William McKenzie

William John McKenzie (15 July 1861 – 23 June 1895) was a Canadian missionary to Korea. He was born at West Bay, western Cape Breton Island and studied at Pictou Academy, Dalhousie College, and the Presbyterian College in Halifax, Nova Scotia. He served as a missionary to Labrador in 1888–89, and was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Canada in 1891. McKenzie resolved to go to Korea as a missionary, but he was unable to obtain denominational support, so he went as an independent missionary. He arrived in Korea on 12 December 1893. He witnessed both the Donghak Peasant Revolution and the First Sino-Japanese War. McKenzie worked in Songchon "completely isolated from Westerners... he dressed as a Korean scholar, ate only Korean food and set up residence in a Korean house, even sleeping on the traditional Korean ondol." McKenzie instilled a self-supporting spirit in the Korean Christians; Young-sik Yoo calls this "the most remarkable contribution McKenzie made to Korean mission history". He also started a school which taught boys and girls together, "an unheard practice in a Confucian society." In June 1895, McKenzie became ill from sunstroke and typhus, and shot himself. Young-sik Yoo cites the American medical missionary, J. Hunter Wells: About the first duty as a doctor I was called upon to perform was to investigate the suicide of Mr. McKenzie who was possessed of the erroneous idea of the appropriateness of isolation, exile, Korean food and so forth... when he shot himself he was a victim to the 'isolation-exile' theory.