinmokhoe and attempted to submit a petition for independence to President Theodore Roosevelt alongside Syngman Rhee in 1905, but this effort was unsuccessful.

In 1906, he founded the “Sisa Sinbo” (Current Affairs Newspaper) and studied at Harvard University. In 1909, he became an evangelist at the Korean Methodist Church in San Francisco, serving there for two years. In 1919, he was appointed as a local diplomat by the Korean National Association and was responsible for promoting the Korean position to American society. He was elected as a representative to the Paris Peace Conference, where he met with American media figures to explain Korea’s independence and garner support. He was appointed by Seo Jae-pil as one of three committee members to draft a petition urging the U.S. government to recognize the Korean Provisional Government.

In 1920, he was elected president of the Korean National Association, leading approximately 4,000 members at the time, and provided $2,000 to $3,000 in independence funds to the Provisional Government. He served as a pastor in New York in 1929 and at the Ridley Korean Presbyterian Church in 1939. In 1945, he attended the United Nations Peace Conference held in San Francisco as an unofficial representative of Korea. In February 1949, he returned to Korea at the invitation of President Syngman Rhee and took on roles as an advisor in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Information. He received an honorary doctorate from Yeonhui College. In 1977, the government posthumously awarded him the Order of Merit for National Foundation.