SEOUL (SOUL), APOSTOLIC VICARIATE OF. - Located in the southwestern region of Korea, it has an area of 71,820 sq. km. and a population of 5,800,000 inhabitants; the see is in the city of the same name, capital of the Korean State.
On 9 Sept. 1891, the Apostolic Vicariate of Korea was erected, detached from the Diocese of Peking (now an archdiocese), comprising the Kingdom of Korea and entrusted to the Paris Foreign Missions Society. On 8 Apr. 1911, the Apostolic Vicariate of Korea was divided into the two Apostolic Vicariates of Seoul and Taiku. On 5 Aug. 1920, through a division of the Apostolic Vicariate of Seoul, the Vicariate of Wonsan (now the Apostolic Vicariate of Ham-Heung) was established. On 17 Mar. 1927, the territory of the present Apostolic Vicariate of Pyong-Yang was dismembered from the Apostolic Vicariate of Seoul. On 8 Jan. 1942, the Apostolic Vicariate of Seoul passed to the Korean secular clergy.
The year 1784 marks the date of the introduction of Christianity into Korea. The King was required to send ambassadors to the court of Peking each year, charged with offering a tribute of vassalage to the supreme ruler of the Celestial Empire. These envoys, during their stay in the Chinese capital, came into contact with the Jesuits.